Lawson v. Ridgeway

233 P.2d 459, 72 Ariz. 253, 29 A.L.R. 2d 518, 1951 Ariz. LEXIS 224
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedJune 25, 1951
Docket5218
StatusPublished
Cited by47 cases

This text of 233 P.2d 459 (Lawson v. Ridgeway) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lawson v. Ridgeway, 233 P.2d 459, 72 Ariz. 253, 29 A.L.R. 2d 518, 1951 Ariz. LEXIS 224 (Ark. 1951).

Opinion

LA PRADE, Justice.

Judgment, in the sum of $8,210.98, was rendered in this case in favor of appellee Dorothy J. Lawson Ridgeway, as administratrix of the estate of Bessie Brainard Lawson, and against Kathryn Wright Lawson as executrix of the estate of John W. Lawson. In addition to the money judgment it was adjudged that each of these estates owned an undivided one-half interest in Lots 1, 2, 3, and 12, in Block S of Mitman addition to the township of Oracle, Pinal county, Arizona, and provided that these lots should be partitioned according to law between the two estates.

The appellee Dorothy Lawson Ridgeway, plaintiff below, is the sole surviving heir of her mother, Bessie Brainard Lawson, who was the first wife of the deceased John W. Lawson. The appellant Kathryn Wright Lawson, defendant below, is the surviving widow and second wife of Lawson. Bessie Lawson died, a resident of Pinal county, September 1, 1929. No attempt was made to probate her estate until December 2, 1946, when proceedings were instituted in Pinal county. On January 23, 1932, John Lawson, then a widower, married Kathryn. John Lawson died on October 22, 1946, a resident of Pima county, Arizona, and *257 thereafter, on November 25, 1946, appropriate proceedings were instituted to probate his estate in Pima county.

The daughter Dorothy, in her capacity as administratrix of the estate of her deceased mother, instituted the action resulting in the judgment from which this appeal originates, claiming that the separate estate of her father was indebted to the estate of her mother in the sum of $9,300 on account of community funds of Bessie and John that had been used by the husband to improve his separate property during the existence of the marriage.

The facts as found by the trial court, and we believe amply supported by the evidence, disclose:

1. That John married Bessie on June 14, 1913; that at this time he was a resident of the small and isolated community of Oracle.

2. That shortly before this marriage he had acquired Blocks 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17, all in Oracle townsite and all of which was unimproved except for a small store building and a frame residence.

3. That during the sixteen years that this marriage continued Mr. Lawson constructed, on some of his separate property, (a) a residence for himself and wife; (b) two 5-room rental houses; (c) three 3-room rental houses, and (d), provided a water system through the use of wells, windmills, etc.

4. That the cost of these improvements was $16,422 and that the value of these improvements at the time of the trial exceeded the cost.

5. That during thirteen years of this marriage, Lawson and one Leslie C. Terry were actively engaged in the operation of a general merchandise store as partners; that each of them took an active part in its operation and management, and Lawson, in addition to waiting on customers making purchases, served as bookkeeper.

6. That the partners each drew out of the partnership approximately $150 per month for living expenses and that over the 13-year period from 1913 to 1926, in addition to their regular monthly withdrawals, divided profits of approximately $100,000— $50,000 to each.

7. That Mr. Lawson deposited all of his profit withdrawals from the partnership in divided profits of approximately $100,000— a joint bank account maintained by himself and wife at Tucson; that the profits drawn by Lawson from the partnership “were moneys attributable to his personal efforts and business acumen and were not due to a natural increase in the capital investment.”

8. That the building program conducted upon the separate property of Lawson was financed through the partnership and charged to the account of Lawson. When the distributable profits due Lawson were insufficient to pay his indebtedness to the partnership, the deficiency was made up by *258 checks in favor of the partnership drawn by Lawson on the joint bank account of himself and wife.

8. That the building program conducted upon the separate property of Lawson was financed through the partnership and charged to the account of Lawson. When the distributable profits due Lawson were insufficient to pay his indebtedness to the partnership, the deficiency was made up by checks in favor of the partnership drawn by Lawson -on the joint bank account of himself and wife.

9. That no effort was made by Lawson to keep separate the transactions pertaining to his separate property and transactions pertaining to the community property of himself and wife Bessie; and that as a result of the failure to keep separate the transactions of these two estates there was such a commingling of the property of himself and his wife that it was impossible to determine what portion of the improvements upon the separate property of Lawson was paid for out of money of his separate estate and what portion was paid for out of community funds.

Upon these findings of fact the court concluded that Mr. Lawson’s share of the income derived from the partnership of Terry & Lawson was community income of himself and wife Bessie, and that this income supplied the finances for the improvements which were constructed on the separate real property of the husband; that the estate of the deceased wife was entitled to reimbursement to the extent of one-half of the increased value, to be -secured by a lien, and it was so ordered.

With reference to the second part of the judgment, the court found that the community of John and Bessie owned Lots 1, 2, 3, and 12, in Block 5 of Mitman addition to the town of Oracle, having been acquired during coverture, and ordered a partition thereof. More detailed explanation as to this part of the judgment will be made later on.

. By way of illumination of the above facts as found by the court, it should be disclosed that sometime prior to 1911 Mr. Lawson individually operated the country store referred to. In 1911 he took in as a partner one Leslie C. Terry. This partnership had for its objective the continuation and operation of the general merchandise store which Lawson had previously operated, and continued until the fall of 1926. Lawson’s capital contribution to the partnership was $2,400, The partnership paid rent to Lawson for the use of the store building. Not being able to discover the population of Oracle in 1913 at the time of the marriage, we do take judicial notice of the fact that the'official census for 1930 fixed the population at 386. It is also a matter of common knowledge that in 1913 Oracle was no more than a “wide spot” on a dirt road leading through mountainous country, where in the back hills there were some miners and cattlemen. We believe that this background, *259 coupled with all of the other evidence in the case, amply justified the trial court in finding that whatever profits Mr. Lawson made were attributable to his personal efforts rather than to any earned increment referable to his capital investment. For all of his industry, using the small capital that he had to start with, his monthly earnings, including drawing account and distributive share from the partnership, during the thirteen years that the marriage continued, amounted to approximately $475 per month.

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Bluebook (online)
233 P.2d 459, 72 Ariz. 253, 29 A.L.R. 2d 518, 1951 Ariz. LEXIS 224, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lawson-v-ridgeway-ariz-1951.