Minter v. Burnett

38 S.W. 350, 90 Tex. 245, 1896 Tex. LEXIS 470
CourtTexas Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 21, 1896
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 38 S.W. 350 (Minter v. Burnett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Texas Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Minter v. Burnett, 38 S.W. 350, 90 Tex. 245, 1896 Tex. LEXIS 470 (Tex. 1896).

Opinion

BROWN, Associate Justice.

This case was presented to the Court of Civil Appeals upon an agreed case, from which we make the following *246 extracts and statements, covering the facts necessary to the determination of the questions submitted by that court:

“1st. Jerry J. Burnett died in Wichita County, Texas, on August 7th, 1894, intestate, and left surviving him his wife, Jesse Burnett, but left no children. He also left surviving him his father, Jerry Burnett,, and the following named brothers and sisters: S. B. Burnett, P. H. Burnett, T. H. Burnett, Mrs. T. A. Minter and Mrs. Mollie Christol, whose, husband is J. G. Christol. That the mother of Jerry J. Burnett, deceased, was dead at the time of his death. That Jerry Burnett, deceased,, never had any child or children.

“2nd. That on October 25th, 1894, S. B. Burnett was duly appointed administrator of said estate of Jerry J. Burnett, deceased, and duly qualified on ¡November 8, 1894, and on December 8, 1894, filed his inventory and list of claims according to law.”

The estate was solvent and was properly administered as required bylaw, except in the particulars complained of in this case. The inventory returned by the administrator showed that he had on hand four tracts of land, which it is unnecessary to describe here, of the aggregate value of $5930.

“That said values are the values shown in said appraisement »f said estate. That most of the personal property of Jerry J. Burnett consisted of cattle, situated at his death in the Indian Territory, and that his personal estate situated in Texas at the time of his death is not more than sufficient to pay expenses of administration and widow’s allowance and other debts not secured by lien on the real estate.”

On April 22, 1895, the administrator made application to the County Court for an order to sell certain real estate for the purpose of paying the-debts therein mentioned, which constituted and held vendor’s liens upon-the said land. All of these claims had been presented to and allowed by the administrator and approved by the County Court as required by law. Two of the notes which held liens upon two of the tracts of land had been paid off by the administrator, he being a surety upon the said notes. The other debt was still due to the original payees and regularly probated m their names. These were the only debts of the estate remaining unpaid. The administrator also had on hand in addition to the lands mentioned personal property and cash to the amount of $9000, it being principally in cash. Only $691.19 of the $9000 consists of property and of cash derived from the sale of the personal property that was situated in the State of Texas at the death of Jerry Burnett. The remainder of the cash, $8308.91, is money derived from the sales of partnership cattle, situated in the Indian Territory at the time of the death of Jerry J. Burnett, deceased, and afterwards sold by S. B. Burnett as surviving partner of the said J. J. Burnett, deceased, and brought into the State of Texas since the death of Jerry J. Burnett.

“That at the time of the death of Jerry J. Burnett most of his personal estate consisted of a half interest in a herd of cattle in the Indian *247 Territory and outside the State of Texas; that S. B. Burnett owned the other half interest in said cattle, and that the said Jerry J. Burnett, deceased, and S. B. Burnett were partners in said cattle business. That after the death of said Jerry J. Burnett, and before the filing of inventory and taking out letters of administration, S. B. Burnett had sold a portion of said cattle as surviving partner, and received in payment therefor notes and cash, and brought the proceeds of said sale into the State of Texas, and rendered same in his inventory of said estate, and afterwards made a motion in Probate Court of Wichita County, where said administration of said estate was pending, to correct said inventory by leaving out said proceeds, which motion was refused by said court.”

That outside of the funds in the hands of the administrator derived from the sale of the cattle in the Indian Territory there is no personal property belonging to the estate out of which he can raise the money to pay off the said debts or any part thereof. The lands are not worth more than the amount of money for which they stand incumbered by the vendors lien. That the partnership "of S. B. and J erry J. Burnett owes no debts, all of the debts having been paid by the surviving partner out of funds derived from the sale of partnership property. That the allowances for the widow have been made except the homestead allowance and there is no land out of which the homestead can be set apart to her.

Due notice was given of the application for order of sale made by the administrator, and Mrs. J esse M. Burnett, the surviving widow of the decedent, appeared and joined in the prayer of the administrator for the sale of the land. Jerry Burnett, father of the deceased, and T. A. Minter and Mrs. Mollie Christol, joined by her husband, appeared by their attorneys and by written answer resisted the application, alleging that there was no necessity for the sale of the land, because the application showed money enough on hand to pay all the debts without any sale of the real estate and that under the law the personal property was the primary fund out of which the debts should be paid. The application made by the administrator showed fully the condition of the estate and all of the debts due and the property and money on hand at the time.

The case was tried in the County Court, the application granted and an order made for the sale of all of the lands for the purpose of discharging the debts which held vendor’s liens thereon; from that order Mrs. T. A. Minter, Jerry Burnett and Mrs. Mollie Christol, joined by her husband, appealed in due form to the District Court of Wichita County. Upon a trial de novo, had in that court, the land was ordered to be sold as prayed for; from which said judgment the said parties, T. A. Minter, J erry Burnett, and Mrs. Mollie Christol and husband appealed to the Court of Civil Appeals, which court has certified to this court the following questions:

"1. Did the application of the administrator for the sale of the land and the proof show any necessity for the sale?

er2. Are the father and brothers and sisters of the deceased, Jerry J. Burnett, under the facts shown in the agreed statement, entitled, as be *248 tween themselves and the administrator and the widow, who inherited thv personalty, to have the purchase money for the land paid out of the money and personalty in the hands of the administrator, and to thus have their one-half interest in the land freed of any incumbrance; or, in other words, should the personal property belonging to the estate of Jerry Burnett be used in discharging the debts which are a lien for the purchase of the real estate, allowing the heirs other than the widow to receive one-half of the land freed from the incumbrance?”

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Bluebook (online)
38 S.W. 350, 90 Tex. 245, 1896 Tex. LEXIS 470, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/minter-v-burnett-tex-1896.