Simmons v. Campbell
Simmons v. Campbell
Opinion of the Court
Minnie Odom Simmons, joined by her husband, William Stark Forgey, Margaret Deborah Simmons, joined by her husband, W. H. Fruedenstein, Martha Elizabeth Simmons and her husband, Emil Stroh, Harriet Jane Simmons and her husband, E. S. Fomby, Robert Simmons, Paul Simmons, and Maud Simmons and her husband, and C. N. Feamster, instituted an action of trespass to try title to certain real estate in Atas-cosa county, against Jourdan Campbell, E. W. Minturn, and C. C. Nelson. Appellants claimed the land as the children and heirs at law of C. F. Simmons, deceased, who died on November 4, 1910, and whose will had been probated at the instance of the West Tesas Bank & Trust Company, a corporation, upon the request of Mattie Cantrell Simmons; who was empowered by the terms of said will to select an executor, and that said executor had proceeded to administer the estate. The petition was assailed through a plea in abatement, in which it was alleged that C. F. Simmons had died leaving a will in which the Central Trust Company was named executor and trustee, in which provision was made for the payment of the debts of the estate, and there was bequeathed to his wife, Mattie Cantrell Simmons, $50,000, to Minnie Odom Simmons, Robert Simmons, and Paul Simmons the sum of $30,000, in the shape of three special trust funds of $10,000 each, and to the Methodist Episcopal Church South, about $60,000; to Mrs. FTuedenstein and Mrs. Feamster, $100 each. The will also provided that after the payment of debts and devises the remainder should be divided into six equal parts, to be given to Mrs. Mattie Cantrell Simmons, Mrs. Forgey, Mrs. Stroh, Mrs. Fomby, Robert Simmons, and Paul Simmons. It was also provided that, if the Central Trust Company should refuse to qualify as executor, Mrs. Simmons, his widow, should appoint some other trust company to act. Full power was given the executor to sell property of the estate. It was further alleged that the Central Trust Company applied for the probate of the will on December 1, 1910, and on January 12, 1911, the will was probated, and the Central Trust Company having declined to act as executor, at the request of Mrs. Simmons, the West Texas Bank & Trust Company was appointed executor and, through its officers, qualified, took the oath as executor, and executed a bond in the sum of $1,700,000, which was duly approved by the probate court. That corporation was removed on August 15, 1916, and the Commonwealth Bank & Trust Company was appointed executor, administrator, and trustee with the will annexed. That afterwards, at the instance of C. L. Bass, representing appellants, the last-named corporation was removed, and A. P. Barrett was appointed and duly qualified as temporary administrator. It was alleged that debts 'amounting to $150,000, or more, had been presented, allowed, and approved but not paid, and the county court had full jurisdiction over the estate. A trial was had on the plea in abatement, and the court after hearing the facts, which fully support the plea in abatement, sustained the plea and dismissed the cause.
The only assignment of error copied into the brief is numbered 9 in the record and 1 in the brief, and is:
“The court erred in rendering final judgment sustaining defendant’s plea in abatement and dismissing this cause at costs of plaintiffs; because there was no evidence to sustain said final judgment.”
Under that assignment there are four propositions: The first, that the only evidence of the appointment of A. P. Barrett as temporary administrator is that purporting to be an order of a special judge making the appointment; second, that the recitals in the decree appointing Barrett preclude the presumption of the existence of any grounds except those named in the decree, for such appointment; third, that the “potential and active jurisdiction of the county court” is not supported by the recitals therein, and said court was without jurisdiction to make such appointment; and, fourth, that the recitals in the decree are not supported by the other recital that the necessity existed for such appointment by reason of the pendency of litigation wherein the representative of the estate was plaintiff. The assignment is general and indefinite, and the propositions are far-fetched and not germane to the assignment of error. Still, the *340 assignment willl be considered at its full value.
“It follows that any will may be propounded, not only by the nominated executor, but by any legatee or devisee therein who has an interest in establishing it, without regard to the nature of the property upon which it acts.”
That is statutory in Texas. It is not the executor who may under the law be qualified to act as such, but the executor nominated in the will. It is the testamentary executor. Rev. Stats. § 3262. It is not questioned that the Central Trust Company fully complied with ,the requirements of article 3250, Revised Statutes, in probating the will. The trust company could probate the will without seeking to have an executor appointed, and therefore was not bound to state that it was not disqualified by law from accepting letters. The fifth subdivision of the application for probate is not' necessary unless the proponent of the will desires to obtain letters testamentary, clearly indicating that the proponent of the will is not required to be qualified to act as executor. The Central Trust Company, in writing, declined the ex-ecutorship of ‘the will; but that could have no effect upon its right to propound the will for probate. Indeed, while it is contended that the county court had no authority to probate the will at the instance of the Central Trust Company, and that it did not have the authority to appoint the West Texas Bank & Trust Company executor of the will of Charles F. Simmons, deceased, the whole attack is made on the appointment of Barrett as temporary administrator, who was appointed at the instance of C. L. Bass, attorney for appellants, and upon a recitation of facts showing a necessity for such administration filed by said Bass.
The statute prescribes the method in which an administration through a will by creditors may be prevented, which is by the payment of the claims, by proof that claims are fraudulent, fictitious, or barred by limitation or by securing the claims. There may be other grounds for contesting such administration, but not on the ground that the executor named in the will cannot propound the will for probate because disqualified from acting as executor.
“In determining the constitutionality of an act of the Legislature, courts always presume in the first place that the act is_ constitutional. They also presume that the Legislature acted with integrity, and with an honest purpose to keep within the restrictions and limitations laid down by the Constitution. The Legislature is a co-ordinate department of the government, invested with high and responsible duties, and it must be presumed that it has considered and discussed the constitutionality of all measures passed by it.”
The quotation is copied and approved in Railway v. Griffin, 106 Tex. 477, 171 S. W. 703, L. R. A. 1917B, 1108.
There is no merit in the appeal, and the judgment is affirmed.
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Reference
- Full Case Name
- SIMMONS Et Al. v. CAMPBELL Et Al.
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published