Cruse v. Reinhard

208 S.W.2d 598, 1948 Tex. App. LEXIS 1097
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 6, 1948
DocketNo. 4451
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 208 S.W.2d 598 (Cruse v. Reinhard) 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
Cruse v. Reinhard, 208 S.W.2d 598, 1948 Tex. App. LEXIS 1097 (Tex. Ct. App. 1948).

Opinion

WALKER, Justice.

Two appeals are before us from the judgment rendered in this suit by the District Court of Jefferson County.

The suit was brought to construe the will of Mrs. Mattie F. Cruse and to procure other relief. By dismissal, pursuant to an agreement of the parties, issues other than those made on the construction of the will were dropped from the case; and the subject matter of the appeals before'us is limited to a construction o.f the will of Mrs. Cruse.

Mrs. Cruse, a widow at the time of her death, was survived by four children, whom she constituted independent executors of her estate, and by two- grandchildren. All of these persons were parties to' the suit, as were Buckner’s Orphans Home and certain formal parties, the spouses of two of Mrs. Cruse’s daughters and of her granddaughter. Plaintiffs were two of Mrs. Cruse’s children, namely, Silas Hubert Cruse and Bertha Cruse Gardner (joined by her husband), suing as individuals and in their representative capacity. Defendants were: (1) Mrs. Cruse’s other children, namely,, Mrs. Ada Lee Cruse Reinhard, a widow,, and Ethel Cruse Mouton (joined by her husband), individually and as executrices, of their mother’s will; (2) Mrs. Cruse’s, grandchildren, namely, Jack Mouton, Jr.,, the son of Mrs. Mouton, and Martha Rein-hard Gale (and husband), a daughter of Mrs. Reinhard; and (3) Buckner’s Orphans Home.

All defendants answered. The cause was. tried to the court, sitting without a jury;, and the trial court rendered a judgment construing the will of Mrs. Cruse, and as an incident of that construction, ordered that .Mrs. Cruse’s estate be partitioned. The trial judge also filed an opinion, amplifying his views. All parties other than Buckner’s. Orphans Home have appealed. The conclusions of the trial court are stated in detail below, throughout our discussion of the questions made between the parties.

Mrs. Cruse died on December 12, 1941,. leaving a will expressed in two documents,, namely, an original will dated February L 1928, from which she struck -certain bequests on November 27, 1937 (by cancellation), and a codicil to said will, dated “Feb. -, 1940.” Both the original will and the codicil .were written in Mrs. Cruse’s own hand. These documents were probated by the County Court of Jefferson County as. Mrs. Cruse’s will on January 13, 1942, the application to probate being made by all four of her children as her executors; and subsequent to the order of probate each of said executors duly qualified.

Mrs. Cruse’s original will, omitting formal parts, read as follows: “I, Mattie F. Cruse, of the County of Jefferson, State of Texas, being of sound and disposing mind and memory and being desirous to settle my worldly .affairs and directing ho.w my estate shall be disposed of after my decease, do make and publish this, my last will and testament, hereby revoking all other wills heretofore made. ,

“First: I desire and direct that my body be buried in á Christian like manner suitable to my circumstances and conditions in life [601]*601and that no unnecessary amount be expended in such burial.
“Second: I desire and direct that all of my just debts be paid out of my estate by my executors to be hereinafter appointed.
“Third: I desire and direct that then thousand ($10,000.00) Dollars in cash be invested in safe securities or deposited in a responsible bank, at interest, or bonds and stocks already held by me to that amount be set aside so that the income will be the equivalent to eight per cent (8%). This amount to be used by my daughter, Mrs. Ada Lee Cruse Reinhard as she thinks best, for the education of my grand daughter, Martha Reinhard, for a period of five years. This amount to remain invested and the income to be used by my daughter, Mrs. Ethel Cruse Mouton, for the education of my grand son, Jack Mouton, Jr., for a period of five years. Then the principal to be divided equally between my four children ; Ada Lee Cruse Reinhard, Ethel Cruse Mouton, Bertha Cruse Gardner, and Silas Hubert Cruse. The above privilege to be granted to any other grand-child or children who may come before the principal is- divided.
“Fourth: All the rest and residue of my estate, both real and personal, which I may die seized and possessed of or to which I may be entitled to at the time of my death, I give and bequeath to my four children, namely: Ada Lee Cruse Reinhard, Ethel Cruse Mouton, Bertha Cruse Gardner and Silas Hubert Cruse, to be divided equally between them share and share alike. It is my will and wish that my estate be kept intact and the income divided between my four children until such a time as they shall agree that it is more profitable to divide same.
“Fifth: I hereby constitute and appoint my son Silas Hubert Cruse, and my daughters, Ada Lee Cruse Reinhard, Ethel Cruse Mouton, and Bertha Cruse Gardner, Executor and Executrix of this, my last will and testament and direct that no bond or security be required of them.
“Sixth: It is my will that no other action shall be had in the County Courts in the administration of my estate, than to prove and record this will and to return an ap-praisement of my estate and a list of claims.
“Seventh: Should any one of my four children become dissatisfied, or attempt to break this will, then that one is to be paid One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) and relinquish all claims to their part of my estate.”

On February 25, 1930, the three daughters, and on February 27th, 1930, the son, of Mrs. Cruse wrote their names at the foot of this document, signifying that they had read it and were familiar with it.

On November 27, 1937, when Mrs. Cruse’s granddaughter was twenty-four years old and her grandson was twelve, Mrs. Cruse cancelled paragraph “Third” of the aforesaid will, and wrote across it in her own hand: “This paragraph null and void, No. 27, 1937. Mattie F. Cruse.”

The codicil made in February, 1940, to the original will read as follows:

“One: I am adding this codicil to my will, since many things have changed, since it was written.
“I scratched paragraph No. Three, page two and wish to insert the following to take its place (insert for No. three) :
“I will and direct, that my two grand children Martha Reinhard and Jack Mouton, Jr., share equal the income from my estate with my four children. This will divide the income between six.
“Two: It is my will and desire that my daughter Ethel keep the books and look after the business, since she has helped me for the past twenty years, and therefore fully understands the work.
“Three: It is my will and wish that my daughter Ethel continue to live in my home till and unless she wishes to change her residence, most of the furnishing belong to her. I have given nearly all my household goods to the other children, what is left I give to her.
“Four: Knowing the uncertainty of life, I direct in case that any one of my four children die without issue that their part of the estate revert back to my living children.
“In case that all the blood heirs are wiped out, I will, and direct that the residue of [602]*602my estate be turned over to Buckner’s Orphans Home in Dallas, Texas, as a gift.”

Mrs.

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Bluebook (online)
208 S.W.2d 598, 1948 Tex. App. LEXIS 1097, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cruse-v-reinhard-texapp-1948.