Daniels v. Barnett

1926 OK 949, 253 P. 300, 122 Okla. 202, 1926 Okla. LEXIS 239
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedNovember 30, 1926
Docket17671
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 1926 OK 949 (Daniels v. Barnett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Daniels v. Barnett, 1926 OK 949, 253 P. 300, 122 Okla. 202, 1926 Okla. LEXIS 239 (Okla. 1926).

Opinion

PHELPS, J.

On March 2, 1915, application was made to the county court of Ok-mulgee county, in which it was claimed that Katie Fixico, a full-blood Creek Indian woman, was an incompetent, and praying that she be so declared and that a guardian of her person and estate be appointed. On the same day notice was posted, and which was served on her on March 8th, that a hearing would be had at 10 o’clock on March 12,1915. Katie Fixico did not appear at the time and place fixed for such hearing, and the hearing was postponed until 10 o’clock, March 24, 1915, and on the 13th day of March, 1915, the county judge issued an attachment for said Katie Fixico, directing that she be brought before such court at 4:30 p. m. on said day. This attachment, however, was not served until the 15th of March. On said 21th day of March she appeared and demurred to the petition, and also filed protest against the appointment of a guardian. The hearing was continued to March 25th, on which date Katie Fixico was, by the county court, adjudged incompetent, and a guardian of her person and estate'was appointed, from which order an appeal was prosecuted to the district court of Okmulgee county.

After such appeal was lodged in the district court, and on the 25th day of February, 1910, notice was issued, over the s’g-natnre of the court clerk, which notice was served on Katie Fixico on March 1, 1916, to the effect that the matters presented by the appeal would be heard by the district court at 9 o’clock a. m. on the 7th day of March, 1916, at which time and place she appeared in person and by attorney, and after hearing the district court found and adjudged Katie Fixico to be an incompetent person, and entered its order and judgment so declaring, and in all things approved and confirmed the finding and judgment of the county court. From this finding and judgment of the district court, an -appeal was prosecuted to this court by one E. H. Hoyt, which appeal was dismissed upon the -ground that Hoyt was not an aggrieved person entitled to prosecute the appeal. In re Fixioo>, 71 Okla. 102, 175 Pac. 516.

In the meantime Katie Eixico was married to John Daniels, and appears in this proceeding as Katie Daniels, nee Eixico.

On the 20th day of May, 1926, in pursuance of a verified petition theretofore filed in the county court of Okmulgee county by Katie Daniels, nee Fixico, and her husband', John Daniels, as her next friend, said county court, after a hearing, entered its order adjudging Katie Daniels, nee Fixico. competent, fully capable of managing her property, and directing that the guardianship be terminated and revoked, and that she be intrusted with full and complete control of her property, and directing that the guardian file his report as provided by law.

On or about May 31st thereafter, Katie Daniels, joined by her husband, John Daniels, filed their action in the district court of Ok-mulgee county for an accounting with her former guardian and to set aside certain trust deeds made by her, in which they alleged that she was incompetent, and in pursuance of their prayer therefor the district court appointed receivers to take charge of and preserve her property. On July 29th, following, the county judge of Okmulgee county, upon his own motion, made an order vacating ■ and setting aside his finding and order of May 26th. restoring Katie Daniels to- competency. On July 29th he also entered his order appointing another guardian instead of the one discharged by his order restoring Katie Daniels to competency.

This original petition was then filed in this court by Katie Daniels, nee Fixico, and her husband, John Daniels, alleging that the Honorable W. A. Barnett, as county judge of Okmulgee county, was attempting to exercise jurisdiction over the parson and property of said Katie Daniels through the guardian appointed by him, -and they here pray *204 for a writ of prohibition restraining and prohibiting him from so doing.

It is contended by petitioners that the original order and finding of March 25, 1915, adjudging Katie Fixico an incompetent and appointing a guardian for her, is void, upon the grounds that the notice required by statute had not been given.

Section 1449, Comp. Stats. 1921 (which was in effect at that time as section 6538, Rev. Laws 1910), reads as follows:

“When it is represented to the county court, upon verified petition of any relative or friend, that any person is insane, or from any cause mentally incompetent to manage his nroporty. the judge must cause notice to be given to the supposed insane of incompetent person, of the time and place of hearing the case, not less than five days before the time so appointed, and such person, if able toi attend, must be produced before him on the hearing.”

As heretofore shown in the statement of facts, the notice was served upon the alleged incompetent on March .8th that a hearing would be had on March 12th, and when the alleged incompetent did not appear at the hearing on March 12th, the hearing was continued to March 24th. An attachment was served upon her on March 15th, and when the case was called for hearing on the 24th she appeared in person and by attorney, and the hearing was concluded' , on March 25th, and it is contended by respondent that, inasmuch as more than five days elapsed from the time she was brought into court until the hearing was commenced, this constituted a compliance with the provisions of the statute'.

In Wright v. Riber, 112 Okla. 43, 239 Pac. 603, this court held that in a proceeding to declare one incompetent the county court acquires no jurisdiction to hear the case until the five days’ notice provided by statute has elapsed, stating in the opinion that:

“The statute contemplated all parties should at least have five days in which to prepare for trial.”

In that case, however, the petition was filed on February 12th, and notice immediately served that the hearing would be had on February 18th, but the hearing was had' immediately. but the court withheld its order and judgment until the 18th.

In Martin v. O’Reilly, 81 Okla. 261, 200 Pac. 687, this court held that the provision of section 1449, supra, prescribing that five days’ notice must be given, is mandatory, hut it appears in that case that no notice at ail was given, the alleged incompetent was not in court, and no excuse for his absence appeared of record.

We conclude, therefore, that, although five days did not intervene between the time the notice was first ‘ served on the alleged incompetent and the date set for hearing, yet when the cause was continued to the 24th and she was brought into court by attachment on the 15th, and then appeared on the 24th in person and by attorney and pleaded to the petition, every right which the notice is designed to safeguard was amply protected and the court vested with jurisdiction. This is especially true in view of the fact that the alleged incompetent appealed from the decision of the county court to the district court on both questions of law and fact, and six days before the hearing de novo in the district court notice was again served on her, and upon hearing the district court found the same facts as found by the county court and rendered its judgment accordingly.

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Bluebook (online)
1926 OK 949, 253 P. 300, 122 Okla. 202, 1926 Okla. LEXIS 239, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/daniels-v-barnett-okla-1926.