Hailey v. Hailey

182 S.W.2d 127, 27 Tenn. App. 496, 1943 Tenn. App. LEXIS 151
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedMay 7, 1943
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 182 S.W.2d 127 (Hailey v. Hailey) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hailey v. Hailey, 182 S.W.2d 127, 27 Tenn. App. 496, 1943 Tenn. App. LEXIS 151 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1943).

Opinion

BAPTIST, J.

This is an appeal from a decree of the Chancery Court of Obion County, allowing an attorneys ’ fee,of $500' to the attorneys for complainant; in disallowing an-attorney’s fee to the attorney for the defendants; in disallowing expenses claimed by the defendants, and in taxing defendants with the costs.

On April 13,1926, Samuel Wood Plailey executed a will which he left at the Masonic Temple in Memphis.

! At that time he was unmarried. He maintained a residence at Obion, Tennessee, and his mother, Mrs. A. J. Hailey, lived with him. By the terms of the will he left all of his property, both real and personal, to his mother during her life and at her death to his two brothers, V. Gr. Hailey, Gr. W. Hailey and three married sisters. The above named two brothers were appointed executors of the will without bond.

In December 1928 Samuel W. Hailey and the complainant, Carrie Inez Hailey, were married, and in February 1936, a girl child, Hilda Hope Hailey, was born to this union.

In March 1929, Mrs. A. J. Hailey, the mother of Samuel W. Hailey and beneficiary of a life estate under the will, died.

In May 1938 Samuel W. Hailey died, and shortly thereafter on June 14,1938, his’ will was probated in the County Court of Obion County, and V. Gr. Hailey and Gl. W. Hailey qualified as executors thereof without bond.

On June 24,1938, the complainant, Harriet Inez Hailey, entered into a written agreement with the two defendants *499 and the three sisters of the deceased, under which she agreed not to dissent from her husband’s will, and the brothers and sisters agreed to convey to her a house and lot in Obion and give to her an automobile which the deceased owned at his death, and the household and kitchen furniture. A deed to the house and lot was afterwards executed as agreed and Mrs. Hailey took possession of same, together with the automobile and the household effects.

The estate of Samuel W. Hailey consisted of the property which the widow took as above stated, and according to the inventory filed by 'the executors, of $6,257.83 in cash. The inventory showed that after the payment of debts there remained to “Heirs at Law trust a/c” $5,-038.52.

On June 10, 1939, the complainant widow of S. W. Hailey dissented from the will. She also qualified as guardian of her infant daughter, Hilda Hope Hailey.

The bill in the case was filed by the widow in her own right and as guardian of' Hilda Hope Hailey.

It charged that the defendants fraudulently procured her to enter into the written agreement, waiving her rights as widow; that the defendants had made a loan out of the estate’s money to one of their sisters; that they held said funds without bond; that they were insolvent; that unless said funds were impounded the whole fund would be lost; that said will was revoked by the subsequent marriage and the birth of said child; and that the beneficiaries under the will had no interest therein; that a part of said fund was on deposit in the Commercial Bank of Obion.

It sought an injunction to inhibit V. G-. Ilailey and Gr. ~W. Hailey from checking or transferring said funds out of the Bank, and to enjoin the Bank from paying out *500 any of the funds; it sought to have the will declared void and the probate set aside, and prayed that if nothing could be gained by setting’ aside the probate then that the two defendants be required to pay said fund into Court to be there disposed of.

The Chancellor decreed that the assets of the estate having been collected and the debts paid nothing could be gained by setting aside the probate of will; that the widow had waived her rights to homestead, dower, year’s support and exemptions. G. W. and V. G. Hailey paid into Court the amount of funds in their hands and the Commercial Bank of Obion was directed to pay into Court the amount of funds on deposit. There were no exceptions to this decree which was apparently satisfactory to all of the parties.

V. G. Hailey and G. W. Hailey made claim for an expense account of $329.76, included in which was a $192.49 paid out for life insurance policies which they claimed was for the protection and benefit of the trust fund; also that attorneys’ fees be allowed their solicitor out of the funds of the estate.

The Chancellor disallowed this claim for expenses as being exorbitant and wholly unnecessary, and further it appeared that the two defendants as trustees handled the fund for their own use and benefit and not paying any interest thereon; that at the time of the filing of the original Bill they had withdrawn a large portion of the fund from time to time for their own use and benefit and not paying interest thereon; and further that their solicitor was not entitled to be paid out of said fund; and further that the solicitors for complainant had rendered valuable services in behalf of the minor and fixed a fee of $500' jointly for them to be paid out of the estate.

*501 On June 24, 1938, the brothers and sisters of Samuel "VV. Hailey, deceased, as beneficiaries under the will, entered into a so called trust agreement, reciting the agreement with the widow, and undertaking to convey to V. G. and G. W. Hailey all the “remaining-property” as trustees for the benefit of Hilda Hope Hailey, which instrument granted to these so called trustees “absolute power to control and expend either the income of the same or corpus as in their judgment seemed right and proper.” The trustees were excused, under its terms, from giving bond for same.

Under this so called trust agreement, the defendants, Y. G. ánd G. W. Hailey, were in the possession of the deceased’s personal estate of more than $5,000, which was deposited in the Commercial Bank of Obion. Then from time to time they withdrew this money by check from the fund so that when this bill was filed there remained to the account little more than $1,200.

The testimony of Y. G. Hailey on cross examination failed to give any account of the disposition of the funds, stating that his brother, G. W. Hailey, was actively in charge of the fund, and he could give no details. The testimony of G. "W". Hailey was equally unsatisfactory. He contended himself with the statement that the money had been loaned to various parties, but declined to state when or to whom such loans had been made. In fact, the only loan accounted for was made to Ivie Lippard, brother in law of defendants, which was secured by a trust deed and which was repaid by consent into the funds impounded. Neither of the defendants made any effort to explain or give any accounting of the disposition of the funds and declined to produce any evidence as to whom the money had been loaned, or the nature of any investments claimed to have been made.

*502 The deposition of L. E. Maloney, cashier of the Bank of Elbridge, was taken, and showed that more than $2,000 was withdrawn by the defendants out of the estate fund by check on the Commercial Bank of Obion, and that the defendants either received the cash on same, or credit to 'their personal account by deposit in the Bank of Elbridge.

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Related

In Re Estate of Perigen
653 S.W.2d 717 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1983)
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270 S.W.2d 660 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1953)

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Bluebook (online)
182 S.W.2d 127, 27 Tenn. App. 496, 1943 Tenn. App. LEXIS 151, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hailey-v-hailey-tennctapp-1943.