Wisecarver v. Wells
Wisecarver v. Wells
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
On appeal from a justice of the peace in a proceeding for unlawful detainer judgment was rendered by the district court in favor of the plaintiffs, and the defendants appeal.
The plaintiffs are the five children of James B. Wisecarver and his wife (whose maiden name was Carrie A. Harrison and whose present name is Carrie A. Wells), and T. A. Kramer, a purchaser of a portion of their interest. The defendant is Carrie A. Wells, her husband, David Wells, being joined because of that relationship. The complaint, which was filed October 12, 1920, alleged substantially these facts:
The land in controversy was owned at the time of his death by the father of Carrie A. Wells. He died in April, 1909. His will, which was duly probated, gave to his son-in-law, James B. Wisecarver, the use, income and control of the land until the youngest child of the marriage of James B. Wisecarver and
The court permitted the plaintiffs to introduce in evidence a certified copy of the will. The defendants complain of this ruling on the ground that the judgment in the divorce case amounted to an adjudication of the contents and meaning of the will. The copy of the will had no tendency to contradict or vary the terms of the divorce decree, and was competent for the purpose of explaining and interpreting it. (15 R. C. L. 1051-1053.)
In the course of its charge to the jury the court told them in effect that in the divorce case the district court could only award to the wife such interest in the land as was derived by her or her husband under her father’s will. The defendants complain of this as amounting to an instruction that the divorce decree was in part void. It was rather a statement— as we think, a correct one — of the effect of the decree. The defendants asked an instruction that as the plaintiffs had pleaded both the will and the divorce decree and the two were inconsistent, they should be bound by the terms of the decree, that being the least favorable to them. As already indicated we hold that there was no inconsistency. The defendants also asked an instruction which included a statement that the divorce decree gave to Carrie Wells the right to occupy the land until Vida E. Wisecarver became of age. This was rightly refused for the reasons already suggested.
In the statement of facts in the defendants’ brief it is said that Carrie A. Wells in reliance upon the decree in the divorce
All the objections so far considered are unavailing for the reason that they are based upon the contention, which we hold to be unsound, that because in the judgment which transferred to the wife the interest in the land derived by her husband from her father’s will that interest was described as terminating when the youngest child became of age, the plaintiffs cannot enforce their right to the possession of the land until the judgment in the divorce case has been vacated or modified, and this can only-be done in an action begun originally in a court having general equitable powers.
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Henry W. Wisecarver v. Carrie A. Wells and David Wells
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- SYLLABUS BY THE COURT. 1. Will — Devise to Minor Children — Title to Pass When Youngest Child Should Attain Age of Eighteen Years — Action for Unlawful Detention Maintainable by Devisees'. A will gave to the husband of the testator’s daughter the use and control of land until their youngest child (a girl) should attain the age of eighteen years, when full title was to pass to the children. After its probate the district court in granting a divorce awarded to the wife the land referred to until the estate devised •to the husband should be terminated. In another part of the decree it was recited that by the will the land had been devised to the husband for a period to be terminated upon the youngest child “becoming of age.” At the time the divorce decree was rendered a girl became of age at eighteen, but this was changed to twenty-one by a later statute. Upon the youngest child attaining the age of eighteen the children sought possession of the land by a proceeding in unlawful detainer against their mother. It is held that the proceeding was maintainable and that in order for the plaintiffs to recover it was not necessary for the decree in the divorce case to he vacated or modified. 2. Unlawful Detention — Trial—Form of Oath to Jxvry. The act relating to civil procedure before justices of the peace provides that in a forcible entry and detainer case the jury shall be sworn to well and truly try 'and determine whether the complaint is true according to the evidence. The general provision of the civil code is that the jury shall be sworn to well and truly try the matters submitted to them in the case in hearing, and a true verdict give according to the law and evidence. It is held that, assuming that where a forcible entry and detainer ease is tried in the district court on appeal the jury should he sworn in accordance with the first formula, the second includes its substance and its use is not a ground of reversal. 3. Same — Rulings on Evidence Not Erroneous. Rulings excluding evidence are held not to have been erroneous.