In re Last Will & Testament of Ambrister

330 S.W.2d 330, 205 Tenn. 737, 1959 Tenn. LEXIS 415
CourtTennessee Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 11, 1959
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 330 S.W.2d 330 (In re Last Will & Testament of Ambrister) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee 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 Last Will & Testament of Ambrister, 330 S.W.2d 330, 205 Tenn. 737, 1959 Tenn. LEXIS 415 (Tenn. 1959).

Opinion

Ms. Justice Swepston

delivered the opinion of the Court.

Preliminary to a discussion of the merits of the case, attention is called to the fact that the order of the Circuit Judge purports to allow a discretionary appeal. The only provision for discretionary appeals appears in T.C.A. 27-305 as amended by Ch. 172, Acts of 1955, re[739]*739lating to equity cases, but tbe same has no application to the instant situation. As will later appear herein, however, the judgment entered in the Circuit Court was a final judgment, because the effect of it was to settle all matters in controversy. We, therefore, have jurisdiction.

Minnie K. Ambrister, deceased, died in Blount County, Tennessee, February 1, 1959. There are two paper writings involved in this case which are sought to be estaba lished. One dated January 10, 1959, hereinafter called “first will”, the other dated February 1, 1959, hereinafter called “second will”. The proponent of first will is Madeleine A. Huddleston, sometimes referred to herein as appellee. The proponents of the second will are Asa R. Ambrister, C. G-. Ambrister and Floyd L. Am-brister, Jr., sometimes referred to herein as appellants.

Second will contains a provision purporting to revoke all wills theretofore made.

The principal question in this appeal is whether or not appellants contested the petition to probate the first will. A somewhat extended recitation of the proceedings is required. It will be observed from the following recitation that the appellants, in jockeying for position as proponents of the second will in order to make the appellee the contestant of same, have gotten themselves in an awkward position and have unnecessarily complicated the situation.

February 4, 1959, appellee, Madeleine A. Huddleston, filed in the County Court for Blount County her petition to probate in solemn form the first will of her mother, Minnie K. Ambrister; the petition set out the heirs and next of kin as well as the devisees and legatees mentioned [740]*740in the will, had process issued and served upon all interested parties. The date for hearing was fixed for February 13,1959, at 10:00 A.M.

On the hearing date, appellants presented a petition which they insisted should be heard before appellee’s petition to probate in solemn form; it alleged that the second will had been presented to the Clerk of the County Court for probate on February 1, 1959, witnesses sworn by the clerk and examined and the will to all intents and purposes in accordance with the custom and practice of said court had been proved, but no order of probate had been entered; appellants thereby sought to have the Probate Judge on February 13, 1959, enter a nunc pro tunc order probating said will as of February 1, 1959. After about 20 pages of argument as the same appears in the transcript, the Court refused to enter such mmc pro time order.

During the course of the extended argument (Tr. 54), counsel for appellee stated “and the clerk has no authority and the only thing Mr. Bird and I are arguing about when it gets right down to it, is who is going to be the contestant and who is going to be the proponent of the wills in the Circuit Court. ’ ’

(Tr. 50) The County Judge said:

“My understanding here as to what is really before • the Court is the will that’s contested; is that right?”

Counsel for appellants did not answer that question directly and specifically but said in part: “the attesting witnesses were sworn, and everything was done except the formal entry of the order on February 2nd. Now, what we are asking the Court to do is to make that formal [741]*741order at tMs time, and then we’ll proceed to take up Mr. Meares’ petition to probate a will in solemn form and onr motion to dismiss.”

(Tr. 52) “The Court.: Let me ask you this, Mr. Bird. If these wills would be certified to the Circuit Court, would it not be improper to hear the proof in these wills and at that time Mr. Meares or you either draw up an order and we certify it to the Circuit Court? If you want to draw an order to such effect — but, then, the two of them that way.
“Mr. Bird: That is what will be done. Whenever the Court makes formal entry which is a mere formality, then if Mr. Meares wishes to present the other will, he makes a contestant’s bond, and the court’s duty with reference thereto then ends. And the matter is certified to the Circuit Court for determination of which is the true will and whether there is a true will or not.”

Then followed the statement of Mr. Meares, counsel for appellee, that he was present simply to probate his will in solemn form.

(Tr. 68) The Court in declining to enter the mmc pro time order said: “But I feel that what’s before this Court is just this hearing on this solemn will. And all other things, I will agree to take up at any time, but at this time, what’s before the Court is this solemn will. And the petition that Mr. Bird presented is not before the Court. Why, the Court wasn’t called — ”

Immediately thereafter appellants brought up their motion to dismiss the appellee’s petition to probate the first will, which motion contained the same ground as the appellants’ petition heretofore disposed of. The same was overruled without argument.

[742]*742At this point, oyer the objection of connsel for appel-lee, appellants were allowed to have the clerk of the County Court testify to what the attesting witnesses testified on February 1, the day they appeared before the clerk.

Just preceding that when Mr. Meares was about to read his petition for probate of the first will, counsel for appellee stated: “We came to oppose you in every way we could.”

The Court then heard appellee’s proof by the attesting witnesses to the first will and instructed appellee’s counsel to draw an order admitting same to probate in solemn form.

A few minutes later on February 13, the Court then admitted the second will to probate in common form and an order to that effect was entered on the same day. It was not a nunc pro tunc order however. A petition to contest the second will was filed by appellee on February 23, 1959, and the same was answered by appellants on February 27,1959, and an order transferring the contest of the second will was entered on the same date.

The order admitting the first will to probate in solemn form was not entered until three days later on February 16j it contained the following paragraph:

“To all of the foregoing actions of the Court, Asa R. Ambrister, C. Gr. Ambrister and Floyd G. Ambris-ter, Jr., respectfully excepted and prayed an appeal to the Circuit Court for Blount County, for trial on the issue of devisavit vel non, which appeal was granted upon the filing of the bond as required by law and further orders to that effect and end will be approved by the Court upon being properly presented. 15 days. [743]*743from this date is allowed for the filing of the bond; on February 28 a clarifying order was entered fixing the 15 days to run from the date of the entry of the order of February 16 in which it was specified that these ‘contestants’ should file their bonds; pursuant thereto the statutory bonds were filed.”

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Bluebook (online)
330 S.W.2d 330, 205 Tenn. 737, 1959 Tenn. LEXIS 415, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-last-will-testament-of-ambrister-tenn-1959.