Wakeman v. Peter

Supreme Court of Oklahoma
Wakeman v. Peter, 152 P. 455 (Okla. 1915)
52 Okla. 639; 1915 OK 825; 1915 Okla. LEXIS 344
Devereux

Wakeman v. Peter

Opinion of the Court

Opinion by

DEVEREUX, C.

(after stating the facts as above). The only question presented by the briefs is: Was the cause of action barred by the statute of limitation, the plaintiff in error contending that it is an action on a judgment of the county court, and therefore noV barred until five years from the date of the judgment, and the defendant in error contending that it is an action on an express or implied contract, not in writing, and is therefore barred in three years. Rev. Laws 1910, section 6190, under “Probate Procedure,”, provides:

*641 “The proceedings of this court are construed in the same manner, and with like intendments, as the proceedings of courts of general jurisdiction, and to its records, orders, judgments and decrees, there are accorded like force, effect and legal presumption as to the records, orders, judgments and decrees of district courts.”

In Greer v. McNeal, 11 Okla. 519, 69 Pac. 891, it is held that the probate court is, upon all matters upon which it is authorized to deal, and of which it has jurisdiction, a court of record and of final authority, and its final judgments are absolute, unless appealed from, and this case has been followed in Southern Surety Co. v. Burney, 34 Okla. 552, 126 Pac. 748, 43 L. R. A. (N. S.) 308, and Shipman v. Brown, 36 Okla. 623, 130 Pac. 603.

But an action on a judgment is not an action on a contract, express or implied, within the meaning of these words as used in the statute. In Morley v. Lake Shore Railway Company, 146 U. S. 162, 13 Sup. Ct. 54, 36 L. Ed. 925, .in passing on the question whether a judgment is a contract, the court says:

“The most important elements of a contract are wanting. There is no aggregatio mentium. The defendant has not voluntarily assented or promised to pay. ‘A judgment is in no sense a contract or agreement between the parties.’ ”

And see McDonald v. Dickson, 87 N. C. 404; Pease v. Howard, 14 Johns. (N. Y.) 479.

The cause of action therefore, was not barred.

We recommend that the judgment be reversed, and the 'cause remanded for a new trial.

By the Court: It is so ordered.

Reference

Cited By
2 cases
Status
Published
Syllabus
1. LIMITATION OF ACTIONS—Action oil Judgment—“Contract.” A judgment is not a “contract'’ in the ordinary meaning of the word, as the most important elements of a contract are wanting, because there is no meeting of the minds, and tlie, defendant has not voluntarily assented thereto, oír agreed to pay anything. An action on a judgment, therefore, is not barred within three years, under the provisions of Rev. Laws 1910, section 4657, subsec. 2, limiting the commencement of actions on -contracts, express or implied, not in writing, to three years. 2. GUARDIAN AND WARD—Final Settlement—Judgment—Conelu-siveness. County courts are, in all matters within their jurisdiction. courts of record, and tliei-r judgments upon such matters, when not appealed from, are final determinations of the question: so, where in the final settlement of a guardian's account the court finds the ward indebted to the guardian in a sum certain, and gives judgment against the ward for such, sum, this is a final judgment. (Syllabus by Devereux. O.)