Shook v. Journeay

149 S.W. 406
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 24, 1912
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 149 S.W. 406 (Shook v. Journeay) 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
Shook v. Journeay, 149 S.W. 406 (Tex. Ct. App. 1912).

Opinion

MOURSUND, J.

On October 4, 1911, ap-pellee filed an application in the county court of Bexar county for the probate of the will of H. B. Salliway, deceased, and for letters testamentary; she having been appointed independent executrix by the will.

On November 7, 1911, a number of creditors of H. B. Salliway filed an instrument in said county court contesting the application of appellee to be appointed executrix, alleging that she was insolvent, not a proper person to be appointed executrix; that they feared she would dispose of the property and they would lose their debt; that the placing of appellee in possession of the papers of the estate would jeopardize the interests of such creditors; and that the estate of H. B. Salliway was insolvent. They prayed that appellee be not appointed executrix, and that some competent person be appointed administrator with the will annexed, and for all other orders to which they might be entitled in law or equity. On December 20, 1911, they filed an amended contest, alleging that a great portion of their indebtedness accrued against said H. B. Salliway by reason of the embezzlement of trust funds in his hands; that such funds were used in paying the expenses of numerous trips taken by appellee and the deceased, and in placing property in the name of appellee’s son, a portion of which had since been transferred to appellee; that among the papers of the deceased the evidence of such use of the money could be found, and to place ap-pellee in possession of such papers would result in depriving the contestants of access thereto, and from securing the evidence showing that the trust funds were transferred to appellee; and that thereby she became particeps criminis in the embezzlement. The amounts due the contestants respectively were set out

On December 9, 1911, the will was admitted to probate, and an order entered, which was in all respects sufficient to probate the *408 will, but contained, the following clause: “It is further ordered by the court that the appointment and qualification of said Ella D. Journeay as independent executrix be held in abeyance until the court can hear evidence upon the objection filed herein, and decide whether or not she is a proper person to be so appointed by the court.”

On December 15, 1911, Ella D. Journeay filed a petition in the district court of Bex-ar county, Fifty-Seventh district, for mandamus, praying as follows: “Wherefore your relator prays that said respondent be cited to appear and answer this petition, and that upon hearing of this cause, she have judgment compelling P. H. Shook, county judge, Bexar county, Tex., respondent herein, to enter a judgment or order not only probating said will of H. B. Salliway, deceased, appointing her independent executrix thereof, but an order permitting her to qualify as such, as required by law, or in alternative be permitted to qualify and compel respondent to decide said question and enter order accordingly, or in any event set said objections for hearing at an early date, and that respondent be cited to show why said writ of mandamus should not issue, and that your relator recover all costs in this behalf expended.”

On December 20th appellant answered, alleging: That he had never refused to set down for hearing the contest against the appointment of appellee, but that the same was pending before him, and that he proposed to set an early date for the hearing thereof at which he proposed to determine the fitness of the appellee as such executrix. That upon the amended contest he is informed and believes interrogations have been propounded to parties in California and in Harris county, Tex., and that until such evidence was at hand, in his discretion as a judge, he felt that it would be improper to set the hearing at an earlier date than one at which said testimony would be procurable. That when judgment should be rendered by him either party could appeal, and by reason of such remedy the relator ought not to have and could not have the remedy by mandamus.

The district court granted the petition for writ of mandamus, commanded appellant to not only enter an order probating said will, but also an order permitting appellee to qualify as such independent executrix at once.

The lower court, at appellant’s request, filed findings of fact. One of these is that the county judge entered an order probating the will, which order is copied therein in full. As there is no question of the sufficiency of the order as an order to probate the will, we see no necessity for copying it. The other findings are as follows: “I find: That H. B. Salliway, deceased, died in San Antonio, Bexar county, Tex., on September 27, 1911, and left a last will and testament in which Ella D. Journeay was named as independent executrix, without bond. That on the 4th day of October, 1911, relator herein filed an application as required by law to probate said will in Bexar county, Tex. That notice to probate said will' was duly and legally posted, as required by law. That on the 7th day of November, 1911, in the same proceedings to probate said will, Henry Grote et al., claiming to be creditors of estate of H. B. Salliway, deceased, filed a motion, objecting to the appointment of Ella D. Journeay as independent executrix. That the said Henry Grote et al. did not file a separate proceeding for this purpose, but joined same in proceeding to probate will, and that no notice of said objections was ever served on Ella D. Journeay, and that she made and filed motion for various reasons to strike out said objections. I further find that Henry Grote et al. are creditors, or at least claim to be, and only in capacity of creditors filed objections to independent clause of said will, and same was filed in same proceedings and not by separate proceedings. I find that on the 7th day of December, A. D. 1911, said will was offered for probate, and legally proven, as required by law, and as shown by order of county judge ordering same probated. I •find that Henry Grote et al., creditors, offered no proof as to why Ella D. Journeay should not be permitted to qualify. * * * I further find that under said decree will is probated, and that court had no authority and it was not in his discretion to refuse to permit independent executrix to qualify by order of court, especially so when separate proceedings had not been filed by any one. I further find that Ella D. Journeay under order of court could not appeal, as no final judgment was rendered against us (her), and neither could she qualify as independent executrix, • as requested by H. B. Salliway in his last will and testament. And I therefore find that under all the facts that mandamus, as prayed for in petition filed December 15, 1911, should be granted, and is and was granted and the following decree entered.” It is not necessary to copy the decree.

The conclusions of law filed below were as follows: “My conclusions are that, as a matter of law, said writ of mandamus should issue, as, court having ordered will probated, it was not within his discretion to so fix order refusing to permit Ella D. Journeay to qualify as independent executrix, as requested in last will and testament of H. B. Sal-liway, deceased, and especially so, when there was not a separate suit filed contesting-the independent clause of said will, and when creditors had and have an ample remedy at law. Where the statute prescribes a mode of procedure, and ‘ it does as to creditors, then the mode prescribed, and no-other, must be followed: and I doubt if creditors could at all contest the independent

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Bluebook (online)
149 S.W. 406, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shook-v-journeay-texapp-1912.