Taylor v. Martin's Estate

3 S.W.2d 408
CourtTexas Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 22, 1928
DocketNo. 4266
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 3 S.W.2d 408 (Taylor v. Martin's Estate) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Texas Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Taylor v. Martin's Estate, 3 S.W.2d 408 (Tex. 1928).

Opinion

GREENWOOD, J.

The undisputed facts disclose that W. F. Martin and Willie I. Martin were married in 1904. On May 12, 1917, W. F. Martin executed a will in strict conformity to the law’s requirements, whereby he bequeathed $85,000 to his sister, Moselete Martin Taylor. The will neither makes mention of, nor provides for, any child of the testator. The testator’s wife and his sister, Mo-selete Martin Taylor, Were named as executrices of the will. When the will was made, W. F. Martin had no child, but a son, still living, was born to him and his wife on May 21, 1919. W. F. Martin died on May 11, 1921. His sister, Moselete Martin Taylor, filed an application for the probate of the will of W. F. Martin, and for the issuance to her of letters as executrix. The application was contested in the county court by the widow, and, on Appeal to the district court,' by the widow and the son, on the ground that the testator had no child when the will was made, but that he left a child when he died, who was neither mentioned in the will nor provided for thereby.

The county court and the district court [410]*410refused to probate tbe will. Tbe Court of Civil Appeals affirmed tbe judgment of tbe district court, concluding that tbe will could not be legally probated until tbe death, during minority and while unmarried, of tbe after-born child. 263 S. W. 1102.

After a writ of error was allowed, tbe case was referred to Section A of tbe Commission of Appeals. Tbe commission recommended the reversal of tbe judgment of tbe Court of Civil Appeals and tbe rendition of judgment by tbe Supreme Court simply admitting tbe will to probate.

Having withdrawn tbe case from tbe commission, tbe Supreme Court is thus for tbe first time called upon to determine what effect should be given to tbe terms of article 8293, R. S., on an application for tbe probate of a will and for letters testamentary.

Article 8293 provides:

“Every last will and testament made when the testator had' no child living, wherein any child he might have is not provided for or mentioned, if at the time of his death he shall leave a child, or leave his wife enceinte of a child which shall be born, shall have no effect during the life of such after-born child, and shall be void, unless the child die without having been married and before he shall have attained the age of twenty-one years.”

We cannot sustain tbe contention for tbe after-born child that tbe will be denied probate until tbe death of such child, unmarried, and under 21 years of age. Our statutes authorize any person interested in tbe testator’s estate or tbe testamentary executor to apply for tbe probate" of a will. Such probate is forbidden after tbe lapse of 4 years from tbe death of the testator, unless tbe party seeking to have tbe will probated proves be was not in default in failing to present tbe will within tbe 4 years. The will must be probated upon tbe court being satisfied from tbe evidence:

“(1) That the testator, at the time of executing the will, was at least 21 years of age, or was married, that he was ■ of sound mind, and that he is dead.
“(2) That the court has jurisdiction of his estate.
“(3) That citation has been served and returned in the manner and for the length of time required by law.
“(4) That the testator executed the will with the formalities and solemnities and under the circumstances required by law to make it a valid will.
“(5) That such will has not been revoked by the testator.”

Articles 3339, 3326, 3329, 3330, 3348, and 3351, Revised Statutes of 1925.

It is a condition precedent to tbe will’s ever having any effect that it be probated in accordance with tbe statutes. Page on Wills (2d Ed.) § 527. Not only is plaintiff in error Moselete Martin Taylor one of’the testamentary executrices of tbe will offered for probate, but she is bequeathed $85,000 under tbe will. It is true tbe bequest to plaintiff in error is made by tbe terms of article 8293 contingent on tbe death of tbe testator’s son,- before marriage, and before be arrives at the age of 21 years. The fact that tbe bequest is contingent does not deprive plaintiff in error of interest in tbe testator’s estate.

