Sides v. Janes

66 S.W.2d 617, 188 Ark. 386, 1933 Ark. LEXIS 95
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedDecember 11, 1933
Docket4-3226
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 66 S.W.2d 617 (Sides v. Janes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sides v. Janes, 66 S.W.2d 617, 188 Ark. 386, 1933 Ark. LEXIS 95 (Ark. 1933).

Opinion

Humphreys, J.

This is a suit in equity by appellees against appellants to enjoin the administration of the estate of C. L. Sides, deceased, by J. B. Blakemore, as administrator, with the will annexed, and to recover from said administrator the assets of said estate in his possession for the benefit of said estate and themselves, and to recover from Ira Sides, for the benefit of the estate and themselves, the amount of $8,650 that belonged to deceased, which he obtained out of a hank lock box which he and deceased had used jointly and for which he did not account in his settlement as administrator before his discharge, and to recover from him and his co-administrator, R. E. French, for the benefit of the estate and themselves, $552 overplus from the sale of cattle belonging to deceased, for which they did not account in their settlement before being discharged, and to recover from said original administrators, for the benefit of Linnie Janes, the sum of $581.62, which they collected and for which they took credit in their settlement before being discharged; and to recover, for the benefit of the estate and themselves, $2,148.50 from Mamie French, which she received from said original administrators under the erroneous belief that- deceased had given said money to her in his lifetime.

The grounds upon which appellees sought relief were that the will of deceased was annulled by a family agreement which could not be interposed as a defense in the probation of the will and the administration of the estate thereunder; and that the original administrators should return to the estate such amounts as either or both retained and for which they did not account in their settlement before being discharged; and that they erroneously took credit for rents in their settlement of the estate which belonged to Linnie Janes; and that Mamie French should return to the estate the amount she received from the original administrators under the belief that it had been given to her' by the deceased in his lifetime.

Appellants interposed the defenses that the chancery court was without jurisdiction to entertain the suit for the reason that the probate court had original and exclusive jurisdiction of the cause of action, and that all funds belonging to the estate had been properly inventoried and accounted for in the settlement by the original administrators before their discharge, and that the money turned over to Mamie French by them had been given to her by the deceased in his lifetime.

Upon a hearing of the cause, the chancellor found that in 1905 deceased executed a will giving- and devising his estate to four of his children, to the exclusion of his daughter Linnie Janes, to whom he gave only $5, and that all five of his children knew of the execution of the will; that, shortly after the death of O. L. Sides, in February, 1929, all the heirs, disregarding the contents of the will, entered, into a family settlement or agreement by which all were to share equally in the estate, and, in order to effectuate that purpose, Ira Sides and E. E. French were selected to administer the estate through the probate court without charge for their services and, after paying the indebtedness, to divide the estate between the heirs, share and share alike.; that, pursuant to the agreement, each of the five heirs received about two hundred acres of land, which was conveyed to them by properly executed deeds; that, in further consummation of the family settlement, Ira Sides and E. E. French proceeded to administer upon the personal estate, and, in the course of about two and one-half years, paid all the indebtedness and paid to each heir $2,000; that on. April 23, 1931, Ira Sides, disregarding the family agreement, filed the will which deceased had executed in 1905 with the probate clerk for the Eastern District of Clay County, and, on October 12, 1931, the administrators filed an inventory of the estate and their final settlement thereof; that exceptions to the inventory and settlement and to the probation of the will were filed by Linnie Janes and Anna French, two of the heirs and appellees herein; that on a hearing of the exceptions by the probate court, the inventory and settlement were approved and the will admitted to probate; that the original administrators were, thereupon discharged and J. B. Blakemore was appointed administrator with the will annexed; that the judgment probating the will and approving the settlement of the original administrators were appealed from by three of the heirs, Linnie Janes, Anna French and Earl Sides; that on November 2, 1932, while the appeal was pending in the circuit court, this suit in equity was instituted, to which a demurrer was filed raising the jurisdiction of the chancery court to try the cause, which demurrer was overruled, over appellants’ objection; that appellants then filed an answer to the complaint denying the allegations thereof; that subsequently the appeals to the circuit court from the orders of the probate court approving the settlement of the original administrators and the probation of the will were transferred to the chancery court and consolidated with this suit, over the objection of appellants herein; that Ira Sides found in a lock box $8,650 in currency belonging to the estate, which he failed to include in the inventory and account for in his final settlement; that the original administrators collected rents in the sum of $581.60, -which they failed to pay her; that Ira Sides retained $522 from the sale of cattle belonging to the estate, for which he did not account in his final settlement; that the administrators turned over to Mamie French $2,148.50 found in fruit jars on the premises occupied by C. L. Sides prior to his death under a claim that it was given to her by her father in his lifetime and that she now has the money in her possession; that the testimony failed to show that it was given to her by her father.

Based upon these findings, a decree was rendered, as follows:

“ (1) That the appellants, and each of them, be and they are perpetually enjoined from asserting any rights under the alleged mil of the said C. L. Sides, deceased, and J. B. Blakemore, as administrator with said will annexed, be and is hereby discharged.
“ (2) That appellees have and receive of and from the appellant, Ira Sides, for the benefit of themselves and for the estate of C. L. Sides, the sum of $8,650, together with six per cent, interest thereon from August 15, 1929, until paid.
“(3') That the administrators have no right to claim $581.62 rents belonging to appellee Linnie Janes, and credit for said rent should not 'be 'given them in their final accounting as hereinafter directed.
‘ ‘ (4) That appellees have and recover of and from the appellant, Ira Sides, for the benefit of themselves and the estate of C. L. Sides, the sum of $522, being the amount retained by him as the sale price of cattle as hereinabove set out, together with interest on said sum at the rate of six per cent, per annum from. August 15, 1929, until paid.
“ (5) That appellees have and recover of and from Mamie French, for the benefit of themselves and the estate of C. L. Sides, the sum of $2,192.50, together with interest thereon from 1st day of October, 1931, at the rate of six per cent, per annum.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
66 S.W.2d 617, 188 Ark. 386, 1933 Ark. LEXIS 95, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sides-v-janes-ark-1933.