Barker v. Huey
Barker v. Huey
Opinion of the Court
Oliver P. Barker died September 3, 1901, leaving the following will:
“Providence Hospital.
“I, O. P. Barker, in sound mind and memory leave in case of my death Hotel Barker 1205 Pirst Avenue, Seattle, Washington, to Miss Mollie Huey and Mrs. Hora Huey, both of Seattle, to have and to hold and run and receive all proceeds arising from the same for three years. At the expiration of that time it is my wish that the foresaid lease and furniture in said Hotel Barker be sold and one-half of the proceeds thereof be set aside for the sole use of Malba Washburn, a minor, residing at 1822, 7th Avenue, Seattle, the balance to be divided share and share alike to my brother and sister Edgar L. Barker and Clara Marie Lolmaugk, the former residing at Oswego, Kansas, and the latter at Bedlands, California. J is my desire that all my debts be paid out of the property aforesaid, personal and real. That Mollie Huey be my executrix without bonds and dispense with probating of this will.
“Witness (Signed) O. P. Barker.”
“P. B. M. Miller.
“J. Wotherspoon.”
On September 9, 1901, Mollie P. Huey was appointed executrix, and on March 29, 1902, filed her petition for the sale of real estate. On the 16th of May, the matter came on for hearing upon the petition to sell real estate to pay the debts and costs of administration, the petition asking for the sale of real estate other than that described in the will. The court found that the property devised by thwill had been specifically charged with the payment of tl • • debts of the deceased, and that the real estate undevised could not be sold to pay the debts, and denied the petition
Tío appeal Avas prosecuted from the judgment of May 16, entered June 13, 1902, and it is the contention of the appellants that the court had lost jurisdiction of the decree, and had no authority to vacate the same, excepting in the way pointed out by the statute for the vacation of judgments; citing, in support of such contention, Hancock v. Stewart, 1 Wash. T. 323; Whidby Land etc. Co. v. Nye, 5 Wash. 301, 31 Pac. 752; Tacoma L. & M. Co. v. Wolff, 7 Wash. 478, 35 Pac. 115, 755; Dickson v. Matheson, 12 Wash. 196, 40 Pac. 725; Burnham v. Spokane Mercantile Co., 18 Wash. 207, 51 Pac. 363; State ex rel. Grady v. Lockhart, 18 Wash. 531, 52 Pac. 315; Friedman v. Manley, 21 Wash. 675, 59 Pac. 490; Roberts v. Shelton Southwestern R. R. Co., 21 Wash. 427, 58 Pac. 576; Kuhn v. Mason, 24 Wash. 94, 64 Pac. 182;
The record shows that, on the 16th day of May, this cause came regularly on to be heard on the petition of the executrix for the sale of real estate for the payment of the debts of the estate. It also shows, that a bona fide and earnest contest was entered into by Clara Marie Lolmaugh and Edgar L. Barker, sister and brother of the deceased, appellants here, and by Melba Washburn, a minor, by her guardian ad litem, all represented by earnest and eminent counsel, and that formal objection was raised to the selling of the real estate of said estate by the appellants herein; that a demurrer was interposed to these said objections by the respondents herein; that the court considered arguments thereon, both oral and written, and entered a formal and solemn decree. The decree was not, as we view the record, the disposition of an interlocutory matter, but the matter under adjudication was the construction of the will, and was the final determination of the rights of the parties to this action under the will, as much a decree flowing from the construction of the will as the present decree is, and as susceptible of
This conclusion renders unnecessary a consideration of the second assignment of error, which embraces the construction of the will. The judgment is reversed.
Hadley, Mount, and Anders, JJ., concur.
Concurring Opinion
I concur for the reasons stated in the opinion of the court, but do not wish to be understood as indorsing the case of Coyle v. Seattle Electric Co., or Burnham v. Spokane Mercantile Co., as construed in the Coyle Case.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.