Ward v. Callahan
Ward v. Callahan
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Elizabeth S. Callahan owned lot 14, in block 22, in Junction City, Geary county. On the 9th day of July, 1884, she deeded a one undivided half interest in the property to her husband, who was to assume and pay a mortgage upon the premises for $350. It was expressly stipulated in the deed that the grantee reserved the right to hold and occupy the property during her natural life as a home, and at her death the undivided half interest should go to the heirs of her body. The husband and wife continued to occupy the premises as a homestead until the death of the
The judgment of the district court must be affirmed. The court had jurisdiction of the parties as well as the subject-matter of the action. If, as the plaintiff claimed, the property was a homestead, the probate court had no jurisdiction over it, and had no power to order it sold to pay the debts of the deceased. Injunction is the proper remedy to prevent the sale of property which the law exempts as a homestead The jurisdictional question, both of the probate and district courts, is made to depend upon the question of homestead exemption. The defendant in error filed his petition for an injunction; the plaintiff in error answered. This question of the homestead exemption was thus fairly raised and passed upon by the dis
It is claimed by the plaintiffs in error that the district court had no authority to interfere with the lawful orders of the probate court, and for that reason the judgment of the district court was void, and should have been set aside. The difficulty with the position of counsel is, that the district court must necessarily have found that the property in question was a homestead, and this finding and judgment left the probate court without jurisdiction • and the proceedings had in the latter court for the sale of the premises were therefore void. “ Courts of equity freely extend relief for the purpose of preventing an enforced sale under execution of premises in the actual occupancy of the debtor as a homestead, and which are protected from levy and sale under the homestead exemption statutes of the state.” (10 Am. & Eng. Encyc. of Law, 809, and authorities there cited.)
The judgment of the district court should be affirmed.
By the Court: It is so ordered.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.