First Methodist Episcopal Church South v. Anderson

110 S.W.2d 1177, 1937 Tex. App. LEXIS 1324
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 13, 1937
DocketNo. 12277.
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 110 S.W.2d 1177 (First Methodist Episcopal Church South v. Anderson) 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
First Methodist Episcopal Church South v. Anderson, 110 S.W.2d 1177, 1937 Tex. App. LEXIS 1324 (Tex. Ct. App. 1937).

Opinion

BOND, Chief Justice.

William Noble Anderson, as the sole heir pf the estate of Laura M. Greenhalgh, deceased, instituted this suit against the devisees and legatees of the estate of John R. Greenhalgh, some of whom are the appellants herein. The suit waá to recover the property in the hands of one Grady Niblo, as administrator de bonis non of said estate. Primarily, the plaintiff claimed that all the property inventoried by Rufus C. Porter, as executor of John R. Green-halgh’s estate and turned over to said administrator, before undergoing changes in course of administration, was the separate property of Mrs.' Greenhalgh, and that, he, as her sole heir, was entitled to all of said property; and further, in the alternative, that under a proper construction of the will of John R. Greenhalgh, if in fact all the property listed was not the separate property of his wife, the personal property in fee and the life estate in the realty were bequeathed to her by said will, and, as her sole heir, appellee was entitled to the personal property; the real estate only vested, by the terms of the will, in the legatees and devisees.

The evidence bearing upon the issues involved in this appeal is, we believe, un-contradicted. John R. Greenhalgh and Laura M. Greenhalgh were-married in the state of Illinois in 1876, and lived together as husband and wife until the husband’s death in 1928. In November, 1900, they came to Texas, bringing with them about $9,000 in cash, which Mrs. Greenhalgh had inherited from the estate of her deceased father, and, with this fund, they purchased four pieces of property in the city of' Dallas, known in the record as the courthouse property, a lot at the corner of Jefferson and Crawford streets, and two other pieces of property which are not directly involved in this suit. The deeds to the respective pieces of property were drafted to show that Mr. Greenhalgh was the grantee, and evidenced cash consideration paid by him for said property, but, in fact, the consideration was paid from the separate property of his wife.

In 1914, Mr. and Mrs. Greenhalgh left Dallas,’ and thereafter, until their deaths, lived as guests in the Rosalyn Hotel in Los Angeles, Cal. In 1919, while living in California, they executed to Rufus C. Porter a deed to the four pieces of property above mentioned, and simultaneously Porter executed to John R. Greenhalgh a deed to the courthouse and Jefferson-Crawford street properties, and to Mrs. Laura M. Greenhalgh the other two pieces of property. In each of the three deeds, the consideration is recited to be “$10.00 cash and other good and valuable consideration,” and, in the deeds to Mr. Greenhalgh and to Mrs. Greenhalgh, respectively, a further recital that the consideration “is paid out of the separate and sole fund of the grantee herein and the property here conveyed is intended and hereby becomes the separate, sole and independent property of the grantee, free from all claims of every nature and every description of the spouse of the grantee herein.” The record shows that no consideration was in fact passed between the parties for said deeds, and that Mr. Porter was acting merely as an intermediary to carry into effect the desires and expressed wishes of Mr. and Mrs. Greenhalgh, to make the respective pieces of property the separate property of the grantee.

In 1928, John R. Greenhalgh died, leaving a written will, dated January 15, 1926, which was duly probated in the county court of Dallas county. The will begins, as follows:

“Know All Men by These Presents; That I, John R. Greenhalgh, a citizen of the City and County of Dallas, State of Texas, being of sound and disposing mind and memory, and not acting under duress, menace, fraud or undue influence of any person whatsoever, do hereby make, publish and declare this my last Will and Testament, revoking all former Wills and codicils of whatsoever nature by me made, and declare this my said last Will and Testament in the manner following; that is to say:
“1. I give and bequeath to my wife, Laura M. Greenhalgh, all my personal effects of every nature. This gift is made without restriction or limitation of any nature whatsoever.
“2. I give and bequeath to my wife, Laura M. Greenhalgh, all the income of every nature of my estate during the life of the said Laura M. Greenhalgh, and after *1179 her death my executor hereinafter named is hereby authorized and directed to sell within twelve months from her death all the property, both real and personal, which may belong to my estate at the death of the said Laura M. Greenhalgh, and distribute the proceeds thereof among the several legatees named herein as hereinafter directed.”

