Vogt v. Meyer

169 S.W.2d 745, 1943 Tex. App. LEXIS 218
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 15, 1943
DocketNo. 5530
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 169 S.W.2d 745 (Vogt v. Meyer) 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
Vogt v. Meyer, 169 S.W.2d 745, 1943 Tex. App. LEXIS 218 (Tex. Ct. App. 1943).

Opinion

PITTS, Chief Justice.

It appears from the record in this case that Sophia S. Hoeffert died on May 4, 1939 in Schulenburg, Fayette County, Texas, leaving a will which was admitted to probate in the County Court of Fayette County, after which a controversy arose between the parties taking under the will and a suit was filed in the District Court of Fayette County to have the will construed. Appellants, who are complaining on this appeal, were plaintiffs in the trial court and are daughters of Sophia S. Hoeffert, deceased, and are namely Stella Vogt, Ellen Crouch and Addie Luce each respectively joined pro forma by her husband, and ap-pellees, who were defendants in the trial court, are Minnie Meyer, individually, and as one of the administratrices of the estate of Sophia S. Hoeffert, deceased, Melba Neumann, Rosalin Williams, Gertrude Ivy, Minnie Sloan and. Caroline Waid, with their respective husbands joined as parties; it further appears that appellee, Minnie Meyer, is a sister of appellants named above and a daughter of Sophia S. Hoeffert deceased, and that appellees Melba Neumann, Rosalin Williams, Gertrude Ivy, Minnie Sloan and Caroline Waid, are daughters of appellee, Minnie Meyer, and granddaughters of Sophia S. Hoeffert, deceased.

The will presented to the trial court for construction is as follows:

“The State of Texas “County of Fayette
“Know All Men by These Presents: That I, Sophie S. Hoeffert, Schulenburg, of the County of Fayette and State of Texas, being of sound mind and memory, to execute and publish this instrument as my last will and testament, hereby revoking and annufeg any and all wills and codicils by me made heretofore. I will and degree that after my death my administrator, Henry Eilers, herein named shall pay and liquidate my debts which I may leave unpaid. Physic»», nurse or nurses. FunerorcZ or other expencanc. Also a double tombstone with the inscription Father. Mother. I will and degree that all real estate shall stay in t&kt from twow to three years. As to the judgment of my Administrator Henry Eilers, my daughter Gertie Mitchon, having received a sum of money for her lot and the building of her home in Victoria, Tex. Shall receive one Hunderd dollcrs when any of the property is sold. Inclosed is che=rk for the lot mentioned in Victoria Tex. George my son chalí also have one hxmáered, dollers when any property is sold. To my daughters Minnie Meyer, Ellen Crouch in Houston, Stella Vogt in Schulenburg, Tex, Addie Luce in Houston, and my grandchildren, five daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Meyer, Melba, Gertrude, Minnie, Rosalin Williams in Houston, and Caroline. All five daughters of my daughter Minnie. (WiM-[747]*747ehmina) They shall from the real estate when sold share alike with my daughters herein mentioned. I also wish if any of the houj/iold goods, furniture, garden utensils or my thing should be sold my children or grandchildren shall have the first chance of frying at such a prize. They will be able to pay for. And when anything will be remold from the premises it shall he in the presents of 2 or three of my herein named airs. I also wish in/entory to be taken in the presents of two or three of my children. I hope you heirs will know I tried to do in the name of our Lord the right thing. After the passing away of my husband and your father and grandfather the grandchildren herein mentioned were of great help to me. I trust that my Administrator Henry" Eilers of Schulenburg, Fayette County will do his best to the interest of my heirs, Gods blessing for you all. Amen. WMtiness my hand.
"(Signed) Sophia S. Hoefifert.
“Schulenburg, Fayette County.
"Nov. 9th 1938.”

The trial court, without a jury, construed the above will by rendering judgment setting aside $100 each for George Hoefifert and Gertrude Mitchon and dividing the real estate equally among the nine remaining heirs, that is, the three appellants and six appellees above named giving each of them one-ninth interest in said real estate, and further adjudged that the said estate devised equally to said nine heirs was a fee simple estate which vested at the time of the death of testatrix and that the personal property of testatrix was not disposed of by the will except as to the' extent of the legacies in favor of George Hoefifert and Gertrude Mitchon from which judgment appellants perfect their appeal.

Appellants contend in their first point or assignment of error that the trial court erred in construing the will to mean that it was the intention of the testatrix to divide the real estate into nine equal parts and thus allow each of her five granddaughters to share equally with each of her daughters; appellants contend further that a reasonable construction of the will would allow the five granddaughters to share together only one-fifth, or a child’s part, of the real estate and that the real estate should be divided into five equal parts giving each of the four daughters one-fifth, and to the five granddaughters the remaining one-fifth, to share among themselves collectively.

We often find grandchildren standing in the shoes of a deceased parent and sharing jointly only a child’s part of an estate but in this case the parent or mother of the grandchildren is Minnie Meyer, now living, one of the devisees, and an appellee together with the granddaughters.

Texas Jurisprudence, vol. 44, page 697, par. 139, lays down the following rule for construing a will: “Accordingly, when construction is necessary, the court will not adhere rigidly to precedent nor will it arbitrarily follow any rule save that which commands it to ascertain and effectuate the testamentary intent; while other rules are to be observed so far as practicable, they are not absolute or controlling. After all is said, each case must depend upon the ascertainment of the intention of the testator as manifested by the language of the will.”

The above rule is supported by the following cases, all from the Commission of Appeals and approved by the Supreme Court of Texas: Darragh v. Barmore, 242 S.W. 714; Hunting v. Jones, 215 S.W. 959; Sailer v. Furche, 22 S.W.2d 1065; McMullen v. Sims, 37 S.W.2d 141; and Kostroun v. Plsek, 15 S.W.2d 220.

The same text and same volume, page 694, par. 138, lays down another rule as follows: “When a dominant or general intent is disclosed by the entire will, and a particular or special intent is shown by a clause or provision of the instrument, both will be carried out if possible. But the general intent will control, at least when it is clearly expressed, in case of conflict with a particular intent, if the two cannot be reconciled. In other words, the general intent appearing from the provisions of the will as a whole must prevail, and any particular clause or provision which, taken alone, would indicate a contrary intention, will yield thereto.”

This rule is supported by Hughes v. Mulanax, Tex.Civ.App., 157 S.W. 217, and McMullen v. Sims, supra, and Hunting v. Jones, supra, as well as numerous other authorities.

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

Related

In Re Young
297 B.R. 492 (E.D. Texas, 2003)
Chapman v. Nelson
470 S.W.2d 112 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1971)
Zahn v. National Bank of Commerce of Dallas
328 S.W.2d 783 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1959)
Ellis v. Bruce
286 S.W.2d 645 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1956)
Hill v. Wallace
253 S.W.2d 464 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1952)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
169 S.W.2d 745, 1943 Tex. App. LEXIS 218, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vogt-v-meyer-texapp-1943.