Howe v. Kern

125 P. 834, 63 Or. 487, 1912 Ore. LEXIS 256
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 6, 1912
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 125 P. 834 (Howe v. Kern) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Howe v. Kern, 125 P. 834, 63 Or. 487, 1912 Ore. LEXIS 256 (Or. 1912).

Opinions

[494]*494Opinion by

Mr. Chief Justice Eakin.

1. When defendant Kern was called upon by the executrix to 'execute the mortgage to secure the $2,000, deferred payment of the purchase price of the 5%-acre tract, he refused to do so, and she brought suit against him to compel specific performance. That suit raised only the question as to the liability of Kern upon his contract of purchase. His defense was that plaintiff could not give him a good title because the petition for the sale was insufficient to authorize an order of sale. He asks to have the minor made a party defendant in that suit, and an order to that effect was made by the court, but an amended complaint, accomplishing that result, was not filed. However, a summons was served on the minor, and, on motion of Kern, Stephan was appointed guardian ad litem for him in that suit. Kern being willing to complete the purchase and not satisfied that a decree against him in that suit would quiet his title, he filed what he terms a cross-bill, not against the plaintiff or for relief as to any matter involved therein, but to quiet title against the minor.

2. Upon the cross-bill no summons was issued and no service of the complaint was had on the minor, nor was there a guardian ad litem appointed for him, but service of the complaint was accepted by the guardian in the suit for specific performance, and he filed an answer therein. The guardian ad litem was selected by the executrix, and he did not investigate the minor’s rights, but acted upon the advice of Mrs. Howe, and her attorney, who, it seems, drew his answer, yet her interests in the proceeding were adverse to that of the' minor, as it would result in taking his property to pay debts chargeable upon the property devised to her. See Bowman v. Anderson, 62 Or. 431 (123 Pac. 1092). However, by Section 390, L. O. L., cross-bills are abolished except for the purpose of asserting an equitable defense in an action at law; but any defense that a defendant [495]*495may have against the plaintiff in a suit may .be pleaded as a counterclaim under Section 401, L. O. L., if it be connected with the subject of the suit. Although the minor was made a party defendant in the suit for specific performance, he was in no way interested in the result. Therefore the circuit court had no jurisdiction in that suit to quiet the title as against the minor, and, so far as it attempted to do so, the decree was void, for the reason that the relief sought by the cross-bill was not a counterclaim against the plaintiff in the suit for specific performance, within Section 401, L. O. L., and for the further reason that the minor, against whom the relief was sought, was not brought into court by service of summons.

The plaintiff in this suit, assuming that the petition for the sale of the real estate in the probate proceeding was wholly insufficient to give the court jurisdiction to order the sale, alleges that the answer and cross-bill in the suit for specific performance and the proceedings thereunder were had by collusion and fraud between the executrix and Kern for the purpose of barring and cutting off any claim to the property by the minor; and the defendants, plead the proceeding under such answer and cross-bill as an adjudication of the title in their favor, and that they are innocent purchasers for a valuable consideration without notice of any collusion or fraud.

Without considering the question of collusion or frauci on the part of Kern and the executrix, we conclude that the decree in the suit for specific performance did not bar or estop the plaintiff from claiming title to the property, and this brings us to the consideration of the question of the sufficiency of the petition for the sale of the real estate and the validity of the order.

3. The first question of importance is as to the relation that the fourth item of the will — the devise of the 5 34-acre tract — bears to the other devise. This is a specific [496]*496devise to Carrie Howe and the infant. By Section 1252, L. O. L., when real estate is specially devised, it shall be exempt from the - operation of the order of sale for the purpose of paying debts in the same manner as personal property; and by Section 1251 personal property, specially bequeathed, is exempt from the operation of the order of sale so long as any property not specially devised or bequeathed remains unsold. The wife’s interest in the property devised by both items 3 and 4 is made contingent upon her remaining with the testator while he lives and remaining unmarried thereafter. In case of desertion or remarriage all the property is to go to the infant. Plaintiff has overlooked the fact that item 3 of the will is also a special devise of the property described and is exempt from the order of sale until property, not specially devised or bequeathed, has been exhausted. By the terms of item 3, the devise to Carrie Howe is charged with the support of herself ánd the education and maintenance of the child; and the property devised by item 4 cannot be sold to meet such expenses until the other property is exhausted. '

4. The debts of the estate secured by mortgage must first be satisfied out of the mortgaged property. This is recognized by Section 1271, L. O. L., which provides for the payment of mortgage debts out of the personal property only when so provided in the will or by order of the court, and by Section 1272, L. O. L., if no such provision is made, the property shall be sold subject to the mortgage. The property devised by item 4 is equally liable with that devised by item 3 for the funeral expenses, debts of the estate, and expenses of administration, and either may be resorted to for the payment of such claims or liabilities; and if, in the course of the probate proceeding, either devise has contributed to such liability more than its share, the devisee is entitled to contribution therefor. Jarman, Wills, p. 2031.

[497]*4975. But the property devised by item 4, having been ordered to be sold for debts for which it was liable, the fact that more property was included in such order than was necessary to pay such debts, or that a part of the proceeds of such sale was applied to claims for which it was not liable, cannot render the sale invalid.

6. The complaint in this suit alleges that the petition for the sale of real property was insufficient to give the court jurisdiction.

“That the said petition for the sale of real property was insufficient and did not contain the jurisdictional facts to give the court jurisdiction to base an order thereon directing the sale of the said minor’s interest in and to the said tract of 5% acres especially devised to him by said will. That said petition failed to allege or show any necessity for the sale of said property, but, on the contrary, showed that there was no necessity to sell said property.

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

Related

In Re Estate of Nawrocki
268 P.2d 363 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1954)
PETERS v. McKAY
246 P.2d 535 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1951)
State Ex Rel. Bowles v. Olson
151 P.2d 723 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1944)
Hannibal Trust Co. v. Elzea
286 S.W. 371 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1926)
Delsman v. Wilcox
237 P. 973 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1925)
Hanna v. Hope
168 P. 618 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1917)
Rouse v. Riverton Coal Co.
142 P. 343 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1914)
Templeton v. Cook
138 P. 230 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1914)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
125 P. 834, 63 Or. 487, 1912 Ore. LEXIS 256, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/howe-v-kern-or-1912.