Morningstar v. Selby

15 Ohio St. 345
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 15, 1846
StatusPublished

This text of 15 Ohio St. 345 (Morningstar v. Selby) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morningstar v. Selby, 15 Ohio St. 345 (Ohio 1846).

Opinion

Birchard, J.

Preliminary to the consideration of any of the many questions'which have been so fully litigated in this case,..'we are called upon to determine whether, in Ohio, a Court of' Chancery ha? jurisdiction in matters of probate, and may entertain a bill, the sole object of which is to establish and prove a lost or spoliated last will and testament. For it is manifest, -that, if no such power exists, it ’is not required and' would be improper to pass upon any; of the facts mooted, in this controversy. The sole ■ object of the bill, is tó establish such lost of spoliated will. Upon this question of .jurisdiction, we necessarily have to recur t'o the original source- 'Of all oür pow(er — the constitution of the Staté. Article 3, section 1, vests, the judipial power of the State,£< both as- to matters of law and Equity,” ££ in- a Supreme Court, in Courts of:Common Plea's for £ each county, in justices of' the peace, and insuch other courts £ ,as the Legisláture niay, from- time to time, establish.” -By section 2, the Supreme Court “ has original and appellate jurisdic- tion, - both in common law' and chancery, in such cases as £ shall be directed by law.” .By. the 3d section, the. Courts of Common Pleas, within their respective counties) £<i have common £ law and chancery jurisdiction in all-cáses directed by law.” Section' 5, is' in these words ¡ ££ The Court of Common Pleas, £ in each county, shall have jurisdiction of all probate and tes- £ tamentary' matters, granting .administration, the appointment '£ of guardians, and'such other cases as shall be prescribed by * law;”' , ' ,,,

' From one-or the other of these several sections, the authority to entertain, this bill must be deduced, if not contained there, or. if the spirit of these sections and, the legitimate legis[363]*363lation consistent with them have not conferred it, we shall be forced to say, it does not exist.

That the fifth section authorizes a chancery proceeding in a case like this, is a position that cannot be maintained. Its terms confer jurisdiction of all probate and testamentary matters upon the Common Pleas Courts, and not a word is contained in the instrument in conflict with this general grant of power. “ Expressio unius est exclusio alterius,” is a maxim clearly applicable to this section, so far as matters purely of á probate and testamentary character are concerned. The express grant of power forbids, by inference, an implied one in connection therewith. The jurisdiction is, therefore, exclusive, as to all matters merely probate in their nature. This opinion is not new in this Court. In pronouncing the decision in Hunter’s case, 6 Ohio Rep. 501., Wright, J., commenting upon these articles of the constitution, observes, that they indicate “ a determination to keep the ecclesiastical, common law and £ chancery jurisdictions as separate and distinct as our judicial £ system will permit;” and, again, that the probate of a will ££ belongs neither to the common law nor equity jurisdiction £ conferred upon the Court of Common Pleas, but appertains £ to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the English courts, which £ is specially conferred upon our courts of common pleas as £ courts of probate.”

Again, in 8 Ohio Rep. 19, this language is held: “By our £ law, a particular tribunal is appointed to receive probate' of a £ will. It does not signify, that it is not by name a Court of £ Probate — that it is the Court of Common Pleas, with a pro- £ bate side to it. The same court has jurisdiction of both £ chancery and common law controversies, and yet this mixture £ of powers would not avail, as an argument to prove that its £ equity jurisdiction was different in kind from that of courts of £ chancery in England.”

Consistent with these remarks, and the 3d article of the constitution, is the “ act to organize the judicial courts.” Sec. 4. “ The Court of Common Pleas shall have power to examine [364]*364and taka the proof of -wills; grant letters testamentary thereon, ‘ an<^ to ^ear an<^ determine • all causes of probate. and c testamentary,nature.”’ All the chancery powers of that-court are granted in othér words.

■ The act relating to wills, still keeps.' up and sustains the same separation' of jurisdictions. The probate is of the original jurisdiction ;of that court, and so recognized by the'act iii which the proof is prescribed, the modeof proceeding, and'the effeet of the record.. And in Swan’s Stat/sec. 33, p-996, it is de'dared, that “ no will shall be effectual to pass real or personal estate, unless it shall have .been duly admitted to probate/’; &c., as provided,' by .the act. ' The. act-’ makes no mention of- any method of - establishing a will by. a'chancery-proceeding. The probate is treated as- a; judicial act at law, binding- upon all par-tie's,.and-final and-conclusive upon all parties. There is no ..appeal from the decision, no writ of error or bill of review; no way- of vacating it, exeept the peculiar one-provided by our statute. 9 Ohio Rep. 96; 8 Ohio Rep. 239.

■ .To test the propriety of encroaching, .in any 'manner, upon a jurisdiction so peculiar, and which,'from its-nature,:ought to be exclusive, let us '.anticipate some1 of the difficulties that- might flow from entertaining.this bill. . [

1.'- A decree in chancery is nbt the probate- of a will. Hence, a decree establishing a. will cannot operate to give it vitality and- is utterly powerless, -or else the 33d section of the statute relating to wills .must be taken and held, pro tanto, re-. pealed by', the decree, ' The decree- and the statute would speak 'different language on the’-same subject. One would' say,' the will-of 'MorningjStar. is effectual to pass-real and personal property, without. admission to' probate; as the .act provides; the other, that'it-is of no effect. ’ .The conflict is irreconcilable, and the weaker .in the' contest, must -give' way.

Again; — what would-be the effect, if, after rendering a decree either for oi-against the-validity of the supposed lost-'wifi, a real and different-will should be produced ?. Is the-litigation ' , a bar to its probate-? Does it oust the Courtof Common -Pleas [365]*365<of jurisdiction ? Might not the will' then be'called for, be produced-, be proved and admitted of record, and would it not be effectual to vest titles according to‘the devises, and bequests of the testator? We think it would,-'because''the chancery proceeding would be regarded wholly coram non ■ judice and void, and because the statute would enforce -its ■ production, and is express as to the effect of' the.-pr.obate.

But.it is urged, that the. spoliation of the supposed will, with intent tp destroy the alledged d'evises to complainants-, affords grounds of equity jurisdiction — that the power to establish -spoliated, suppressed'.and-destroyed vyills-wás one of .the powers known to courts of chanc.ery at. the adoption'of. our constitution, and sundry authorities are cited, to sustain the position, ■A word .as to these; • ' ‘ , . .

■ 1st. The .New York-cases, by .inference, at least, if not directly, make-against the complainant.-''See. 63' of their statute’ (Revised code, voi. 5, p. 66, j confers ;upon the court of chancery the same power to take the proof of, the. execution .and va- • lidity of a lost or-destroyed'will 'arid- to .establish the same, as in the case of lost deeds; and the constitution of the Slate of New York contained nothing -in' conflict'with-the.'act.' "The-"..

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Bluebook (online)
15 Ohio St. 345, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morningstar-v-selby-ohio-1846.