R. W. Caffey's Executors v. Cooksey

47 S.W. 65, 19 Tex. Civ. App. 145, 1898 Tex. App. LEXIS 202
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 28, 1898
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 47 S.W. 65 (R. W. Caffey's Executors v. Cooksey) 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
R. W. Caffey's Executors v. Cooksey, 47 S.W. 65, 19 Tex. Civ. App. 145, 1898 Tex. App. LEXIS 202 (Tex. Ct. App. 1898).

Opinion

BOOKHOUT, Associate Justice.

This suit was originally instituted March 29, 1894, by Jjavinia Caffey, as sole plaintiff, in plain form of trespass to try title against the executors of R. W. Caffey, her deceased husband, and the Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows. By amendment filed October 9, 1894, plaintiff alleged that the 220 acres of the J. M. Campbell survey in controversy was (1) purchased by her separate funds, and (2) that although the land was conveyed to R. W. Caffey, he had made plaintiff a verbal promise to reconvey or devise all but a life estate in *146 the land. On these issues a trial was had resulting in a judgment for plaintiff, which judgment, upon appeal, was reversed by this court on February 22, 1896. See 12 Texas Civ. App., 616. On February 27, 1896, the sole plaintiff died.

On October 16, 1896, the intervener, J. B. Cooksey, filed his plea of intervention, in which he alleged that the 220 acres of land in dispute was purchased by his mother with separate funds belonging to his father, J. K. Cooksey; and that his mother, Mrs. L. Caffey, by virtue of the will of J. K. Cooksey, took a life estate in said land, and that upon the death of Mrs. L. Caffey the land went to him, intervener. Intervener asked judgment for the land, and also prayed for rents from February, 1894, to the time of the death of his mother—he alleging that he was her sole heir.

The defendants James L. Autry and Frank S. Kerr, executors of R. W. Caffey, deceased, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, answered by general and special exceptions, plea of not guilty, by special answers, and the statute of limitations of three, five, and ten years. There was a trial with the aid of a jury, and verdict for intervener upon which judgment was duly entered. Defendants’ motion for new trial being overruled, they have duly perfected their appeal to this court. The facts are more fully stated in the opinion on the former appeal of this case, to the report of which reference is here made. 35 S. W. Rep., 738.

Appellants’ first contention is that the court erred in the sixth and ninth clauses of its general charge, and in giving a special charge requested by intervener. The charges complained of are:

• "(6) All property held by R. W. and Lavinia Caffey at the time of1 their separation is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, to be presumed to be their community property. This instruction is to be read in connection with paragraph 9 hereof.”

“(9) If the money or part thereof paid for such 454 acres was common funds of R. W. and L. Caffey, it is to be presumed from the fact that the deed was in the name of L. Caffey, that said R. W. Caffey made a gift to his wife of his money that went intp said land, and unless some of the funds of J. K. Cooksey went to the purchase of said land, the same was the separate estate of Mrs. L. Caffey, and in that case she might convey the same to R. W. Caffey through the trustee, Hodge, provided she did not act under duress and there was a valuable consideration for the same.”

Special charge asked by plaintiff, and given: “You are charged that,, as between husband and wife, when the land is negotiated for by the husband and at his instance is deeded to his wife, the law presumes that such conveyance was intended as a gift or donation to the wife by the husband, and such property would be considered the separate property of the wife, and the burden of proving otherwise is upon the husband or those claiming under him, except innocent purchasers for value.”

Our Supreme Court has passed upon the construction to be given a deed to property taken in the name of the wife during the existence of *147 the marriage relation in numerous cases. The leading case seems to be the case of Higgins v. Johnson, 20 Texas, 389. In that case Chief Justice Hemphill, speaking for the court, in a very able opinion lays down the law governing this question, from which we deduce the following rules:

1. Where, during the existence of the marriage relation, a deed to property is taken in the name of the wife, for an onerous consideration, and there is no recitation in the deed as to what estate furnished the consideration, the presumption is that it was purchased with community funds, and that such property so purchased is community property. This presumption may be rebutted by proof that it was the intention of the husband in taking the deed in the wife’s name to make the property her separate property.

2. If the evidence shows the consideration was the sejDarate property of the husband, then it will be presumed that in taking the deed in the1 wife’s name the husband intended to make a gift of the property to. the’ wife.

3. If the evidence shows the property was purchased with the separate estate of the wife, and the deed is taken in her name, the property remains her separate property.

These rules are applicable to a case arising between husband and wife;, or their heirs, legatees, or representatives, and are sustained by the following authorities: Higgins v. Johnson, 20 Texas, 389; Smith v. Strahan, 16 Texas, 321; Dunham v. Chatham, 21 Texas, 244; Story v. Marshall, 24 Texas, 307; Baldridge v. Scott, 48 Texas, 189; Smith v. Boquet, 27 Texas, 513; Johnson v. Buford, 39 Texas, 248.

It is not true that, from the sole fact that the deed to property acquired during the existence of the marriage relation is taken in the name of the wife, the presumption arises that it was intended as a gift to her. As before stated, it may be shown that such was the intention of the husband in having the deed so made. It follows that paragraph 9 of the court’s charge and the special charge given at plaintiff’s request were error. If the deed made by Mrs. Caffey to the trustee Hodge was made under duress, then the question as to whether the land in dispute was the community property of R. W. Caffey and Lavinia Caffey, or whether it was the separate property of Mrs. Lavinia Caffey, were material issues in the case. If the land was the community property of B. W. and L. Caffey, then B. W. Caffey was authorized to dispose of one-half of it by will. If it was purchased with funds belonging to the estate bequeathed by the will of J. K. Cooksey, then it became subject to the terms of said will, and upon the death of Mrs. Caffey, intervener became entitled to the same. There was evidence tending to support each of these contentions. The charge of the court as to the presumption arising from the fact that the deed was taken in the name of Mrs. Caffey, under this condition of the record, became material, and is reversible error.

Appellants present the proposition under their second, seventh, and thirty-seventh assignments of error, that when there are two causes of *148 action set up, and the plaintiff recovers only upon one of them, the cost of the other should be charged against plaintiff.

The intervener in this suit sought to recover the land described in his plea of intervention, and also sought to recover from the appellants as executors of the will of E. W. Caffey the rents of the land since said executors took possession of the same. The jury found for intervener for the land, but did not find rents. It appears that the rents were sought to be recovered as an incident to the recovery of the land.

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Bluebook (online)
47 S.W. 65, 19 Tex. Civ. App. 145, 1898 Tex. App. LEXIS 202, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/r-w-caffeys-executors-v-cooksey-texapp-1898.