Griffin v. Dohner

1947 OK 363, 189 P.2d 933, 199 Okla. 676, 1947 Okla. LEXIS 655
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedDecember 2, 1947
DocketNo. 32872
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 1947 OK 363 (Griffin v. Dohner) 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
Griffin v. Dohner, 1947 OK 363, 189 P.2d 933, 199 Okla. 676, 1947 Okla. LEXIS 655 (Okla. 1947).

Opinions

HURST, C.J.

H. B. Griffin died intestate on July 13, 1944, owning three quarter sections of land in Texas county. Roma Griffin, wife of H. B. Griffin, died intestate on October 15, 1943. Neither had issue. In December, 1932, Griffin executed and acknowledged [677]*677deeds in favor of fiis wife covering said lands. The deeds were recorded after the death of the grantor. W. A. Griffin, administrator of the estate of H. B. Griffin, in his final account and petition for distribution, listed the lands as part of the assets of the estate and asked that they be distributed to the six brothers and sisters of H. B. Griffin as his sole heirs at law. Elizabeth Dohner, mother of Roma Griffin, filed objections to the account, alleging that the lands were acquired during coverture by the joint industry of Mr. and Mrs. Griffin, that the lands belonged to Mrs. Griffin at the time of her death, and that Griffin inherited them from Mrs. Griffin, they having no children or adopted children, and that upon the death of Griffin the lands descended one-half to the heirs of Mrs. Griffin and one-half to the heirs of Mr. Griffin, and that she, Elizabeth Dohner, and Oneita Hallenbeck, sister of Mrs. Griffin, were her sole heirs, and as such inherited one-half of the lands.

The issues thus made were, by the county court and the district court on appeal, found in favor of the contestant, and the lands and $729.17 were ordered distributed one-half to Elizabeth Dohner, sole heir of Roma Griffin, and one-half in equal parts to the six brothers and sisters of H. B. Griffin. From the judgment of the district court, the administrator and six brothers and sisters of Mr. Griffin have appealed.

For reversal, the appellants argue that the deeds were ineffective (1) because they were testamentary in character, and (2) because they were never delivered with the intention that they pass title. The appellants do not contend that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the finding that the property in dispute was acquired by the joint industry of Mr. and Mrs. Griffin during coverture or that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the finding as to who were the heirs of Mr. and Mrs. Griffin. The parties do not question the jurisdiction of the county court and the district court on appeal to decide whether the deeds were effective to pass title.

Mrs. Dohner relies upon the proviso to 84 O.S. 1941 §213(2), which reads as follows:

“Provided, that in all cases where the property is acquired by the joint industry of husband and wife during coverture, and there is no issue, the whole estate shall go to the survivor, at whose death, if any of the said property remain, one-half of such property shall go to the heirs of the husband and one-half to the heirs of the wife, according to the right of representation.”

For the proviso to apply it was necessary for Mrs. Dohner to prove that the deeds were effective to vest title in Mrs. Griffin. Essex v. Washington, 198 Okla. 145, 176 P. 2d 476.

1. At the outset we are faced with the question of whether the county court, in settling the estate and determining the heirs of Mrs. Griffin, had jurisdiction to determine this issue in a contest between Mrs. Dohner, mother and sole heir of Mrs. Griffin, and the administrator of the estate of Mr. Griffin and his six brothers and sisters. The parties do not raise this question, but since it relates to the jurisdiction of the court over the subject matter, it cannot be waived and it is our duty to consider it. Harber v. McKeown, 195 Okla. 290, 157 P. 2d 753; In re Singleton’s Estate, 26 Nev. 106, 64 P. 513.

It is well settled that the county court in the exercise of its probate jurisdiction is without authority to try title to property as between the administrator or heirs of decedent and third persons. Fibikowski v. Fibikowski, 185 Okla. 520, 94 P. 2d 921; Taliaferro v. Reirdon, 186 Okla. 603, 99 P. 2d 522; American Surety Co. v. Wilson, 172 Okla. 107, 44 P. 2d 35; Bancroft’s Probate Practice, §27; Ross Probate Law & Practice, §158. And since the jurisdiction of the district court in a probate cause is appellate only, it has no such jurisdiction in such an appeal. In re Jones’ Estate, 195 Okla. 168, 155 P. 2d 980. [678]*678We are not here concerned, with the right of the district court to determine heirship under 84 O.S. 1941 §257.

