Miller v. Miller

131 S.W.2d 245, 1939 Tex. App. LEXIS 330
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 26, 1939
DocketNo. 5049.
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 131 S.W.2d 245 (Miller v. Miller) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Miller v. Miller, 131 S.W.2d 245, 1939 Tex. App. LEXIS 330 (Tex. Ct. App. 1939).

Opinion

JACKSON, Chief Justice.

The appellant, Mrs. John Miller, who is seventy-seven years old, instituted this suit in the District Court of Hemphill County against her husband, John Miller, who is eighty-six years old, to obtain a divorce and a decree partitioning between them their community property.

She alleged that she and the appellee were married in February, 1893 and lived together as husband and wife until September 13, 1936, on which date on account of his continuous nagging, quarreling, abusive and cruel conduct he had wrecked her health and nervous system and their longer living together became insupportable and she was forced to leave him.

She alleges that during their marriage they acquired and still own the following real estate, which she says is community property:

“All of Survey No. 2, Abstract No. 588, Certificate No. 150, D. & S. E. RR. Co., Original Grantee, and containing 320 acres of land.” (This we hereafter designate as property number one.)

“Lots Nos. 19, 20, 21, and 22, in Block No. 29, of the Original Town of Canadian, Hemphill County, Texas.” (This we hereafter designate as property No. 2.)

“Lots Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, in Block No. 2, of Connell & McAdatm Addition to the Original Town of Canadian, Hemphill County, Texas.” (This we hereafter designate as property No. 3.)

“Lots Nos. 1, 2 and 3, in Block No. 12 of the South Side Addition to the Original Town of Canadian, Hemphill County, Texas.” (This we hereafter designate as property No. 4.)

The appellee answered by general demurrer, general denial and pleaded that the property involved and described in appellant’s petition was acquired with funds and the proceeds from the sale of property owned by him before he and appellant married and was his separate property.

By way of cross-action he sought a divorce from appellant because of her alleged extravagance, cruel treatment and excesses that rendered their living together insupportable.

In a supplemental petition appellant urged a general demurrer, numerous special exceptions to appellee’s answer and cross-action, and pleaded a general denial.

Any additional statement of the pleading which we deem necessary to the disposition of this appeal will be made later.

In response to special issues submitted the jury found, in effect, that the conduct of the appellee toward his wife was not such as to render their living together insupportable, but that the conduct of appellant toward her husband 'did render their living together insupportable; that all the moneys used in the purchase of the properties hereinabove designated as “property No. 1”, “property No. 2”, “property No. 3” and “property No. 4” was money which had been earned or the proceeds from the sale of property which had been owned by ap-pellee prior to his marriage with the appellant and that no part of the consideration paid for any of said properties was money or property earned by appellant and appel-lee after their marriage.

On these findings the court granted the appellee a divorce on his cross-action, decreed all the property to be his separate property, and adjudged a life estate in the appellant to the lots and the improvements thereon designated above as “property No. 3”, and that upon her death such property should revert to the appellee, his heirs and assigns and that the appellee recover all of “properties No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4.”

The appellant assails as error the action of the court in overruling her general demurrer to appellee’s cross-action for a divorce because nowhere in such cross-action did he allege that children were born or that no children were born to them and *247 therefore the trial court was without jurisdiction to render a decree in favor of appel-lee.

Article 4639a, Vernon’s Ann.Civ.St., provides in substance that each petition for divorce shall set out the name, age, sex and residence of each child under sixteen years of age born of the marriage sought to be dissolved, if any were born, and, if none were born, then the petition shall so state and no court having jurisdiction shall hear or determine such suit for divorce unless the petition or cross-action therefor contains an allegation with such information.

There was no allegation in the cross-action furnishng the court with this informa-ton, however, the appellant in her petition for divorce did allege “that there were no children born of said marriage”, meaning the marriage of herself and appellee. She sought-a divorce; the court submitted to the jury a fact issue to ascertain if she was entitled to a decree therefor and such issue was determined against her. The allegation in appellant’s petition remedied the insufficiency of the pleading of appellee and this assignment is overruled. Aucutt v. Aucutt et al., 122 Tex. 518, 62 S.W.2d 77, 89 A.L.R. 1198, and Scott et al. v. Scott, Tex.Sup., 123 S.W.2d 306.

Appellant, by an assignment; complains of the general allegations in a certain named paragraph in the answer in which it is stated that appellee owned property pri- or to his marriage to appellant of the value of $8,000 which he sold and with the proceeds purchased the property appellant asserts to belong to the community. The defect in this paragraph is cured by specific allegations in other paragraphs of the answer stating in detail the property owned prior to the marriage, the price for which it was sold and the disposition made of the proceeds.

The appellant also, by several assignments, complains of the action of the court in overruling her separate so-called special exceptions leveled at certain paragraphs of appellee’s answer and cross-action relative to the nature, character and acquisition of the properties involved in this controversy.

To illustrate the contentions presented by such assignments and as typical of each, we here copy part of paragraph 3 of appellee’s answer and state the exceptions urged thereto by appellant.

“That from time to time, he sold his said properties above mentioned, and invested a part of it in the properties now owned by him described in plaintiff’s petition. * * * That Bud Ross of Gray County owed him a note for $665.00 for personal property sold him, and he collected this note by taking a team of mules and horses and he sold these and used money and he purchased lots Numbers 19, 20, 21 and 22, in Block No. 29, in Canadian. That the mules and horses received on note was his property that he had had before marriage, and that he sold them after he married, and the said Ross gave him his note for same and paid him by delivering team of mules & horses, and shortly before the purchase of the said lots and when he collected same, he took the money from said sum being $150.00_ and paid for these lots, securing the deed dated June 11th, 1902, from W. Joe Smith and his wife, Etta Smith, recorded in Vol. 7 at page 408 to 410, Deed Records of Hemphill County, which consideration paid for same was from the sale of his own separate property, owned by him prior to his said marriage.”

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Bluebook (online)
131 S.W.2d 245, 1939 Tex. App. LEXIS 330, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miller-v-miller-texapp-1939.