Wishard v. Kuehn

483 S.W.2d 485, 1972 Tex. App. LEXIS 2859
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 29, 1972
DocketNo. 15928
StatusPublished

This text of 483 S.W.2d 485 (Wishard v. Kuehn) 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
Wishard v. Kuehn, 483 S.W.2d 485, 1972 Tex. App. LEXIS 2859 (Tex. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinion

COLEMAN, Justice.

This is an appeal from a judgment entered in a partition suit. The questions to be determined are (1) the effect to be given to the judgment of the Court of Civil Appeals rendered on a prior appeal in this case, and (2) whether the trial court erred in denying appellants a jury trial.

This suit was instituted by certain children of Gustave G. Kuehn and Mary Jane Kuehn to partition a certain tract of land deeded to their children by Mr. and Mrs, Kuehn. The land was divided into nine tracts, and each child was given a life estate in one of these tracts for a period of twenty-five years, at the end of which period a full fee simple title would vest. A provision was included in the deed authorizing a conveyance from the grantees to either of the other grantees. One of the grantees died intestate and another executed a conveyance of her interest in the property to another grantee and subsequently died prior to the twenty-five year period. The ownership of these interests was the disputed issue on the first trial of the case. The judgment entered at that trial was appealed to the Court of Civil Appeals for the 14th District of Texas, and [486]*486was by that court affirmed in part and in part reversed and remanded. Kuehn v. Wishard, 452 S.W.2d 5 (Tex.Civ.App.— Houston [14th] 1970, writ ref., n. r. e.).

The mandate to the Court of Civil Appeals to the trial court provided:

“ . . . that part of the judgment, and that part only, insofar as it divests any of the eight surviving brothers or sisters of Anna Kallina Kuehn of an undivided one-eighth fee interest in surface Tract No. 9 and an undivided one-eighth fee interest in that mineral estate previously conveyed to Frances Kallina Kuehn by the source deed, be reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings in accordance with the opinion of this court. It is further ordered that the remaining portion of the trial court judgment be severed and that such remaining part of the judgment of the court below be affirmed.”

The deed from Gustave G. Kuehn and wife, Mary Jane Kuehn (referred to as the “source deed”) conveyed Share No. 9 to Frances Kallina Kuehn. Frances Kallina Kuehn conveyed this share to Viola Kuehn Wishard prior to the end of the twenty-five year period provided in the source deed as being the time the fee simple title would vest. At the first trial the court submitted issues to the jury on the intention of the grantors. Based on the jury’s answers the court rendered judgment vesting title to Share No. 9 in Viola Kuehn Wishard. This portion of the judgment was reversed by the Court of Civil Appeals.

In its opinion in Kuehn v. Wishard, supra, the court held that the construction of the deed was a matter of law for the court; that the intention of the grantors in the source deed is expressed in, and may be obtained from, that instrument; that the interest in Tract No. 9 granted by the source deed to Frances Kallina Kuehn was a life estate subject to being enlarged into a fee simple estate upon the expiration of twenty-five years; that the “nature of the estate conveyed — a life estate — made such interest during the twenty-five year period subject to the life of the grantee”; and that the conveyance by Frances Kallina Kuehn was of her life estate only and terminated on her death. The court held that on the death of Frances Kallina Kuehn title to Tract 9 vested in her eight surviving brothers and sisters, and that the trial court erred in vesting title in Viola Kuehn Wishard. The court remanded the case because partition was prayed for and the question of whether the tract was susceptible of partition in kind was a fact issue for a jury.

The action of the Court of Civil Appeals on the questions above mentioned was the basis of its decision in the case. The refusal of a writ of error with the notation “no reversible error” necessarily implies that the Supreme Court approved the holding of the Court of Civil Appeals on those questions.

After remand the judge of the 55th District Court called the case for trial. At that time the counsel for appellants demanded a jury trial. A proper request had previously been made and the jury fee paid. At that time the court advised counsel that in view of the agreement between the parties that Tract 9 was not susceptible of partition in kind and should be sold and the proceeds of the sale divided, there were no issues of fact for a jury by reason of the decision of the Court of Civil Appeals in the previous appeal of the case. The motion that a jury be empaneled in the case was thereupon refused.

Appellants’ contention that the trial court erred in refusing them a jury trial can not be sustained. The opinion of the Court of Civil Appeals determined all issues made by the pleadings except the question of whether the land was susceptible of partition in kind, and this issue was settled by agreement of the parties.

The plaintiffs offered into evidence the source deed and certain requests for admissions and the answers thereto. They [487]*487then rested. Certain stipulations were read into the record. The attorney for Mrs. Wishard was permitted to make a bill of exceptions to the court’s refusal to permit a jury trial. The evidence offered to support his bill was, by agreement, taken from the transcript of the testimony given on the previous trial. All parties then rested.

The pleadings of the parties were not amended after the first trial. The answer of Mrs. Wishard does not set up any of the various statutes of limitation except in a special exception, which does not appear to have been presented to the court for a ruling. Appellants contend that the source deed was ambiguous, and that there were issues of fact raised by the testimony admitted on the Bill of Exceptions as to the circumstances surrounding the execution of the source deed, as to the issue of limitations.

With the exception of the question of limitations, these matters were presented on the first appeal of this case, and were finally decided by the action of the Supreme Court in denying the application for writ of error. The decision on the questions of law so determined were binding on the trial court and on this court as the law of the case. Furr’s, Inc. v. United Specialty Advertising Company, 385 S.W.2d 456 (Tex.Civ.App. — El Paso 1964, writ ref’d, n. r. e.); Elliott v. Moffett, 165 S.W.2d 911 (Tex.Civ.App. — Texarkana 1942, writ ref., w. o. m.); Reed v. James, 113 S.W.2d 580 (Tex.Civ.App. — San Antonio 1938, writ dism’d); Publix Theatres Corporation v. Carpenter, 56 S.W.2d 248 (Tex.Civ.App. — Dallas 1932, writ dism’d); Brooks v. Zorn, 53 S.W.2d 99 (Tex.Civ.App. — Beaumont 1932, aff’d Tex.Com.App., 83 S.W.2d 949); Maxcy v. Norsworthy, 49 S.W.2d 885 (Tex.Civ.App.— Galveston, writ dism’d); Sutherland v. Friedenbloom, 200 S.W. 1099 (Tex.Civ.App. — El Paso 1918, writ ref.).

In White, Smith & Baldwin v. Downs, 40 Tex. 225 (1874), the court said:

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Related

Kuehn v. Wishard
452 S.W.2d 5 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1970)
Furr's, Inc. v. United Specialty Advertising Company
385 S.W.2d 456 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1964)
Crouch v. Shields
385 S.W.2d 580 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1964)
Zorn v. Brooks
83 S.W.2d 949 (Texas Supreme Court, 1935)
Reed v. James
113 S.W.2d 580 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1938)
Brooks v. Zorn
53 S.W.2d 99 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1932)
Maxcy v. Norsworthy
49 S.W.2d 885 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1932)
Texas Employers Insurance v. Patterson
192 S.W.2d 255 (Texas Supreme Court, 1946)
Publix Theatres Corp. v. Carpenter
56 S.W.2d 248 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1932)
Sutherland v. Friedenbloom
200 S.W. 1099 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1918)
White, Smith & Baldwin v. Downs
40 Tex. 225 (Texas Supreme Court, 1874)
Elliott v. Moffett
165 S.W.2d 911 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1942)

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Bluebook (online)
483 S.W.2d 485, 1972 Tex. App. LEXIS 2859, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wishard-v-kuehn-texapp-1972.