Plaintiff in error was therefore entitled to apply for the will’s probate and for letters testamentary. Ryan v. T. & P. R. R. Co., 64 Tex. 239; Abrams v. Ross’ Estate (Tex. Com. App.) 250 S. W. 1020. It is conceded that her application and proof met every requirement of our statutes for tbe complete grant of her application, save that both application and proof showed tbe birth of tbe testator’s son after tbe date of tbe will, and showed that tbe son was alive, and showed that tbe will made no provision for, and contained no mention of, tbe son. If article 8293 declared that tbe birth of a child subsequent to the execution of a parent’s will, which made no provision for, or mention of, the child, should absolutely revoke such will, the judgments of the Court of Civil Appeals and of the courts below would be correct. Matter of Gall, 5 Dem. Sur. (N. Y.) 374. Instead of the statute entirely revoking the will, the statute makes the will pass to plaintiff in error a contingent estate. No one could question the right of plaintiff in error to probate this will, if it had made bequests to her and to others to take effect in the event an after-born child surviving the testator should die without having been married, and without having reached the age of 21 years, and if it devised tbe balance of tbe testator’s estate to those) who, had be died intestate, would have been bis heirs at law, including his after-born child. Plaintiff in error’s right is equally clear when derived from the terms of article 8293, as applied to the very instrument written by the testator. The law wrote into the testator’s will the terms of the statute. Wood v. Tredway, 111 Va. 526, 69 S. E. 445; Baum’s Estate, 269 Pa. 66, 112 A. 141.

The law contemplates and requires that the order of probate be applied for without too great delay, while the witnesses are likely to be alive and to have memory of what transpired at tbe will’s execution. Since the will has not been wholly revoked, and since it may invest plaintiff in error with a right worth $85,000, there is no sufficient reason for refusing the will’s probate.

However, we cannot sustain the contention of plaintiff in error that tbe probate court, or the( district court on appeal, was without power, in tbe proceeding to probate tbe will and to procure letters testamentary, to give effect to tbe terms of article 8293, enacted especially for tbe protection and benefit of the after-born child. Though it be [411]*411true that proceedings to annul particular provisions of a will should not be joined with a contest of' the will’s probate, as held in Prather v. McClelland, 76 Tex. 584, 13 S. W. 543, it does not follow that the court cannot adjudge, on a contested application to probate a will, the extent to which the entire will has been revoked by operation of law, on facts disclosed by the application for probate and on the contest.

The correct view of article 8293 is that it ■does deal with the revocation of wills. At both the civil and the common law certain ■changes in a testator’s domestic status operated to revoke his will. McCullum v. McKenzie, 26 Iowa, 513. Alexander states:

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Morrison v. Brewster and Mayhall
773 S.W.2d 607 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1989)
Kamel v. Kamel
760 S.W.2d 677 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1988)
MacMillan v. Callahan
555 S.W.2d 771 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1977)
Aguillar v. State
362 S.W.2d 111 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1962)
Hill v. Joseffy
259 S.W.2d 760 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1953)
Magnolia Petroleum Co. v. Kibbe
235 S.W.2d 735 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1950)
Burns v. Burns
224 P.2d 178 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1950)
Garza v. Cavazos
221 S.W.2d 549 (Texas Supreme Court, 1949)
Logan v. Thomason
199 S.W.2d 210 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1946)
Langehennig v. Hohmann
163 S.W.2d 402 (Texas Supreme Court, 1942)
Conroy v. Conroy
110 S.W.2d 568 (Texas Supreme Court, 1937)
Chatham Phenix Nat. Bank & Trust Co. v. Hiatt
78 S.W.2d 1105 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1935)
Ratcliffe v. Seaboard Nat. Bank of New York
46 S.W.2d 750 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1932)
Brown v. Burke
26 S.W.2d 415 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1930)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
3 S.W.2d 408, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-martins-estate-tex-1928.