Wilkerson v. Wilkerson

1934 OK 566, 36 P.2d 935, 169 Okla. 232, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 311
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedOctober 16, 1934
Docket23395
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 1934 OK 566 (Wilkerson v. Wilkerson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wilkerson v. Wilkerson, 1934 OK 566, 36 P.2d 935, 169 Okla. 232, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 311 (Okla. 1934).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

This action was brought by Will R. Wilkerson et al., who hereinafter will be referred to as plaintiffs, • against Fletcher T. Wilkerson, who hereinafter will be referred to as the defendant, and against Mrs. Alice Enos and Carl Wilkerson, who filed their disclaimers in said action.

The plaintiffs filed their petition alleging that they and the defendants were the children and the sole heirs and legatees of R. J. Wilkerson, deceased, who at the time of his death was the owner in fee simple of 240 acres, describing the same, in Jackson county, Okla. R. J. Wilkerson upon his death left a will wherein he decreed to said plaintiffs and the defendant, Fletcher T. Wilkerson. said real estate, subject to a life estate of the widow of the deceased, Mrs. Elizabeth A. Wilkerson, who departed this life on April 2, 1930; that upon the death of said widow, the said land vested in said plaintiffs and the defendant, as follows:

Will R. Wilkerson. an undivided one-eighth (1/8)
Fletcher T. Wilkerson, an undivided one-eighth (1/8)
Mrs. Edna Howard, an undivided one-sixteenth (1/16)
Mrs. Olive (Ollie) Hunt, an undivided one-sixteenth (1/16)
Mrs. Eva Regían, an undivided one-sixteenth (1/16)
Earl Wilkerson, an undivided one-sixteenth (1/16)
Price Wilkerson, an undivided one-fourth d/4)
Vance Wilkerson, an undivided one-fourth (1/4)

—and that Carl Wilkerson and Mrs. Alice Enos had no right, title, or interest in and to said real estate, they having conveyed their interests given them under their father’s will to other heirs. The, prayer was that said property be partitioned, decreeing that the interest of each be as above set forth, that commissioners be appointed to make partition, and that in the event said property could not be fairly and impartially divided, the property be sold, that the proceeds be partitioned, and that the costs and attorney fees be apportioned among the parties according to their respective interests. A copy of the final decree in the estate of R. J. Wilkerson, deceased, was attached to said petition.

The defendant, Fletcher Wilkerson, filed his answer admitting the relationship of plaintiffs and defendant in so far as the ownership of said real estate was concerned. Pie further alleged:

“That said plaintiffs are not entitled to have said land partitioned at this time for the reason that said lands are incapable of being equitably partitioned among said plaintiffs- and this defendant, and that no equitable division could be made; that in order to divide said land among plaintiffs and this defendant according to their respective interests, it would be necessary to sell said land and divide the proceeds; that on account' of the depressed business conditions now existing, it would be impossible to sell said lands and obtain a fair and equitable price for the same and that a sale of said lands at this time would result in the practical confiscation of plaintiffs’ and defendant’s interest in the same, and that the court should find that said land is incapable of partition and in equity should not be sold at this time.”

A hearing was had upon the issues joined, all parties being present in person and by their attorneys. Evidence wag introduced (but the same is not preserved in the record, and is therefore not before this court), and after argument of counsel, the court found that commissioners should be appointed to make partition. No exception was taken to this order by either side. The order of partition, after confirming the interests of each party, recited:

“That partition of said land be made accordingly, and that if said ’commissioners find that it is impossible to partition said land equitably between all the heirs, then it is ordered that said commissioners proceed to partition one-eighth (1/8) of said land to Fletcher T. Wilkerson, as the remainder of the heirs can or are willing to own said land in common or that they can agreeably dispose of their interest to one of the above heirs.
“It is further ordered that should said commissioners find that it is impossible to partition one-eighth (1/8) of said land, then they will proceed to appraise and value total of said land, and upon taking the oath prescribed by law, said commissioners shall *234 proceed to make said partition and report the same to- Ibis court.”

Thereupon tlie -commissioners made their report, which in part reads as follows:

"We found that partition of said property as to plaintiffs and defendant in their respective portions is impossible without great depreciation to each respective share, but we found that partition could be made as between the plaintiffs and defendant, Fletcher T. Wilkerson, without manifest injury to any of said parties and their respective shares, by giving to the defendant, Fletcher T. Wilkerson, the following described property, to wit:
‘‘Twenty-four and five-thirteenths (24 5/13th) acres, to be taken out of the northwest corner of the northwest quarter (N. W. 14) of section 34, township^one (1) north, range twenty-one (21) west of Indian Meridian, as his one-eighth interest of said land and that the remaining portion of said property be left in undivided shares to the plaintiffs.
“We also found that in the event the above partition should not be approved by the court, we have valued and appraised said land as follows, to wit:
“Twenty acres (20) of farming land in -cultivation on the north side of the west one-balf of tbe southeast quarter of section twenty-one, township one north, range twenty-one W. I. M. $800.00
“Sixty acres (60) out of the said eighty above described being in grass land or pasture land, $480.00
“One-hundred sixty acres atf$65 per acre, being the N. W. % of 34, 1 N-. 21, W. I. M. $10,400.00
“Improvements upon the northwest quarter of section thirty-four (34) township one (1) north, range twenty-one (21) west, we appraise at $1,000.00
“In making the partition of twenty-fout and five-thirteenths acres to be given to the said Fletcher T. Wilkerson, we have takeD into consideration the value of the improvements amounting to $1,000 and the value of the land as shown above as our appraisement of the entire premises.”

Thereafter the defendant filed the following exceptions to report of commissioners:

“Said defendant would show to the court that the amount of land apportioned him by said commissioners is grossly inadequate to the interest of the defendant and that the setting aside of 24 5/13 acres of land amounts to the practical confiscation of the defendant’s interest to the real property involved herein for the reason that the body of land consisting of only 24 5/13 acres is practically of no value.

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

Related

Cain v. Christie
1997 OK CIV APP 7 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 1997)
Chesmore v. Chesmore
1971 OK 49 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1971)
Keel v. Keel
1970 OK 164 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1970)
Diehl v. Hieronymus
426 P.2d 368 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1967)
Ivins v. Hardy
333 P.2d 471 (Montana Supreme Court, 1958)
Sandoval v. Sandoval
294 P.2d 278 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1956)
Smith v. Norton
1952 OK 125 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1952)
Meadors v. Ozment
1945 OK 309 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1945)
State v. Prairie Cotton Oil Co.
1937 OK 478 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1937)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1934 OK 566, 36 P.2d 935, 169 Okla. 232, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 311, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilkerson-v-wilkerson-okla-1934.