Collins v. Collins
Collins v. Collins
Opinion of the Court
The judgment sought to be reversed in this case was rendered against the plaintiff on demurrer to his petition in the original action, and the only question now is upon the sufficiency of that petition. It alleges, in substance, that the plaintiff is in possession of certain land devised to him by his father; that, by the true construction of the will, the plaintiff has an absolute estate in fee-simple in the land; but that the defendants, who are the other children and grandchildren of the testator, claim and assert, that if the plaintiff should die leaving no issue the estate would go in remainder to the heirs of the testator. The plaintiff, therefore, prays for a construction of the will, and that he may be quieted in his title and possession against the claim of the defendants.
In support of the demurrer it is claimed, in the first place, that the plaintiff is wrong in his construction of the will;
Except in cases where a trust is involved, a party cannot go into a court of equity merely to obtain the construction of a will. There is no trust involved here, and counsel do not seem to place the case upon that ground. It is claimed that the petition is in the nature of a bill “ quia timet,” or a bill of “ peace; ” or rather, that it is an action authorized by the 557th section of the code of civil procedure, which is said to be an enlargement of the remedies attainable by these bills.
That such an action could have been maintained as a bill quia timiet, or a bill of peace, before any statutory provision on the subject, is perhaps not seriously contended. It lacks the essential elements of a bill quia timet■ — the ne imguste vexes — 'the apprehension of some injury at the hands of the defendant, some loss to be occasioned to the plaintiff by the defendant’s act or omission in case of delay. The defendtants are in possession of no fund or property to be lost by delay, and they threaten no action or injurious act from which they can be enjoined. Nor is the case within the province of the old bill of peace. That was a remedy, as its name indicates, designed to “ suppress useless litigation, and to prevent multiplicity of suits.” As a general rule, the bill of peace could not be maintained unless the plaintiff had first established his right at law. One exception to this general rale was, where the parties were so numerous, or set up their several claims in such form, as to render a trial of the right at law impracticable. Another exception contended for but generally disallowed by the chancellor, was where the plaintiff was in possession, and the defendant failed to bring any action, the plaintiff having therefore no opportunity to establish his right at law. As I understand the decision of this court in Douglass v. McCoy, 5 Ohio, 522, it was to supply this precise omission that our several statutory pro
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.