Strickland v. Strickland

276 S.W. 795, 1924 Tex. App. LEXIS 1356
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 6, 1924
DocketNo. 11244.
StatusPublished

This text of 276 S.W. 795 (Strickland v. Strickland) 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
Strickland v. Strickland, 276 S.W. 795, 1924 Tex. App. LEXIS 1356 (Tex. Ct. App. 1924).

Opinion

BUCK, J.

Mrs. Maggie Strickland, residing in Clay county, sued her husband, R. P. Strickland, also residing in Clay county, for divorce, and for a division of certain property alleged to belong to the community estate. She alleged that defendant was a drinker of intoxicating liquors, and had a habit of getting drunk once or twice a month, and, when in a drunken condition, he would curse and abuse plaintiff and his children;, that he was a man of violent temper, and would get mad, and when in such condition he would curse and abuse plaintiff and offer her violence; The allegations of defendant’s alleged ill treatment of plaintiff are sufficient, if proven, to justify a judgment of divorce. She alleged that three children were born of the marriage, the oldest, a girl named Esther, about 13 years of age; a boy named Hugh, about 10 years of age; and a boy named Lee, about 5 years of age.

She further alleged that she had been married to defendant since September, 1909, and that during their married life they had accumulated personal property consisting of 15 head of mules, of the value of $100 each; four mares and their colts, worth $100 each; 30 head of cattle, valued at $15 per head; 11 head of hogs, chickens, turkeys, guineas; 200 bushels of corn; 500 bushels of oats, etc.

She further alleged that she and her husband had an agreement with the latter’s father, J. H. Strickland, by which said J. H. Strickland agreed to loan to his son and wife sufficient money to make'the down p'ayment on 298 acres of land, known as the Hoff place, *796 situated about 5% miles southeast of Henrietta, Olay county. She alleged that at the time this agreement was had she and her husband were living in Oklahoma, and that they owned 160 acres of land in that state; that pursuant to this agreement the plaintiff and her husband moved from Oklahoma in 1918 to the land purchased in Olay county, and occupied it as 'a homestead; that it was agreed between plaintiff and her husband on the one hand and J. H. Strickland on the other that, when the money loaned by the father-in-law had been paid by the husband and plaintiff, the deed to the land should be made to the plaintiff and her husband. She further alleged that to her certain knowledge one note in the sum of $2,070 and one note in the sum of more than $1,000, and various other sums at different times, had been paid out of the community estate to defendant Strickland; and that she believed that all of the purchase money had been paid to' him by plaintiff and her husband, but that said defendant had not transferred the title to the land to his son and his wife. She further alleged that she left her husband in December, 1923, by reason of his cruel treatment, which rendered their living together unsupport'able, and moved to Fort Worth, Tarrant county, where she lived with and near her mother.

The defendant R. P. Strickland; the husband, answered by a general demurrer and a general dénial, and especially denied that he had paid any part of the purchase price on the Olay county land. He alleged that he had been renting Said premises from his father, and cultivating and enjoying the same as a tenant only; that the defendant’s father had paid in full the purchase price due for the land, but that he borrowed the money to pay the same, and at the time of the filing of the 'answer he owed something like $10,000 on this land, together with about 160 acres additional purchased at the same time from the said Hoff. He specially pleaded that he did not own any title, interest,» or equity in said land.

The defendant J. H. Strickland also filed his answer, consisting of 'a general demurrer and a general denial, and an adoption of the answer of R. P. Strickland with reference to the plaintiff’s claim of equity in the Clay county land.

The trial was had before a jury, and the jury found: (1) That the defendant, R. P. Strickland, had been guilty of cruel treatment and outrages to the extent of making their further living together unsupportable; (2) that the mother was the proper person to have the care, control, and custody of the children; (3) that the plaintiff and defendant R. P. Strickland had paid out of their community funds to J. H. Strickland, upon the Hoff place, $6,000, and that J. H. Strickland received the benefit thereof; (4) that plaintiff was entitled to receive as attorney’s fees the sum of $300.

Upon this verdict the court entered a judgment for plaintiff, dissolving the bonds of matrimony theretofore existing between her and R. P. Strickland, and giving the care, custody, and control of the minor children to the plaintiff; and further .'awarding to plaintiff the sum of $3,000, one-half of the $6,000 paid out of the community fund of plaintiff and defendant R. P. Strickland on the Hoff place, and fixing a lien upon said Hoff place to secure the payment. Judgment also was rendered for $300 against R. P. Strickland 'as attorney’s fee. Prom this judgment the defendants have appealed.

Fundamental error is urged of the court’s failure to sustain defendants’ general demurrer in so far as the suit concerning the land in Olay county is concerned, and in admitting any testimony or submitting any issues to the jury concerning the same, 'and especially is it urged that the general demurrer of’ J. H. Strickland should have been sustained.

It is urged that plaintiff failed to allege that J. H. Strickland promised in writing to convey the land in question, but the allegations on their face show that said promise, if any, w'as oral, and therefore a suit to enforce the same is barred by the statute of frauds; and “for the further reason that it did not plead there was any payment made to the said J. H. Strickland, which is necessary to create a resulting trust.”

In, so far as plaintiff’s suit against J. H. Strickland is concerned, it was in the nature of one to recover money had and received, and was in no wise a suit to specifically perform or enforce a contract to convey real estate. Plaintiff merely sought to recover her one-half of the cash paid out of the community estate of herself and husband to J. H. Strickland on the land, under the agreement to convey to her and her husband said land when the purchase price had been paid. Plaintiff alleged, in effect, that J. H. Strickland had repudiated said agreement, 'and had refused to convey said land or to admit that plaintiff and her husband had any interest therein. An agreement, though verbal, creating a trust in lands is not in violation of the statute of frauds. James v. Fulcord, 5 Tex. 512, 55 Am. Dec. 743; Miller v. Thatcher, 9 Tex. 484, 60 Am. Dec. 173; Bailey v. Harris, 19 Tex. 110; Leakey v. Gunter, 25 Tex. 403; Barnett v. Vincent, 69 Tex. 687, 7 S. W. 526, 5 Am. St. Rep. 98; Brotherton v. Weathersby, 73 Tex. 473, 11 S. W. 505; and numerous other decisions.

While plaintiff was testifying, and on cross-examination, she was asked if she knew Mrs. Lerner, and she said she did, and- that she was at the home of Mrs. Lerner a short time on the Sunday evening before; that she and her mother and' brother-in-law and *797 her children went out there. The following questions were,ashed and answered:

“Q. Isn’t it a fact you said to Mr. and Mrs. Lerner, ‘Here’s what we want you to testify,’ and then you told them what you wanted them to testify to? A. No. sir.
“Q.

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Related

Hedtke v. Hedtke
248 S.W. 21 (Texas Supreme Court, 1923)
James v. Fulcrod
5 Tex. 512 (Texas Supreme Court, 1851)
Bailey v. Harris
19 Tex. 108 (Texas Supreme Court, 1857)
Austin v. Ewell
25 Tex. 403 (Texas Supreme Court, 1860)
Barnett v. Vincent
7 S.W. 525 (Texas Supreme Court, 1888)
Brotherton v. Weathersby
11 S.W. 505 (Texas Supreme Court, 1889)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
276 S.W. 795, 1924 Tex. App. LEXIS 1356, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/strickland-v-strickland-texapp-1924.