The question, then, is, whether a determination of the questions of whether title was vested in Mrs. Griffin at the time of her death and whether the lands were acquired by joint industry of Mr. and Mrs. Griffin during coverture comes within the probate jurisdiction of the county court.

By section 12, art. 7 of the Constitution, the county court is given “original jurisdiction in all probate matters”, provided that it shall not have jurisdiction “in any matter wherein the title or boundaries of land may be in dispute or called in question.” And by section 13, art. 7 of the Constitution, the county court is given “the general jurisdiction of a probate court”, including jurisdiction to “settle accounts of executors, administrators, and guardians”, and to “transact all business appertaining to the estates of deceased persons . . . including the sale, settlement, partition and distribution of the estates thereof.”

In 21 C.J.S. 550, it is said:

“In the absence of statutory restrictions probate courts have such ancillary and incidental powers as are reasonably necessary to an effective exercise of the powers expressly conferred.”

—and at page 547 of the same volume it is said:

“Ordinarily a probate court cannot determine a question of title to property unless such question arises collaterally as a necessary incident to the determination of other matters within the court’s jurisdiction.”

In 14 Am.Jur. 251, it is said:

“The modern tendency is to extend the jurisdiction of the probate court in respect to matters incidental and collateral to the exercise of its recognized powers.”

See, in this connection, 15 C.J. 813, 814, 1012; 1 Woerner on American Law of Administration (3rd Ed.) p. 483; Re Noble, 141 Kan. 432, 41 P. 2d 1021, 97 A.L.R. 463.

Bearing in mind these general rules, we are of the opinion that the constitutional provisions, above quoted, may and should be harmonized. The provision of section 12, that the county court shall have no jurisdiction over disputes as to title or boundaries of land, has reference to disputes between the heirs or representatives of the estate and third persons claiming adversely to the estate. It does not deny the county court jurisdiction of disputes between the heirs, such as the one involved in the instant case, which the county court must decide if it is to effectively carry out the powers expressly conferred by section 13, above quoted. The cases holding that the court exercising probate jurisdiction may not try title to lands involved controversies wherein third persons were claiming adversely to the estate. We have found no case holding that the county court may not decide disputes as to title between those claiming as heirs or devisees of the decedent.

If Mrs. Dohner was not an heir of Mr. Griffin, she is a third party under the foregoing rule, and the county court and the district court on appeal were without jurisdiction in the case involving Mr. Griffin’s estate to determine the issue presented by her objections to the final account and petition for distribution.

In Byers v.

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

Related

Wilson v. Kane
1993 OK 65 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1993)
Matter of Estate of Steen
909 P.2d 63 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 1992)
Richards v. Powell
1985 OK CIV APP 21 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 1985)
Buchanan v. Parsons
1980 OK CIV APP 66 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 1980)
Matter of Estate of Franz
1979 OK CIV APP 37 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 1979)
Matter of Lindell's Death
1977 OK CIV APP 60 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 1977)
In Re the Estate of Kizziar
1976 OK 114 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1976)
Duke v. Nelson
536 P.2d 412 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 1975)
HEIRS, ETC., OF PAYNE v. Seay
1970 OK 230 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1970)
Hackett v. Hackett
429 P.2d 753 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1967)
Senter v. Senter
1966 OK 131 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1966)
Johnny P. Ledbetter v. Buddy Taylor
359 F.2d 760 (Tenth Circuit, 1966)
Coffey v. Price
1963 OK 58 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1963)
In Re the Estate of Fullerton
1962 OK 168 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1962)
Roth v. Palutzke
350 P.2d 358 (Montana Supreme Court, 1960)
Pease v. Stamps
1960 OK 82 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1960)
Page v. Sherman
1959 OK 93 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1959)
Smith v. Citizens National Bank in Okmulgee
313 P.2d 505 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1957)
Lundy v. Lundy
312 P.2d 1028 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1957)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1947 OK 363, 189 P.2d 933, 199 Okla. 676, 1947 Okla. LEXIS 655, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/griffin-v-dohner-okla-1947.