Ralston v. Ralston
Ralston v. Ralston
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Petition for partition filed in this case under the Code to which a demurrer was filed and overruled. In the petition the following facts are stated: That the petitioner, Louisa M. Balston, was married to Bobert Balston, October 16,1851, that on the nineteenth of the same month, Bobert died, leaving no issue ; that at Bobert’s death, he was possessed of personal property to the amount of $375 or $-400, also hada fee simple title to 334.19 acres of real estate, which is described in petition; that Bobert left a number of brothers and sisters (naming them) as his heirs; that her dower interest in said real estate, consisting of one-third of its value and comprising eighty acres, was set apart to her by referees, and the admeasurement
It is contended that the court erred in overruling the demurrer to this petition. The cause of demurrer chiefly relied on, and the only one necessary to be considered is, that the petition, shows that the petitioner elected to take her dower, and that the same had been duly assigned to her, and hence it is claimed that she had no interest in the remaining two-tliirds of the estate.
The decision of this question depends entirely upon the construction of section 1410 of the Code, which provides: “ If the intestate leave no issue, the one-hálf of his estate (including the dower of his wife) shall go to his father, and the other half to his wife,” &c. The question arises, can the fact that the wife’s dower had been set apart to her, agreeable to the Code, §§ 1294,1295, impair her rights under the above section, 1410? We think not. The wife
We cannot for a moment entertain the opinion that the legislature in such a case intended to give one-half of the wife’s dower to the father. That clause within brackets, in relation to the wife’s dower, was merely inserted to show that the father was to have one-half of the entire estate to be estimated by including the amount of the dower which had been set apart to the wife.
We think, then, that the courtbelowdidnot err in overruling the demurrer, and that the petition sets forth good reasons for a partition.
Judgment affirmed
Reference
- Full Case Name
- M. Ralston v. Ralston
- Status
- Published