Stroh v. O'Hearn

142 N.W. 865, 176 Mich. 164, 1913 Mich. LEXIS 608
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 9, 1913
DocketDocket No. 28
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 142 N.W. 865 (Stroh v. O'Hearn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stroh v. O'Hearn, 142 N.W. 865, 176 Mich. 164, 1913 Mich. LEXIS 608 (Mich. 1913).

Opinion

Steere, J.

This suit involves a tangled tale of [167]*167misunderstanding, bad management, and bad advice in the administration of the estate of Dominick O’Hearn, formerly a farmer residing in the township of Tallmadge, Ottawa county, where he owned a farm of 180 acres, which is now the subject of this litigation. The accompanying plat of said farm may serve to more readily understand its shape and the relative location, of the different parts now in controversy.

On January 15,1892, said Dominick O’Hearn, being the owner of this farm free and ‘unincumbered, together with personal property of considerable value, executed his last will and testament in which he gave all his property, real and personal, except a span of horses to be set off to his son Frank, to his wife, Margaret O’Hearn, for life, and after her death the 120 acres south and west of the State road to his son John O’Hearn for life, and the 60 acres north and east of said road to his son Martin O’Hearn for life, and after their death to their heirs; also legacies of $500 each to his daughters Mary and Agnes, and $1 each to his daughters Lizzie and Mariah, “to be paid from the proceeds of the farm as soon as it will admit, or at [168]*168the pleasure of my wife, Margaret O’Hearn, should she survive that long, but in no case shall a payment be put off to exceed the term of five yearsalso providing that after the death of Margaret all personal property that she possessed at that time should be divided equally between the two sons John and Martin. Said Margaret O’Hearn was appointed executrix of the will. Before his death, and after making this will, -he and his wife, on April 9, 1894, gave a mortgage for $1,500 on that portion of the farm lying north and east of the State road. This mortgage, with accompanying notes, was proved before the commissioners on claims against his estate, and allowed.

Said Dominick O’Hearn died on September 7, 1898, his wife and said seven children surviving him, and his will was admitted to probate by the probate court of Ottawa county, on October 24, 1898. His widow, Margaret O’Hearn, was appointed administratrix, but did not qualify, and on May 2, 1900, Thomas Malloy was appointed administrator de bonis non with the will annexed. On June 5th Malloy, having duly qualified, filed an appraisal of decedent’s estate, showing realty valued at $7,900, and personal property valued at $1,335. Commissioners on claims were appointed Who, on December 7, 1900, made a report, which was confirmed, showing claims filed against the estate amounting to $3,148.99, in which was included said mortgage amounting, with interest, to $1,739. On March 4, 1901, the administrator, having obtained a license for that purpose from the probate court, sold a strip of land 3 rods wide from the 60 acres north and east of the State road, and adjacent to it, to an interurban railway for $150, and to Frank O’Hearn the northwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section 1, which had been appraised at $1,500 in the probate court, for $1,000, and also contracted to sell to Charles E. Chappell the remainder of the 60 acres north and [169]*169east of the State road for $1,900. That latter sale was not consummated, a payment of $50 being forfeited, but the other sales were duly confirmed by the probate court, and the purchase prices paid to the administrator. The administrator also sold a team of horses for $125, and other personal property. The proceeds of these sales were used in payment of the debts of the estate and expenses of administration.

Following this, on May 27, 1901, the administrator, having applied to the probate court and obtained per-' mission to mortgage, for the purpose of paying debts, the northwest quarter of section 1 lying south and west of the State road for $1,050 (which had been willed to John for life and after his death to his heirs), and the 60 acres lying north and east of the State road (willed to Martin for life and after his death to his heirs) for $1,000, borrowed from Charles E. Chappell the sum of $2,050 at 6 per cent, interest, payable annually, $600 to be paid on the principal June 1, 1904, $600 June 1, 1905, and the balance of $850 June 1, 1906, securing the same by two mortgages on said property. To these mortgages the widow and all children of deceased consented in writing. The mortgages were made subject to the life interest of Margaret O’Hearn, the widow of deceased. At this time the legatees and devisees named in testator’s will were all living, and their names were as follows: Margaret O’Hearn, widow; John, Frank, and Martin O’Hearn; Mariah (O’Hearn) Hall, Elizabeth (O’Hearn) Butcher, Agnes (O’Hearn) Loftus, Minnie (Mary O’Hearn) Stroh; the then living prospective heirs of John O’Hearn, who was unmarried, were his six brothers and sisters; the prospective heirs of Martin O’Hearn were three children, Harold, Mabel, and Richard; since then another child has been born to him. The contingencies as to remaindermen, from births, marriages, and deaths, are practically unlimited.

[170]*170On June 11, 1901, the administrator rendered his final account, which was allowed by the probate court on July 8th following. This showed that the administrator had paid total debts of $8,219.92, had expended incurred expenses and administration amounting to $204.08, had lost on sale of real estate, from the appraisal, $500, and had personal property on hand valued at $1,281, with real estate unsold valued at $6,150. The order of the probate court required him to turn the estate over to Margaret O’Hearn, the widow, to be enjoyed and used by her as provided in the will, after which he should be finally discharged.

On May 30, 1903, Margaret O’Hearn, widow of Dominick, died. On July 3,1903, said mortgages were foreclosed in chancery by said Chappell for default in payment of interest, the administrator and several legatees in the will being made defendants, and a decree by default was taken, not for the principal, but for interest only, amounting to $133.15 on one mortgage and $126.84 upon the other, there being no provision in the mortgages for declaring the principal due on default in interest. No sale was had on these foreclosures. The matter was allowed to rest in that shape until March 19, 1904, when the condition of the estate had become such that it seemed imperative something should be done, and upon the advice of certain parties the complainant, Conrad Stroh, together with his wife, who was the Mary O’Hearn named as one of the legatees in the will, and Martin O’Hearn, John O’Hearn, the daughter Lizzie O’Hearn, and Joseph Bauman, a defendant herein and complainant by cross-bill, together with Charles E. Chappell, the mortgagee, met at the office of an attorney, who was Mr. Chappell’s solicitor in the mortgage foreclosures, and had a conference resulting in an apparently unintentional juggling of titles in which Martin O’Hearn and his wife conveyed by warranty deed the 60 acres north [171]*171and east of the State road to Joseph Bauman, excepting therefrom the strip sold to the railroad, for $2,200; John O’Hearn conveyed by warranty deed to Martin O’Hearn an undivided one-half interest in that part of the northwest quarter of section 1 lying southwest of the State road, which contained the buildings of the O’Hearn farm, and said John and Martin O’Hearn, and wife, gave to complainant, Conrad Stroh, a mortgage on said last description, for $1,300.

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Bluebook (online)
142 N.W. 865, 176 Mich. 164, 1913 Mich. LEXIS 608, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stroh-v-ohearn-mich-1913.