Long v. Talley

1921 OK 363, 201 P. 990, 84 Okla. 38, 1921 Okla. LEXIS 379
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedOctober 18, 1921
Docket10258
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 1921 OK 363 (Long v. Talley) 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
Long v. Talley, 1921 OK 363, 201 P. 990, 84 Okla. 38, 1921 Okla. LEXIS 379 (Okla. 1921).

Opinion

MILLER, J.

This action was commenced in the district court of Tulsa county by Pearl Talley, as plaintiff, against Haskell B. Talley and Elton S.'Long, as defendants. The action was to require' ner husband, defendant Talley, to pay alimony for the support of the plaintiff and her children under section 4975, Revised Laws of Oklahoma, 1910, and to subject certain real estate in the city of Tulsa to her use and control. She also asked the court to cancel a purported contract made by her husband, Haskell B. Talley, whereby he had agreed to sell to defendant Long the real estate above referred to. She alleged that said property was the homestead of the plaintiff and defendant Haskell B. Talley at the time of making the contract; that plaintiff had not joined in the execution of the contract and had not consented thereto, therefore the contract was void. Defendant Long filed an answer and contested the cancellation of the contract. Defendant Haskell B. Talley made no appearance in his own behalfc but his deposition was taken in behalf of his codefendant. Long and introduced on the trial of the case. The case was tried to the court without a jury, which resulted in findings of fact by the court that the property in controversy was the homestead and inalienable, except by the joint consent of the husband and wife. Judgment was rendered canceling the contract and granting other relief to the plaintiff, as prayed for. Defendant Long filed a motion for a new trial, which was overruled; he appealed and appears here as plaintiff in error. For convenience, the parties will be referred to as they appeared in the lower court.

At the commencement of the trial ot this ease it was agreed in open court by counsel for plaintiff and counsel for defendant Long that the only issue before the court affecting the rights and claims of defendant Long was whether or not this property was the homestead of the plaintiff and so impressed with the homestead that is could not be conveyed without the wife joining in the deed. Defendant Long contends that, though it may, at one time, have been homestead property, it was not homestead property at the time Mr. Talley sold it and contracted to convey it to Mr. Long, and that contract having been made in good' faith, the legal title having been vested in Mr. Talley, his wife cannot subject the property to any claim of hers.

Defendant Long in his brief refers to his assignments, of error as follows:

*39 “Aside from the formal assignments of error set out in the petition in error, as' to the overruling of motion for new trial, and that the court erred in rendering judgment in the case, plaintiff in error assigns as error the following:
“1. That the trial court erred in holding that the contract entered into between the defendant Talley and the de-defendant Long was not a binding and valid contract, and erred in setting aside and canceling the same.
“2. That the trial court erred in holding that the property involved in said contract was the homestead of the defendant Haskell B. Talley and the plaintiff, Pearl Talley, and could not be disposed of by Haskell B. Talley on the date of his contract with Long, to wit; June 6, 1917, without the consent of his wife and without her joining in the conveyance.
“3. That the trial court erred in holding that the plaintiff below had never changed her residence from the city of Tulsa and state of Oklahoma and that for this reason she had a Homestead right in the property covered by the contract between Talley and Long, and that for this reason the defendant could not on June 6, 1917, dispose of said property without the plaintiff joining in the conveyance.
“4. That the decision of the court below was not sustained by sufficient evidence.
“5. That the decision of the court below was contrary to law.”

At the outset of his argument defendant Long lays down this proposition:

“For the purpose of this brief, all the assignments of error may be embodied in one propsition, as in our judgment the correctness of the decision of the trial court rests upon whether or not the court correctly answered this question: Did Pearl Talley, the plaintiff below, on June 6, 1917, have such an interest in the property covered by the contract between her husband and the plaintiff in error as would prevent her husband from disposing of that property without her consent or without her joining in the conveyance? Or, to state the question more simply, was the property which was the subject-matter of the contract of June 6, 1917. the homestead of the Talley family on that date?
“The court answered this question in the affirmative and it is our contention that the answer was incorrect; that it was contrary to and against the weight of the evidence and the undisputed facts in the record and a misapplication of the law to these facts.”

Under this statement the only questions presented to this court are: Is the finding of facts of the trial court clearly against the weight of the evidence? Did the court commit error in applying the law to the facts? We will first consider the question of fact as presented by tne evidence.

The following facts are indisputably established by the evidence: The plaintiff and defendant Haskell B. Talley were legally married on June 12, 1909, and have ever since been and up to the time of the trial of this case in the lower eourt were husband and wife. Four children were born as a result of this marriage, to wit; Hershell Talley, aged eight years; Esther Talley, aged six years; Rebecca Talley, aged four years, and Charles Emanuel Talley, aged two years. Haskell B. Talley, the father, and Pearl Talley, the mother, with these children, constituted the family. They established their residence and home at 724 North Denver street, in the city of Tulsa, Tulsa county, Oklahoma, on the property in ■ controversy in this action, which is described as lot one (1), block five (5), Brady Heights • addition to the city of Tulsa. They occupied these premises as their homestead from a short time after their marriage until in May, 1916, when defendant Haskell B. Talley went to his mother’s home at Florence, Tenn.

Haskell B. Talley testified by deposition, in substance, as follows: On May 10. 1916, he shipped a part of their household goods to his mother, Katie Talley, in Tennessee, and immediately after that he went to his mother’s home in Tennessee. He had rented the house which had formerly been their homestead, and the plaintiff came to Tennessee in July, 1916. She remained there until March, 1917. Haskell B. Talley’s health was very much impaired and he was trying to make arrangements to enter an officers’ training camp. He went to Tulsa in the early part of March, 1917. He was then asked these questions:

“Q. How long did you remain in Tulsa on this visit? A. I left Tulsa on the night of April 10, 1917, going to a farm I am interested in near Depew, Okla. On the morning of the 11th of April I began, a journey on horseback and afoot for home, reaching home on the night of April 30, 1917. Q. What was your purpose in taking this trip? A. My principal reason was to build up my health so that I could stand a physical examination for admission into the army. I also wished to bring a thoroughbred mare which I had on the farm near Depew home, and to observe the 1917 cotton acreage.”

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Bluebook (online)
1921 OK 363, 201 P. 990, 84 Okla. 38, 1921 Okla. LEXIS 379, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/long-v-talley-okla-1921.