Tucker v. Whitehead

Mississippi Supreme Court
Tucker v. Whitehead, 58 Miss. 762 (Miss. 1881)
Cooper

Tucker v. Whitehead

Opinion of the Court

Cooper, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

The probate of the will of P. W. Tucker, in common form, is effectual and binding until attacked and overturned in direct proceedings instituted in the Chancery Court. Until this is done the devisee is entitled to the possession of the land, and to collect the rents accruing thereon after the death of the testator, unless the heirs-at-law can show circumstances sufficient to authorize the interposition of a court of equity to take charge of and preserve the property and its income until the contest of the will can be made. In Hamberlin v. Terry, Exr., 7 How. 143; Cowden v. Dobbyns, 5 Smed. & M. 82 ; Garner v. Lansford, 12 Smed. & M. 558, and Wall v. Wall, 30 Ill. 91, this court, in speaking of the effect of a probate in common form, say it is an incipient step in the proceedings, taken in order to give the court jurisdiction, and is not conclusive upon the heirs-at-law ; but this language must be construed with reference to the character of the cases in which it was used. They were all appeals from Probate Court proceedings, in which, after probate of the will in common form *765had been made, direct proceedings were commenced to test the validity of the wills. The contest in each of these cases was made in the manner provided by the statutes to contest the validity of the will, and if the probate might be thus overthrown, the corollary is that such probate was not conclusive.

But so long as the probate in common form remains unre-i voked, it cannot be contradicted, “ and, therefore, if a probate' under seal be shown, evidence will not be admitted that the will was forged, or that the execution of it was procured by fraud, or that the testator was non compos mentis, or that another person was executor.” Toll, on Ex. 76. The reason given is, that these are matters of which the court granting the probate alone has jurisdiction.

Appellee was the landlord after the death of P. W. Tucker, and was entitled to collect all the rent of the premises for the year 1879. Code 1871, sect. 2288; Bloodworth v. Stevens, 51 Miss. 475.

Since the adoption of the Code of 1880 a different rule prevails, by reason of sect. 1327.

The provisions of the act of 1876 (Laws 1876, p. 109) extend to any one entitled to the rent. Any one who could attach for rent under the provisions of chap. 21 of the Code of 1871 could avail himself of the remedy afforded by said act.

Appellant acquired no right to the rent by reason of the contract with the tenant. Code 1871, sect. 2289.

Judgment affirmed.

Reference

Full Case Name
T. M. Tucker v. M. M. Whitehead
Cited By
4 cases
Status
Published
Syllabus
1. Will. Probate in common form. Effect. Where a writing purporting to be the last will and testament of a decedent has been probated in common form, it must be regarded in all collateral proceedings as the established will of the deceased, until overthrown in a direct proceeding. 2. Landlord and Tenant. At death of testator. Devisee. Pent. The devisee of land rented out bjr the testator for the year in which his death occurs is the landlord thereof, and under sect. 2288 of the Code of 1871 was entitled to collect the rent for that year. But under sect. 1327 of the Code of 1880 the personal representative of the decedent is entitled to collect the rent in such case. 3. Same. Collection of rent. Who entitled to remedy under act of 1876. Any person entitled to attach for rent under chap. 21 of the Code of 1871 could, after the passage of the act, avail himself of the remedy provided by the act of 1876 entitled “An act to provide for agricultural liens, and for other purposes.” 4. Same. Attornment to stranger. Code of 1871. Under sect. 2289 of the Code of 1871, the attornment of a tenant to a stranger, not with the consent of the landlord, nor in pursuance of, or in consequence of, a judgment at law or decree in equity, was void.