In Re Crane's Estate

1949 OK 90, 206 P.2d 726, 201 Okla. 354, 9 A.L.R. 2d 524, 1949 Okla. LEXIS 316
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedMay 3, 1949
DocketNo. 33432
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 1949 OK 90 (In Re Crane's Estate) 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
In Re Crane's Estate, 1949 OK 90, 206 P.2d 726, 201 Okla. 354, 9 A.L.R. 2d 524, 1949 Okla. LEXIS 316 (Okla. 1949).

Opinion

GIBSON, J.

This is an appeal by D. C. Howard and John Kilbie, joint executors of the will of H. O. Crane, de[355]*355ceased, and by Frankie M. Day and Virgil Crane, children and devisees of the deceased, from order of district court decreeing Birdie Crane, widow of deceased, an allowance of $300 per month payable out of the estate of the deceased.

H. O. Crane died testate May 5, 1946, aged 74, survived by his wife, Birdie Crane, aged 54, and two children of a former marriage, Frankie M. Day and Virgil Crane, both adults, who lived apart from the parental home. His will was admitted to probate in the county court of Osage county, Okla., and D. C. Howard and John Kilbie, named as executors in the will, qualified as such. By the terms of the will certain lands and personal property were devised to the wife, Birdie Crane, and the remainder, except small bequests to his grandchildren, was devised to his two children, Frankie M. Day and Virgil Crane. The widow, Birdie Crane, renounced the will and elected to take under the law of succession.

The decedent died seized and possessed of a considerable estate in Oklahoma and Kansas consisting chiefly of lands and cattle. The Oklahoma estate was twice appraised. The first reflected the value of $92,639.32, and the second $130,569.73. Of such values the relative values of the land and personalty are 3/5 and 2/5, respectively. In addition thereto the executors received from life insurance and other sources cash to the amount of $8,026.70. The value of the Kansas estate consisting of realty appears to be $27,120. The community property, if any, consists of calves, sold by the executors for the sum of $11,248.45, and other items of the value of $2,182. The status of such property is undetermined because it is in litigation between the parties. The indebtedness of the estate was less than $3,000.

At the time of the death the widow had $1,834.38, cash in bank, and owned 19 or 20 head of stock cattle and 15 calves. Of the calves 11 were sold for a cash consideration of $818.40.

Under authority of the statutes (Tit. 58 O. S. 1941 §§311 and 312) there was set apart to the widow the homestead, consisting of farm and dwelling thereon, and such equipment thereon as is exempt by law from levy and sale. And upon application of the widow, the county court authorized and fixed the widow’s allowance at $300 per month to begin at date of death of decedent and to continue until administration of the estate is closed or until further order of the court, payable out of the separate estate of the deceased. The executors and said devisees appealed from said order to the district court where, upon trial de novo, the court found there was no abuse of discretion by the county court in granting the allowance and entered its order fixing the allowance in the same amount and in all other respects the same as done by the county court. From such order this appeal is prosecuted.

In support of the petition in error the following propositions are urged:

“(1) In the circumstances the widow was not as a matter of right entitled to a case allowance at all.
“(2) If she were entitled to such allowance at all, the allowance made by the court was excessive.
“(3) If it were proper to make the widow a cash allowance, it should have been made payable out of the community property instead of from the separate property of the deceased.”

The questions presented involve a construction of Tit. 58 O. S. 1941 §314, which is as follows:

“If the amount set apart as aforesaid be less than that allowed, and insufficient for the support of the surviving spouse and children, or either, or, if there be no such personal property to be set apart, and if there be other estate of the decedent, the court may in its discretion make such reasonable allowance out of the estate as [356]*356shall be necessary for the maintenance of the family, according to their circumstances during the progress of the settlement of the estate, which, in case of an insolvent estate, must not be longer than one year after granting letters testamentary, or of administration.”

Since the decision of the California courts, construing a similar statute, are persuasive, and because we shall consider those decisions in construing our statute, we quote the analogous California statute, section 1466 of vol. 3, California Code (Deering Ed. 1885):

“Sec. 1466. If the amount set apart be insufficient for the support of the widow and children, or either, the court or a judge thereof must make such reasonable allowance out of the estate as shall be necessary for the maintenance of the family, according.to their circumstances, during the progress of the settlement of the estate, which, in case of an insolvent estate, must not be longer than one year after granting letters testamentary or of administration.”

The first proposition is sought to be sustained on two grounds. The first is that, under the terms of the statute, it is only when the property authorized to be set aside under Tit. 58 O. S. 1941 §§311 and 312, is insufficient for the purpose that a monetary allowance can be made; that to justify an allowance it is incumbent upon the widow to show that she is in necessitous circumstances, and that no such showing was made or found. It is true that it is incumbent upon the court to adjudicate the fact of such necessity before making the allowance, but it does not require a specific finding thereon. On this question it is said in Re Welch’s Estate, 106 Cal. 427, 39 P. 805, 806:

“It is asserted that this order is invalid for lack of a finding that the property exempt from execution, and already set apart to the support of the widow, was insufficient for the purpose. Code Civ. Proc. secs. 1464-1466. The fact that the court, after setting aside exempt property, made its order for family allowance, involved, of necessity, the decision that the amount originally set apart was insufficient. The order for additional allowance in itself was a declaration of that insufficiency.”

That there was evidence to the effect that the property set apart to the widow was insufficient for her maintenance and support, without resort to her personal means, is not questioned and it follows that the question of the authority for the allowance was properly adjudicated unless by reason of the widow’s personal means it should be held that necessity for an allowance did not exist, the affirmative of which is the second ground urged in support of the first proposition. It is urged on authority of the text in 24 C. J. 239, 240, that in determining the question of necessity for an allowance regard must be had “to the widow’s private estate not received from her husband.” No case is cited which applies such doctrine in jurisdictions having a governing statute similar to the Oklahoma statute. The identical question was presented in Re Lux’s Estate, 100 Cal. 593, 35 P. 341, 343-344. Therein it was said:

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Bluebook (online)
1949 OK 90, 206 P.2d 726, 201 Okla. 354, 9 A.L.R. 2d 524, 1949 Okla. LEXIS 316, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-cranes-estate-okla-1949.