Salmons v. Thomas

62 S.W. 102, 25 Tex. Civ. App. 422, 1901 Tex. App. LEXIS 459
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 12, 1901
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 62 S.W. 102 (Salmons v. Thomas) 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
Salmons v. Thomas, 62 S.W. 102, 25 Tex. Civ. App. 422, 1901 Tex. App. LEXIS 459 (Tex. Ct. App. 1901).

Opinion

GILL, Associate Justice.

This suit was brought by Mary E. Thomas, the appellee, against Ellen Thomas and' Mollie Thomas Salmons, two of her children ■ by her deceased husband, A. A. Thomas. T. B. Salmons, the husband of Mary Thomas Salmons, was also made a party defendant. The purpose of the suit was to establish the right of appellee to the use of 200 acres of lands as her homestead during her lifetime, and to recover certain money demands against the defendants. She also prayed for injunction restraining defendants from interfering with her in the use of the homestead. The defendants Ellen Thomas and Mollie Salmons alleged that the homestead tract had been partitioned, that certain parts of it had been allotted to each of them, and that as to such parts the plaintiff had, by abandonment and for other reasons not necessarjr to be stated in this connection, lost her right to assert the homestead claim as against their rights to the portions thus set apart and turned over to them. Each of them also claimed, as against the plaintiff, certain money demands which, in view of the disposition of this appeal, need not be stated. They also prayed for injunctions protecting their asserted rights from interference on the part of plaintiff. Pending the litigation and prior to the trial, the court granted temporary writs of injunction in behalf of plaintiff as prayed for, and the entire 200-acre tract was placed in the hands of a receiver, with power to rent it out to the best advantage and account to the court for the proceeds.

A trial by jury resulted in a verdict and judgment establishing the plaintiff’s right to the use of the 200 acres (less 37 acres) during her lifetime, or so long as she chose to use it, and enjoining the defendants from interfering with her in the enjoyment of such right. Mrs. Mollie Salmons was adjudged to be the owner of the 37 acres before mentioned, with right to its use free from the homestead claim, and plaintiff was enjoined from interfering with her and her husband in its use. Eone of the parties recovered anything on their money demands.

After verdict the receiver filed a supplemental report stating the amount of rents collected and the part of the land from which they were received. This report showed that $87.25 had been collected as rents from the 37 acres above mentioned, and the court awarded that sum to Mrs. Salmons. The remaining money in the hands of the receiver was awarded to the plaintiff. A rent note for $113, reported by the receiver as on hand, was not disposed of by the decree of the court, but the receiver, upon compliance with the decree, was discharged.

Ellen Thomas recovered nothing, and she and Salmons and wife have appealed.

A. A. Thomas, deceased, was the husband of Mary Thomas and the father by her of the two children above named as appellants and three *424 other children who are not parties to this suit. At his death the 200 acres of land in question was his separate property, and was the homestead of himself and wife, and the unmarried children lived with them. He was seized of other lands also, and after his death his property, including the homestead, was partitioned among the children, as follows: The homestead was divided into parts of equal value, and each child was allotted one portion thereof, but the right of the surviving widow to the use of it all as a homestead for the benefit of herself and unmarried daughters was undisturbed.

The lands not included in the homestead were also partitioned equally between the children, so that each child received absolutely an equal share in the lands last named.

At the date of her father’s death Mollie Thomas (now Salmons) was a minor and unmarried, and thereafter her mother qualified as guardian of her estate. In the partition above mentioned there was allotted to Mollie 48.35 acres of the homestead, and a 98-acre tract not included in the homestead. In 1887 the mother, as guardian, applied to the probate court in which the guardianship was pending for an order authorizing the exchange of the 98-acre tract belonging to Mollie for 37 acres included in the homestead, and which had in the original partition been allotted to the daughter Sarah, who had married. The reason for the exchange, as stated in the application, was that the 37 acres were valuable and producing an income, whereas the 98-acre tract was wild land, bringing in no revenue. The court granted the order, and the exchange was made. Mollie thus became the owner of two tracts within the homestead, viz., 48.35 acres and 37 acres.

On January 4, 1899, the accounts of the guardian were adjusted, an(l she was found to be indebted to the ward in the sum of $335, and the guardianship was closed. On the same day Mollie Thomas executed and delivered to her mother the following receipt: “The State of Texas, County of Dallas.—Received, Dallas, Texas, January 4, 1889, of Mary E. Thomas, as my guardian, the sum of three hundred and thirty-five ■dollars in full settlement of all the money and personal property due in any manner from my guardian, and in addition to said sum of money my said guardian has turned over to me all the real estate belonging to me, and this is a full receipt and acquittance for any and all demands against my said guardian. Mollie A. Thomas.” Ho money was in fact paid upon the delivery of this receipt, and Mollie Salmons testified that her mother was thereby released from the payment of the money on the understanding that she would turn over to the ward the two tracts of land included in the homestead, and that this was in fact done.

Ellen Thomas never married, but remained on the old homestead with her mother until the.occurrences which finally resulted in this litigation. She contends, first, thather mother had abandoned the portion allotted to her (Ellen) in the hometsead, and that she (Ellen) was therefore .entitled to the use, possession, and control of that part; second, that she . (Ellen) had adversely held and used it for such length of time as to *425 bar her mother’s right; and, third, that being an unmarried daughter and a constituent member of the family at the date of her father’s death, and having remained so, she is entitled to reside with her mother upon the homestead and to share generally in its use and the proceeds of its rental.

The evidence is sufficient to support the finding that the mother had not abandoned her right to the use of the entire homestead during her life. She allowed the daughters to continue to live with her, and permitted her widowed daughter, Mrs. Smith, to return to the old home after her husband’s death and share in the general fund. It is true she permitted each to pay taxes on the shares allotted to them in the partition, and to receive the rents when such portion of the land was rented, l?ut there is testimony sufficient to sustain the conclusion that the proceeds of the various parts of the farm, even when thus collected by the owners of the several parts, were used in common so long as they lived together in peace, and that the mother, though she turned over the entire management of the entire premises to her daughters Ellen and Mollie up to the time of Mollie’s marriage, did not thereby intend to abandon Tier rights in the homestead, and that her acts did not constitute an abandonment. In the partition such right was expressly reserved.

There is no evidence to sustain the plea of limitation.

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Bluebook (online)
62 S.W. 102, 25 Tex. Civ. App. 422, 1901 Tex. App. LEXIS 459, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/salmons-v-thomas-texapp-1901.