Martin v. Martin
Martin v. Martin
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
In an action brought by John T. Martin, to quiet his title to a tract of land in Washington county, judgment was rendered in favor of the plaintiff barring the answering defendants from claiming any title or interest in the land, and from this decision defendants appeal.
Does the absence of a record showing notice of the hearing, upon the petition to sell the land, render the guardian’s deed void or impair the validity of plaintiff’s title ?
Defendants contend that section 12 of chapter 247 of the Laws of 1907 (Gen. Stat. 1915, § 6109) requires that a guardian who petitions for the sale of the property of an insane person shall give notice of the hearing upon the petition; that this notice is jurisdictional, and that noncompliance with the requirement rendered the sale and conveyance void, and therefore subject to collateral attack. That statute does provide that notice of the hearing shall be given, but it was not enacted until 1907, and the sale in question was petitioned for, ordered and made twelve years before that time. If the statute relied on had been in force when the sale was made, there would be some grounds for the contention made by defendants. However, the sale was made under sections 20, 21 and 23 of chapter 60 of the General Statutes of 1868, and that statute does not
“A collateral attack upon a judicial proceeding- in a probate court, under which a sale of land was made by a g-uardian more than fifteen years before, will not be favored.” (Bradford v. Larkin, 57 Kan. 90, syl. ¶ 1, 45 Pac. 69.)
Since the statute in force at that time did not require a notice of the hearing on a petition to sell the land of the insane person, and there being nothing in the record of the proceedings in the probate court showing the omission of any statutory requirement, or anything to show a lack of jurisdiction, its orders and judgments respecting the sale are not open to collateral attack. It was held in McClanahan v. West, 100 Mo. 309, cited in Bank v. Security Co., supra, that:
“A domestic judgment rendered by a court of general jurisdiction cannot be impeached by the parties to it, merely because the record is silent as to the acquisition of jurisdiction. Such judgment is equally conclusive on the parties thereto, whether it recites or whether it fails to recite, that jurisdiction has been acquired.” (Syl. ¶ 5.)
The plaintiff has held the absolute possession of the land involved herein much longer than fifteen years, and if there had been a defect in the proceedings, it would have been cured by the statute of limitations.
In view of the conclusions reached, the defendants cannot be regarded as tenants in common with plaintiff, and hence no attention need be given to the contentions on that proposition.
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- John T. Martin v. Oliver Martin
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- SYLLABUS BY THE COURT. 1. Judicial Sale — Estate of Insane Person — Notice of Hearing Upon Petition of Guardian. The law in force prior to the enactment of chapter 247 of the Laws of 1907 did not require a guardian of the estate of an insane person to give notice of a hearing upon a. petition for the sale of land to pay the debts of an insane person, or for the education and maintenance of his family, and where the records of the probate court disclosed that a sale of the land of the insane person was ordered and made in compliance with existing statutes, the failure of the record to show that a notice of a hearing upon the petition to sell was given, did not invalidate the sale of the land or the title acquired under the guardian’s deed.