Dusing v. Schuessler

166 P.2d 720, 161 Kan. 93, 1946 Kan. LEXIS 223
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedMarch 9, 1946
DocketNo. 36,432
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 166 P.2d 720 (Dusing v. Schuessler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dusing v. Schuessler, 166 P.2d 720, 161 Kan. 93, 1946 Kan. LEXIS 223 (kan 1946).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Burch, J.:

The principal question presented in this appeal is whether the probate court lost jurisdiction for the purpose of va[94]*94eating an order admitting a will to probate because the petition seeking to set aside and vacate such order was filed after the expiration of thirty days from the date of the order admitting such will to probate. The probate court and the district court, on appeal, held in substance, on the pleadings, that the order admitting the will to probate could not be vacated. The case involves construction of G. S. 1943 Supp. 59-2213, which reads as follows:

. . The court shall have control of its orders, judgments, and decrees for thirty days after the date of the rendition thereof. Thereafter such orders, judgments, and decrees may be vacated or modified as provided by section 605 of the code of civil procedure.”

Comprehension of the legal questions involved requires a statement of the essential facts, which follows:

A will of Frank Lillibridge was admitted to probate in the probate court of Washington county, Kansas, on November 17, 1943, upon the petition of his daughter, Eva Schuessler, who as executrix and individually is the appellee and cross-appellant. Anabelle Dusing, the appellant, was named as a beneficiary in the will. She had voluntarily entered her appearance in the probate court prior to the time the will was admitted to probate and had not then protested its admission in any manner. On February 1, 1944, Ana-belle Dusing filed in the probate court a petition to vacate and set aside the order of November 17, 1943, admitting the decedent’s will to probate. Such petition alleged that Anabelle Dusing was a daughter of Frank Lillibridge, deceased, and

“That since November 17, 1943, it has been discovered that said Frank Lillibridge, deceased, duly executed and had properly and legally witnessed two wills subsequent to May 5, 1928, [the date of the admitted will] both of which wills revoked any and all former wills by him made, the two said wills having been made and executed on August 20th, 1935, and August 21st, 1937; that true and correct copies of the two said last mentioned wills, except for signatures, are hereto attached and are by this reference made a part hereof.
“That the two wills referred to in the preceding paragraph, dated August 20th, 1935, and August 21st, 1937, were both, subsequent to their execution, retained in possession by the said Frank Lillibridge, and were both later revoked by him by destruction prior to his death. That no valid and subsisting will has been discovered since his death, and that he died intestate.
“That the said Frank Lillibridge left as his only heirs at law two daughters, Mrs. Eva Schuessler of Hanover, Kansas, and Mrs. Anabelle Dusing, this petitioner, of 2103 South St. Francis, Wichita, Kansas.
“That the said Frank Lillibridge left as his estate at the time of his death personal property of the approximate value of $20,000.00 arid real estate of [95]*95the approximate value of $50,000.00, and that an administrator should be appointed to administer his estate.
“That it is the wish and desire of this petitioner that John A. Maxwell of Washington, Kansas, be appointed administrator of the estate of Frank Lillibridge, deceased, to administer said estate in conformity with law and the orders of this court.
“Wherefore, it is respectfully prayed that an order be herein made setting aside the order heretofore made by this court admitting to probate as the will of Frank Lillibridge, deceased, that instrument dated May 5th, 1928, hereinbefore submitted, and that such order further find that the said Frank Lillibridge died intestate, and that such order appoint John A. Maxwell as administrator of the estate of Frank Lillibridge, deceased.”

Subsequently and before the hearing thereon, appellant amended her petition by adding as paragraph 5 thereof the following paragraph :

“That the execution of the wills of 1935 and 1937 hereinbefore referred to, which as hereinbefore stated revoked the 1928 will hereinbefore offered for probate, was not discovered or learned of by the petitioner herein until after the expiration of thirty days subsequent to the making of the order herein made admitting the 1928 will to probate, and was therefore not known to said petitioner at the time said 1928 will was admitted to probate.”

To this petition cross-appellant filed the following objections:

“Come Eva Schuessler, the duly appointed, qualified and acting Executrix of the last will and testament of said decedent, and Eva Schuessler, as an individual, and object to the consideration by the court of the pretended petition filed herein on the 1st day of February, 1944, by Anabelle Dusing for an order setting aside the order made by said court on November 17, 1943, admitting the last will and testament of said decedent to probate for the following reasons, to-wit:
“1. Said court has no jurisdiction to hear said petition or to determine the same upon its merits or to grant the relief therein sought.
“2. Said petition was not filed within the time permitted by law for the filing of such petition, if in fact the law permits the filing of the same.
“3. No summons, process or other notice of the hearing of said petition has been issued and served.
“4. Said petition does not state facts sufficient to warrant the court in granting the relief prayed for in said petition.
“5. Said court is without power, jurisdiction, or authority to set aside its order of November 17th, 1943, admitting said last will and testament to probate, upon the petition of Anabelle Dusing, filed herein.”

On July 17, 1944, the probate court sustained cross-appellant’s objections to the petition of appellant to vacate the judgment. On July 31, 1944, the appellant appealed from the order of July 17, 1944, denying her petition' to vacate the judgment admitting the will to probate, and at the same time appealed from the order of [96]*96the probate court made on November 17, 1943, admitting decedent’s will to probate.

For the purpose of brevity and clarity Anabelle Dusing will hereinafter be referred to as the “appellant” and Eva Schuessler will be referred to as the “appellee’ even though she is also a cross-appellant.

Nothing more occurred in the probate court in connection with the first proceeding. Seventeen days after the appeal was taken to the district court the appellant filed in the probate court a second proceeding. The pleading filed was designated as a “Petition for Allowance of Demand against Decedent’s Estate.” Examination of its allegations discloses that it sets up in substance the same factual matter contained in the petition filed by the appellant to vacate and set aside the order admitting the will to probate. Such “demand” alleged that the factual situation was such as to compel the court to find that the testator in fact died intestate, leaving the appellant and the appellee, his daughters, as his only heirs at law, and that therefore his net estate should be distributed share and share alike.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
166 P.2d 720, 161 Kan. 93, 1946 Kan. LEXIS 223, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dusing-v-schuessler-kan-1946.