Paragraphs 3-11 of the will give bequests of $1,000 each to eight named persons, one of whom was plaintiff. Paragraphs 12-20 provided for bequests ranging from $2,500 to $5,000 to named charitable institutions. The will then continued, as follows:

“21. If and for any reason it may become necessary or best, or if in the judgment of my executor, hereinafter appointed, and the said Laura M. Greenhalgh, my wife, that all or any portion of my property, and all of which is located in Dallas, Texas, should be sold during the life of the said Laura M. Greenhalgh, then the said Laura M. Greenhalgh and my said executor, hereinafter named, are hereby authorized and directed to sell and convey all or any part thereof and to reinvest the proceeds received from the sale of said property in interest bearing securities, such as may be approved of by my said executor and the said Laura M. Greenhalgh, and the revenues so derived from said interest bearing securities shall be paid to the said Laura M. Greenhalgh during her life.
“22. Should any legatee or devisee under this Will undertake to contest the validity of same, or any part thereof, or to prevent any portion of my estate from descending to the several legatees as herein provided, the said devisees or legatees so obstructing or contesting this Will, or any portion thereof, shall forfeit all the interest so .devised, to said legatee or legatees, or devisee or devisees, and that portion of my estate so devised to said parties shall revert pro rata to the said above named devisees or legatees who shall assist in sustaining the apportionment and distribution of my estate as hereinabove provided.
“23. Should my estate prove not sufficiently large to pay all bequests in full after the death of my wife, as hereinabove set out, then I direct my said executor to pay in full from my estate to the several legatees mentioned in paragraphs 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, the bequests mentioned therein, and to distribute the remainder pro rata among the several legatees mentioned in paragraphs 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20; and should my estate be more than sufficient to pay all of the legatees or dev-isees the full amount which I have bequeathed to the several parties, persons and institutions hereinabove mentioned, then I desire and direct my executor to distribute pro rata the surplus, after paying all of said bequests, to the several charitable persons, parties and institutions mentioned in paragraphs 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20.”

The will concludes with the designation of Rufus C. Porter as executor, and the customary witness clauses.

After the execution of the above will, on September 17, 1926, John R. Greenha’gh and Laura M.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Saundra L. Sanders v. Mark E. Sanders
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2011
In Re Estate of Schiwetz
102 S.W.3d 355 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2003)
in the Estate of Dorothy Jane Schiwetz
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2003
Williams v. Dodson
976 S.W.2d 861 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1998)
Machover v. Estate of Machover
28 V.I. 7 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 1992)
Estate of Newbill
781 S.W.2d 727 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1989)
Dearman v. Dutschmann
739 S.W.2d 454 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1987)
Kaufhold v. McIver
682 S.W.2d 660 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1984)
Gunter v. Pogue
672 S.W.2d 840 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1984)
Teaff v. Ritchey
622 S.W.2d 589 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1981)
Lawrence v. Latch
424 S.W.2d 260 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1968)
Bergin v. Bergin
312 S.W.2d 409 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1958)
Smith v. Ricks
308 S.W.2d 941 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1957)
Graser v. Graser
212 S.W.2d 859 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1948)
Douglass v. Douglass
161 P.2d 66 (California Court of Appeal, 1945)
In Re Estate of Cocklin
17 N.W.2d 129 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1945)
Barry v. American Security & Trust Co.
135 F.2d 470 (D.C. Circuit, 1943)
Belkin v. Ray
171 S.W.2d 507 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1943)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
110 S.W.2d 1177, 1937 Tex. App. LEXIS 1324, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/first-methodist-episcopal-church-south-v-anderson-texapp-1937.