Chandler v. Hendrick Memorial Hospital, Inc.

317 S.W.2d 248, 1958 Tex. App. LEXIS 2279
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 3, 1958
Docket3395
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 317 S.W.2d 248 (Chandler v. Hendrick Memorial Hospital, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chandler v. Hendrick Memorial Hospital, Inc., 317 S.W.2d 248, 1958 Tex. App. LEXIS 2279 (Tex. Ct. App. 1958).

Opinion

WALTER, Justice.

This suit was filed by Hendrick Memorial Hospital, Inc., against Myrtle Mae Chandler, administratrix of the estate of W. J. Cunningham, deceased, to establish a claim against the estate for the sum of $6,870.40, plus interest, for hospital care, room, board and nursing services rendered to W. J. Cunningham from November 20, 1950, until his death on September 3, 1952. The administratrix pleaded a general denial, the ninety day period of limitation provided for in Article 3522, the two year statute of limitation, Vernon’s Ann.Civ.St. art. 5526, and res judicata. The case was tried before the court without a jury which resulted in a judgment for the hospital against the administratrix for principal and interest in the total amount of $8,965.85. The judgment further expressly provides that the administratrix’ plea of res judicata does not apply, that the hospital’s claim is not barred by limitation, and that suit was filed by the hospital within a reasonable time after the claim had been presented to the administratrix, who never acted on the claim.

The administratrix has predicated her appeal on forty-six points of error which are substantially as follows: points alleging there are no pleadings or evidence to support the judgment; points that appellant has been denied her civil rights and equal protection of the law and deprived of her property without due process of the law contrary to Section 1 of Amendment 14 of the Constitution of the United States and Section 19 of Article 1 of the Constitution of the State of Texas; points asserting that the ninety day period of limitation provided for in Article 3522’ should be applied; points that the judgment in the case of Chandler v. Welborn, 282 S.W.2d 940, decided by this court and affirmed by the Supreme Court in 294 S.W.2d 801, adjudicated or could have adjudicated all issues raised by appellee herein; points that judgment is erroneous in providing for an execution to issue and providing for a recovery of interest; point that no proper claim was ever presented to the administratrix; points alleging error of the court in the manner in which the court filed conclusions of fact and law.

Since many of these points are repetitious of others and relate to the same subject matter, we shall group all of them which are germane to the same subject matter.

We have reached the conclusion that the judgment of the trial court should be affirmed.

In cases tried before the court without a jury on “no evidence points”, the rule is well settled that the judgment of the trial court must be affirmed if there is any *251 'evidence of a probative nature to support it. See Wilson v. Teague Independent School District, Tex.Civ.App., 251 S.W.2d 263 (Writ Ref.) and Woodward v. Ortiz, 150 Tex. 75, 237 S.W.2d 286.

“And it is settled that only evidence which tends to support a judgment or a finding of fact may be considered, and all evidence favorable to the opposite contention should be disregarded.” 3-B Tex.Jur. Sec. 935.

Appellant does not complain about the hospital care and service rendered to the deceased during his long stay at the Tiospital and does not allege payment for these services. Her case was tried before •a learned trial court, who heard the evidence and applied the established laws of this state in arriving at what we consider a proper judgment. Not having paid the hospital bill and her case having been tried as any other similar case would have been tried in our courts, we cannot see how she had been deprived of her property in violation of Section 19 of Article 1 of the Constitution of the State of Texas or how she had been denied her civil rights and equal protection of the law and deprived of her property in violation of Section 1 of Amendment 14 of the Constitution of the United States. These points are overruled.

Appellant in her brief in support of her points contending that the judgment in the case of Chandler v. Welborn is a bar to the issues involved herein and comes under the doctrine of res judicata cites the case of Hermann v. Allen, 103 Tex. 382, 128 S.W. 115, 116. This case contains the following provision:

“The proposition is that the necessary legal effect of a final judgment is to determine finally a cause of action set up in the pleadings and pending for decision in the cause when that judgment is pronounced, unless, indeed, the court exclude it from the scope of its action; and this whether the judgment result from actual decision or oversight of the cottrt.” (Emphasis ours.)

The judgment in the case of Chandler v. Welborn, provided as follows:

“The question of claims of inter-venors is not adjudicated herein; ⅝ ⅜ *»

The appellee herein was an inter-venor in the above cited case and attorneys E. S. Cummings and Clyde A. Mote filed its plea of intervention therein, and the court in its judgment expressly provided that it was not passing upon its claim; therefore, the judgment in said case could not have been res judicata to the issues involved in the case now being considered.

Appellant’s points relating to the failure of appellee to file its suit within ninety days after its claim had been rejected by the administratrix cannot be sustained because the trial court has found in its judgment, based on sufficient evidence, that suit was filed “within a reasonable time after its claim had been presented to the administratrix, who never acted on said claim.” Article 3522 provides that the owner of the claim may file suit within ninety days after it has been rej ected by the executor or the administrator. The ap-pellee’s claim was presented to the admin-istratrix on May 20, 1954, and the admin-istratrix failed to approve or reject it, and this suit was filed March 10, 1955. The administratrix was entitled to a reasonable time to investigate the claim before she was required to either approve or reject it. The record reveals that the adminis-tratrix did not qualify as such until April 10, 1954, and at the time the claim was filed no inventory and appraisement had been filed. The record further discloses that the administratrix had been seriously ill and lived in Austin and the hospital records were located in Abilene. The evidence further discloses there was no property belonging to the estate unless the case of Chandler v. Welborn terminated favorably to intervenor.

If the administratrix had rejected the claim, there would be no occasion *252 to determine what would be a reasonable time for her to investigate same and either approve or reject it. Because the admin-istratrix failed to reject the claim on some day certain from which we could start computing the ninety days provided for by statute, it became a question of fact for the trial court to decide when by reason of her failure to act it would be presumed that said claim had been rejected. After a reasonable time had elapsed for the adminis-tratrix to consider the claim, the ninety day statute of limitation would be set in motion.

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Bluebook (online)
317 S.W.2d 248, 1958 Tex. App. LEXIS 2279, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chandler-v-hendrick-memorial-hospital-inc-texapp-1958.