Vaughn v. Vaughn

279 S.W.2d 427, 1955 Tex. App. LEXIS 1827
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 21, 1955
Docket6787
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 279 S.W.2d 427 (Vaughn v. Vaughn) 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
Vaughn v. Vaughn, 279 S.W.2d 427, 1955 Tex. App. LEXIS 1827 (Tex. Ct. App. 1955).

Opinions

FANNING, Justice.

Appellant, Stella Vaughn, the surviving wife of A. L. Vaughn, deceased, who elected not to take under her.deceased husband’s will, as plaintiff sued Zac Vaughn, Independent Executor of the estate of A. ,L. Vaughn, Deceased, specifically alleging that a 40-acre tract of land, a 36-acre tract of land. and a 48-acre tract of land, .the separate property of her-deceased husband, constituted - the homestead ■ .of hepself, and her deceased husband prior tq- his death, and that they resided upon, used, claimed and enjoyed said premises as ,their homestead, and used the rents and. revenues therefrom for their, sustenance and support, and. in this connection further- specifically alleged that the ,40-acre tract and the 36-acre tract were contiguous and adjoining and were the identical premises on which plaintiff and A. L. Vaughn actually resided [429]*429at the time of his death. Plaintiff also specifically alleged that the 48-acre • tract was located a few miles distant from the other two tracts but that the rents, revenues and income therefrom were used by plaintiff and her deceased husband for their sustenance 'and support. Plaintiff further alleged that she had continued to reside upon, and to use and claim the same as her homestead and that plaintiff had no other homestead, etc. Plaintiff prayed that the defendant, as executor, be required by the court to set aside to her use as a homestead the said three tracts of land. Plaintiff also sued appellee executor for an accounting on the rents and revenues on'the alleged homestead property, for one-half of 'the community property of herself and husband remaining after the payment of community debts, for an allowance of $500 in lieu of exempt property, for an allowance of $1,000, or for such other sum as might he found appropriate for' one year’s support, etc.

Defendant in addition to generally denying the allegations of plaintiff pleaded specially that the three tracts of land were the separate property of A. L. Vaughn, deceased,-' and that the 40-acre tract alone constituted the homestead óf A. L. Vaughn; and also that his will in effect designated said 40 acres as his homestead; defendant also stated the account between' parties, alleging certain indebtedness against plaintiff in favor of her husband’s estate for which recovery was sought; defendant also pleaded that certain advancements made to decedent’s children did not constitute a claim in favor of appellant; defendant also resisted appellant’s claim for allowance in lieu of exempt property; defendant, also pleaded a rental contract whereby Zac Vaughn had rented the 40- and 36-acre tracts from his father for the year 1954.

The case was tried by the .court, without the intervention of a jury. The trial court found that the 40-acre and 36-acre tracts, contiguous to each .other, were the homestead of appellant and set aside said two tracts to her as homestead, and also awarded to her the rents and revenues from said two tracts. The trial court also specifically found that the 48-acre tract (not contiguous to the other two tracts), the separate property of A. L. Vaughn, did not constitute any part of the homestead of plaintiff and the said A. L. Vaughn, deceased, and that the rents and revenues collected therefrom after the date of the death of A. L. Vaughn were not the community property, of appellant and the said A. L. Vaughn. The court also allowed appellant $750 for one year’s support, allowed her $100 in lieu of exempt personal property not on hand at the death of decedent, and also awarded her certain items of exempt personal property. The court also found that plaintiff was indebted to decedent’s estate in the sum of $173.55, which was allowed as an offset and credit to the amount to which plaintiff was entitled; the court also found that plaintiff was entitled to one-half of certain community property and one-half of community funds after the payment of certain community debts, that the executor should make diligent efforts to collect certain advancements made, etc., that-appellee was entitled to an agricultural lease on two of the tracts. The court also divided the court costs, stating his reasons therefor. Mrs. Stella Vaughn has appealed.

Appellant presents nine, points. . Her points 1 and 2 read as follows.:

1.' “The trial court erred in finding and holding, and in rendering judgment accordingly, that the forty-eight acre tract of land out of the :E. W. Pittman Survey in Fannin County did not constitute a part of the plaintiff’s homestead, and in denying her judgment therefor.
2. “As a necessary corollary to appellant’s first point (above), the trial court erred in failing and refusing to hold that, and in denying plaintiff judgment for, the rents and revenues, or the proceeds thereof, for the year 1953, and so long thereafter as the same should be her homestead, ' accruing from the forty-eight acre tract of land out of the E. W. Pittman Survey in Fannin County.”

[430]*430■Appellant’s points 5 to 8, inclusive, complaining of other matters, however, are couched in the same form as points 1 and 2, supra. Point 9 complains of the trial court’s taxing costs equally against the parties.

Appellee in his counterpoints 1 to 9, inclusive, contends that appellant’s points 1 to 9, inclusive, are only assignments “in effect asserting that the evidence conclusively establishes a certain fact of compels a certain conclusion and thus raises a question of law and does not determine the jurisdiction of the Court of Civil Appeals to determine a fact issue.” Appellee in support of these nine counterpoints has cited the following authorities: Miguez v. Miguez, Tex.Civ.App., 221 S.W.2d 293; De Busk v. Guffee, Tex.Civ.App., 171 S.W. 2d 194; Clark v. Cohen, Tex.Civ.App., 205 S.W.2d 797; Brown County Water Improvement Dist. No. 1 v. McIntosh, Tex. Civ.App., 164 S.W.2d 722; Krumb v. Porter, Tex.Civ.App., 152 S.W.2d 495.

Appellee’s 10th counterpoint reads as. follows:

“Appellant’s points, if they are legally sufficient, only assert ajs error that the findings are against the preponderance of the evidence and do not present any points'That the findings are so against the overwhelming weight and preponderance of the evidence as to be clearly wrong and unjust, and place no burden on the Court of Civil Apr peals to examine the record as a whole.”

Appellee in support of his counterpoint 10 cites the case of Poynor v. Varner, Tex. Civ.App., 266 S.W.2d 462, 463. We quote from the court’s' decision in this case as follows':

“Appellant’s points that the findings are against the preponderance of the evidence do not present the point that such findings were so against the overwhelming weight and preponderance of the evidence as to be clearly wrong and unjust. In re King’s Estate, [150 Tex. 662] 244 S.W.2d 660, 662; Texas Employers’ Ins. Ass’n v. Moran, Tex. Civ.App., 261 S.W.2d 855, 856 (application for writ of error dismissed for want of jurisdiction). However, after a careful study of the statement of facts, we think the result would probably have been the same.

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Bluebook (online)
279 S.W.2d 427, 1955 Tex. App. LEXIS 1827, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vaughn-v-vaughn-texapp-1955.