Hoover v. Estate of Hoover

180 P. 275, 104 Kan. 635, 1919 Kan. LEXIS 325
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedApril 12, 1919
DocketNo. 22,057
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 180 P. 275 (Hoover v. Estate of Hoover) 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
Hoover v. Estate of Hoover, 180 P. 275, 104 Kan. 635, 1919 Kan. LEXIS 325 (kan 1919).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Marshall, J.:

O. D. Kirk was appointed to appear and manage the defense of the estate pf Samuel H. Hoover, deceased, against a claim filed by E. G. Hoover, who was sole executor of the will of Samuel H. Hoover. Judgment was rendered in favor of E. G. Hoover, and O. D. Kirk appeals.

Sometime prior to July 11,1912, Samuel H. Hoover had been, the owner of 320 acres of valuable land near Wichita-. About that time, or prior thereto, he deeded the land to his children; 160 acres thereof to E. G. Hoover, the claimant in this action, and the remainder to his other children. The deed to E. G. Hoover was dated July 11, 1912, and a note dated on that day, due on or before May 1, 1918, for $16,000, was given by E. G. Hoover to his father, Samuel H. Hoover. That note was secured by a mortgage oh eighty acres of the land deeded to E. G. Hoover. On August 17, 1912, Samuel H. Hoover executed a will giving the remainder of his property to his children, E. G. Hoover, W. C. Hoover, Maude Wise, Bird Hoover, and Mabel Fenn, as though he had died intesfate. On July 15, 1913, Samuel H. Hoover executed and delivered to E. G. Hoover a note for $16,000 due four years and forty-five days after its date;. Concerning that note a witness, who was present at the time it was signed, testified substantially as follows:

“Exhibit ‘S’ being the note claimed to have been executed by S. H. Hoover to Ed Hoover, was exhibited to the witness, who testified that he had seen the note before. He said: ‘I went in the door, came off of [637]*637the west porch. Ed was sitting at his desk writing. I asked him if he was making out a note for the money I borrowed. I owed him some money. S. H. Hoover was there in his presence.
“Q. Did he participate in that conversation? A. No.
“Q. Did he afterwards? A. Well, the note, with this piece of paper, was given to S. H. Hoover. Mr. S. H. Hoover took it in his room. When he took it in his room, it was not signed. He came back. He was gone two or three minutes, and said, ‘Here, Ed, that will do until I can get to town and fix things.’ Then he showed me the note. It was then signed. I saw the signature on it. I know the old gentleman’s signature, have seen him sign it. My judgment is it is his signature.
“The witness was then asked:
“Q. State what further was said. A. Well, Mr. Hoover said, ‘Here, Ed, this will fix things until I can get to town and fix things better.
“Q. State what he said? A. He told me he was giving Ed the note to offset the $16,000 note and mortgage on the place, which I knew was on the place, personally.”

There was evidence to show that, at the request of Samuel H. Hoover, E. G. Hoover had taken charge of the farm in 1900, when it was in a somewhat run-down condition, had cared for it, built it up, and made it pay, and that when he took charge of the farm he was more than twenty-five years old and was a professional baseball player.

1. The court found that “E. G. Hoover should have and recover of and from the estate of S. H. Hoover, deceased, the sum of $17,244.44 with interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum from June 10, 1918.” There was a general finding in favor of the claimant. That finding determined every controverted question of fact, on which there was evidence, in favor of the claimant. On evidence from which different persons might have reached different conclusions, that finding resolved those conclusions in favor- of the claimant. These principles have been declared so often that it is useless to cite authorities to support'them. It is only just to say, however, that O. D. Kirk is .not advancing any argument against these principles, but it is necessary to start with them in order to properly determine the questions that are presented.

2. It is argued that, as a gift, the claim is void. Many authorities áre cited to show that payment of a promissory note cannot be compelled when it is signed and delivered by the maker as a gift to the payee. It may be conceded that the principle contended for is correct, but the general finding of [638]*638the court determined that the note was given for a valid consideration.

Under section 2040 of the General Statutes of 1915, “ali contracts in writing, signed by the party bound thereby, or his authorized agent or attorney, shall import a consideration.” The 'note was a contract in’ writing signed by Samuel H. Hoover and imported a consideration;.therefore, the burden was on O. D. Kirk to prove that the note was without consideration. (Gen. Stat. 1915, § 2041.) He did not prove that fact.

The record of the judgment in the probate court was introduced in evidence. That record contained the following recital :

“Thereupon it was stipulated and agreed by and between all of the parties in open court, that the jury should be discharged, and that the only question in controversy was whether or not the demand of the said E. G. Hoover was exhibited within due time, that if the court should find that said demand was exhibited within due time, that then and in that event the court should render judgment in favor of the claimant and against the estate for the full amount of said claim, it being agreed between all of the parties, that if said claim was exhibited within due time, as provided by law, that the same should be allowed against said estate,’ and that the only question to be determined was by the court as to whether or not the claim of the said E. G. Hoover against said estate had been exhibited within due time as provided by law.”

In C. B. U. P. Rld. Co. v. Shoup, 28 Kan. 394, the following language is found:

“An oral admission of a fact by an attorney during the trial of a cause binds his client, and such admission may be proved on a subsequent trial of the case. If from the language used at the time, or the surrounding circumstances, it appears that such admission was intended as a mere waiver of proof for the purposes of that trial only, that will be the whole scope of its force; but if it appears to have been intended as a general admission of the fact, it will be as binding as though made -upon such subsequent trial; and, where it is uncertain what was the scope and intent of the admission, the matter must be left to the jury for its determination.” (syl. ¶ 3.)

The rule there declared is supported by Crockett v. Gray, 31 Kan. 346, 2 Pac. 809; Railway Co. v. Pavey, 57 Kan. 521, 46 Pac. 967; Cornell University v. Parkinson, 59 Kan. 365, 53 Pac. 138; and Lyon v. Garrett, 77 Kan. 823, 92 Pac. 859.

Other evidence concerning the consideration for the note [639]*639was introduced on the trial. A summary of a part of that evidence has been made.

From the presumption concerning the consideration, from the stipulation, and from other evidence introduced, the court was justified in concluding that there was sufficient consideration for the note.

3. It is argued that it is to be presumed that, when the mortgage note for $16,000 was given, all accounts and financial obligations existing between E. G. Hoover and his father were adjusted, and that, therefore, the $16,000 note given to E. G. Hoover was without consideration and was a gift.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
180 P. 275, 104 Kan. 635, 1919 Kan. LEXIS 325, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hoover-v-estate-of-hoover-kan-1919.