Succession of Burbank

56 So. 430, 129 La. 528, 1911 La. LEXIS 784
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedOctober 16, 1911
DocketNos. 18,599, 19,122
StatusPublished

This text of 56 So. 430 (Succession of Burbank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Succession of Burbank, 56 So. 430, 129 La. 528, 1911 La. LEXIS 784 (La. 1911).

Opinion

LAND, J.

T. Scott Burbank died in Temple, Tex., on May 10, 1910, leaving a last will and testament, of date March 22, 1910, which was duly probated in the county court of Bell county, Tex., on -June 14, 1910. Burbank was a widower, and left a minor daughter, Mary S. Burbank, as his sole heir at law. The executors named in” the will, on June 22, 1910, presented to the civil district court for the parish of Orleans a duly exemplified copy of said will, and of the probate thereof, and prayed that the same be duly registered, and that they be recognized as executors on qualifying according to law.

T. Scott Burbank had been for many years a resident of the state of Louisiana. On June 6, 1910, Mrs. Nellie C. Dodge, a sister of the deceased, instituted proceedings in the civil district court for the parish of Orleans for'the appointment of a tutor and under-tutor to her minor niece, Mary S. Burbank. In her petition, Mrs. Dodge alleged that her deceased brother was domiciled in New Orleans' at the time of his death. On June 10, 1910, Mrs. Josephine Ernst, the maternal grandmother of the minor, intervened, praying to be confirmed and appointed tutrix. On June 17, 1910, judgment was rendered, appointing Mrs. Ernst tutrix as prayed for, and, she having duly qualified, letters were issued to her as tutrix on June 21, 1910. The inventory taken in the proceedings showed that the estate of the late T. Scott Burbank in Louisiana consisted of his undivided one-fourth interest in the estates of his deceased father and mother, the late E. W. Burbank and wife, estimated at $400,902.52.

It therefore appears that when the alleged Texas will was presented for registration and execution on June 22, 1910, the estate of the decedent in Louisiana was in custodia legis, under the administration of Mrs. Josephine Ernst, as tutrix of her granddaughter, sole heir of her deceased father. The executors of the alleged Texas will, by their ■ counsel, on June 14, 1910, filed with the notary in said tutorship proceedings a written protest against the appointment of any tutor to the minor, on the grounds that T. Scott Burbank was a citizen and resident of the state of Texas, which fact fixed the domicile of the minor in Texas, and therefore the courts of Louisiana were without authority to appoint a tutor for her. The same counsel appeared before the court, as amicus curiae, and urged the same objections.

Upon the application to file the Texas will, Mrs. Ernst, as tutrix, objected, on the following grounds:

(1) That T. Scott Burbank was not a resident or citizen of the state of Texas, nor had he ever been domiciled therein.

(2) That the deceased was mentally incompetent to make said will.

(3) That the will is void for defect of form, and not such as to convey the defend[531]*531ant’s estate, especially the real property of large value in the state of Louisiana. After hearing said objections, the court ordered the will to be filed, subject to further hearing.

On June 27, 1910, Mrs. Ernst, tutrix, filed in the succession record a direct action to annul the Texas will, on grounds substantially as follows:

(1) That the deceased was mentally incompetent from illness and disease of the brain to make a testament, and shortly after the date of the alleged will committed suicide.

(2) That the deceased was a citizen and resident of the state of Louisiana, and never had any other residence or domicile.

(3) That the estate of the deceased is situated in the city of New Orleans, state of Louisiana.

(4) That the alleged will is null, void, and inoperative, inasmuch as it creates a prohibited substitution and a fidei commissum.

(5) That the alleged will works a great injustice and injury to the minor, who under the law of Louisiana is the sole heir of the deceased, and is entitled to take the estate free of the conditions attempted to he imposed by said alleged will.

The executors and the three sisters of the deceased named in the will were cited and appeared. The executors and the two sisters, Mrs. Woodson and Mrs. De Silva, averred that the document presented was the last will and testament of the deceased, valid in form and duly probated in the state of Texas, at the place of the last residence and domicile; that the executors named therein had been duly qualified; that the allegations as to the incompetency of the testator, and as to his residence in the state of Louisiana, were not true; that the testator was legally domiciled in Temple, state of Texas, and was a citizen of that state, and was not domiciled elsewhere; that the testator possessed large properties in the states of Texas and Louisiana, and that his property in the latter state consisted of his undivided share or interest in the successions of his father and mother. The respondents denied that the Texas will was null and void for or on account of any of the matters alleged in the petition, and all other matters and things not specially admitted in their answer.

Mrs. Dodge, the third sister, after pleading the general issue, admitted that her brother, T. Scott Burbank, was a citizen of Louisiana and a resident of New Orleans, where he had his legal domicile, and averred her belief that the Texas will was not made by her brother understandingly, and that it should be annulled and set aside in the best interest of the minor.

None of the respondents excepted to the capacity of Mrs. Ernst, as tutrix, to maintain the action.

When the judgment appointing Mrs. Ernst as tutrix is assailed by direct action, it will be time enough to consider its validity.

The last will and testament of the deceased is valid as to form under the laws of Texas. By its terms the whole estate was left under the administration and control of the executors, who were directed from time to time to pay over to the guardian of the person of the minor daughter of the deceased such sums as might be needed for her support and education; and when said daughter arrives at the age of 21 years the executors are directed to deliver to her the sum of $20,000; one-half of the remainder of the estate to be delivered to the said daughter when she arrives at the age of 25, and the remainder when she arrives at the age of 30 years. In the case of the death of the daughter without issue, the testator directed that such of the estate as then remains shall go to and become the property of his three sisters in the amounts, to wit: $100 to Mrs. Dodge, one-half of the remainder to Mrs. [533]*533De Silva, and the other one-half to Mrs. Woodson, who was named guardian of the person of the minor. It is evident that, under the will, the executors were to act as sole guardians of all the property left to the minor daughter, and as her trustees after she became of age. Under such a will, no guardian of the minor’s estate could be appointed.

It is conceded by counsel on both sides that the validity of the probate of the will in Texas hinges on the question of the domicile of the testator at the date of the confection of the testament. Succession of Drys-dale, 124 La. 266, 50 South. 30.

T. Scott Burbank was a citizen and resident of the state of Louisiana for many years. In May, 1896, Burbank married Miss Ida Ernst, in New Orleans. The minor, Mary S. Burbank, .was the sole issue of this marriage, The wife and mother died in December, 1899. In December, 1908, E. W. Burbank died in New Orleans, leaving a last will, in which T. Scott Burbank, a son of the deceased, was named as one of the executors.

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50 So. 30 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1908)
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Bluebook (online)
56 So. 430, 129 La. 528, 1911 La. LEXIS 784, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/succession-of-burbank-la-1911.