In re Davis' Estate

27 P. 342, 11 Mont. 1, 1891 Mont. LEXIS 47
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 13, 1891
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 27 P. 342 (In re Davis' Estate) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Davis' Estate, 27 P. 342, 11 Mont. 1, 1891 Mont. LEXIS 47 (Mo. 1891).

Opinion

Blake, C. J.

This is an appeal from an order overruling the motion of Henry A. Boot and Maria Cummings for a change of venue upon the following grounds: —

“First. There is reason to believe that an impartial trial can[13]*13not be had in said county of Silver Bow. Second. The citizens, inhabitants, and tax-payers of said county are interested in said proceedings, are biased and prejudiced against contestants, and in favor of proponent; and because the ends ot justice will be promoted by said change.”

The order was made May 2, 1891. The body of one notice of appeal recites “that the contestants .... appeal from the order of the court overruling their motion for a change of venue on account of the prejudice of the judge of said court, .... and from the whole thereof, to the Supreme Court of the State oí Montana.” In another notice this language is used: “ The contestants .... appeal from the order of the court overruling their motion for a change of venue on account of the prejudice of the inhabitants of the county, and for the reason that an impartial trial cannot be had therein, .... and from the whole thereof, to the Supreme Court of the State of Montana.”

The issues which are to be tried in this proceeding should be considered before we discuss the questions which have been raised.

Andrew J. Davis died March 11, 1890, in the county of Silver Bow, in this State. John A. Davis filed July 24, 1890, in the court below, his petition, and alleged that the deceased had left a will which first came to his knowledge and possession upon the fifteenth day of July, 1890. He therein stated the value oí the estate to be about four and one-half millions of dollars, and the heirs to be fourteen persons, who, with the exception of the petitioner, are non-residents. The entire estate, subject to a life maintenance of three parties, was devised by this instrument to said John A. Davis. The will, according to the record, was executed in the State of Iowa in the month of July, 1866. Said Boot and Mrs. Cummings, who are two heirs of the deceased, filed in writing their objections to the probate of this instrument, and averred in substance that the same was a forgery, and, if ever executed, was revoked by the deceased during his lifetime by the making of other wills. John A. Davis in his replication denies that the deceased ever executed another will, and alleges that if he had, the instrument which was made in the year 1866 was republished. The contestants demanded a trial by a jury of these issues.

[14]*14The affidavits, pleadings, and documentary evidence, which were submitted upon the hearing of the motion, relate to the grounds which are specified in the notices of appeal. It is claimed by John A. Davis, who is the respondent, that this court has no jurisdiction to review the action of the court below. The contention is that this order is not enumerated in section -324 of the Probate Practice Act, concerning appeals from the Probate Court, and that there is no other legislation upon this matter.

These proceedings recently received the careful investigation of this court in the Estate of McFarland, 10 Mont. 445, and were adjudged invalid; and it was further held that appeals in the District Court in “ matters of probate ” must be regulated by section 421 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Under its terms, an appeal may be taken “from an order granting or ■refusing to grant a change of the place of trial.” We are thereby expressly empowered to inquire into the merits of this appeal. But the respondent insists that each of the notices is of an appeal from a part of the order before us, and that such practice-is without legal sanction. The transcript contains one motion for a change of the venue, which sets forth two grounds, and one order overruling the same, and two distinct notices of appeal and undertakings on appeal. We confess that we do not understand the reasons for bringing into this tribunal more than one appeal in this matter.

The judge of the court below, however, seems to have treated the subject in like manner, and employs in the order these words: “The motions of contestants for a change of venue herein, having come on regularly to be heard .... it is now ordered and adjudged that said motions for a change of venue be, and the same is denied and overruled.” Thé counsel for the appellants may have been controlled by this peculiar phraseology. The Supreme Court of California allows an appeal to be taken from a portion of an order. (Dimick v. Deringer, 32 Cal. 488; Estate of McCauley, 50 Cal. 544.) The cases of Barkley v. Logan, 2 Mont. 296, and Plaisted v. Nowlan, 2 Mont. 359, on which the respondent relies, are easily distinguished. When they were decided, the statute relating to appeals was as follows: “An appeal maybe taken to the [15]*15Supreme Court from the District Courts in the following cases: First. From a final judgment entered in an action or special proceeding commenced in those courts, or brought in those courts from other courts.” (Civ. Prac. Act, 7th Sess. § 380.) This section was subsequently' amended and now reads: “ An appeal may be taken to the Supreme Court from the District Courts in the following cases: First. From a final judgment, or any part thereof, entered in an action or special proceeding commenced in those courts, or brought into those courts from other courts.” (Code Civ. Proc. § 444.)

Aside from this radical difference between the statutes, swpra, it is obvious that a judgment, which is the final settlement of the rights of the parties to an action, cannot be placed upon the same level with an order respecting the place of a trial. In the case at bar, each appeal is from the whole order, as well as a specified part thereof, and the transcript embodies without any omission every act of the court and the testimony which was adduced. If we regard as irregular the taking of two appeals, when one is sufficient, the fact does not in this instance deprive the contestants oí any substantial right.

We will now consider the first ground on which the motion for a change of the place of trial is founded: “There is reason to believe that an impartial trial cannot be had in said county of Silver Bow.” It is contended that this subdivision includes the ground that the judge of the court below is biased and prejudiced against the appellants, and our attention is directed to the following statutes: —

“If an action or proceeding is commenced or pending in a •court, and the judge or justice thereof is disqualified from acting as such, or if, for any cause, the court orders the place of trial to be changed, it must be transferred for trial to a court the parties may agree upon by stipulation in writing, or made in open court, and entered in the minutes; or if they do not so agree, then to the nearest court where the like objection or cause for making the order does not exist, as follows: .... If in the Probate Court, to some other Probate Court.” (Code Civ. Proc. § 63.) “The court may, on good cause shown, change the place of trial in the following cases: , . . . When there is reason to believe that an impartial trial cannot be had therein.” [16]*16(Code Civ. Proe.

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Bluebook (online)
27 P. 342, 11 Mont. 1, 1891 Mont. LEXIS 47, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-davis-estate-mont-1891.