Lowman v. Falsetti

• Decision Date: 02 October 1964
• Docket Number: No. 20471.,20471.
• Citation: 335 F.2d 632
• Parties: Stella Marie LOWMAN and her husband, Lawrence Gilbert Lowman, et al., Appellants, v. Louie A. FALSETTI, Successor Administrator with Will Annexed in the Estate of B. F. Guido, Deceased, et al., Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

335 F.2d 632 (1964)

Stella Marie LOWMAN and her husband, Lawrence Gilbert Lowman, et al., Appellants, v. Louie A. FALSETTI, Successor Administrator with Will Annexed in the Estate of B. F. Guido, Deceased, et al., Appellees.

No. 20471.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

August 14, 1964.

Rehearing Denied October 2, 1964.

Glenn Barber, Jasper, Tex., D. E. Suhr, Houston, Tex., Barber & Seale, Jasper, Tex., Bryan, Suhr & Bering, Houston, Tex., for appellants.

Willard B. Wagner, Jr., Erwin, Wagner & Hodson, Fred W. Hodson, Jr., Houston, Tex., for defendants-appellants Stella Marie Lowman and her husband Lawrence Gilbert Lowman.

William VanDercreek, Cecil L. Woodgate, Woodgate & Richards, Dallas, Tex., for appellees.

Before TUTTLE, Chief Judge, and BROWN and GEWIN, Circuit Judges.

GEWIN, Circuit Judge.

This appeal requires us to determine the validity of a Texas State Court judgment which was successfully attacked by plaintiffs Falsetti (appellees) in a collateral proceeding brought in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The District Court concluded as a matter of law that the judgment of the State District Court was void and subject to collateral attack. Falsetti v. Indiana Oil Purchasing Co., 215 F.Supp. 420 (D.C.N.D.Tex.1963). The controversy concerns the title to certain land situated in Brazoria County, Texas.

This suit was filed by plaintiffs Falsetti, et al. against Stella Marie Lowman et vir., Indiana Oil Purchasing Company, Pan American Petroleum Corporation,¹ and John (Johnnie) Frank, Trustee, to recover royalty payments held in suspense by defendant oil companies. The controlling issue is whether the state court judgment was rendered in violation of Article 1982, Vernon's Civil Statutes Annotated.² We disagree with the District Court and hold the state court judgment valid.

The following statement of facts, although somewhat lengthy, is requisite to a complete understanding of the various technical questions involved. On July 31, 1929, Dora Frank Guido and B. F. Guido were legally married and remained husband and wife until her death in 1949. By warranty deed dated February 27, 1934, B. F. Guido conveyed to his wife, Dora Frank Guido, an undivided one-half interest in and to the land involved, located in Brazoria County, Texas. This land and the mentioned royalty payments are the chief if not the only remaining assets of either of the Estates of Dora Frank Guido or B. F. Guido. The other one-half interest is owned by certain other persons and is not here involved.

On May 1, 1934, Dora Frank Guido, joined by her husband, B. F. Guido, et al., executed an Oil, Gas and Mineral Lease covering the Brazoria County property, which lease has been at all times from the date of its execution until the present time and is now a valid and subsisting lease owned and held by defendant Pan American Petroleum Corporation under and by virtue of mesne assignments. Since about 1937 there has been production of oil or gas from the property.³

On September 16, 1949, Dora Frank Guido died testate survived by her husband, B. F. Guido, and by her only child and sole heir, defendant Stella Marie Lowman. Insofar as here material, Dora Frank Guido's Last Will and Testament, dated December 3, 1942, devised the residue of her estate to her husband, B. F. Guido, but in the event he predeceased her or in the event of their contemporaneous deaths, it devised her entire estate in trust with directions to the trustees to pay the entire income therefrom to her daughter, Stella Marie Lowman, for her life, and thereafter, under certain circumstances, to Lawrence Gilbert Lowman, the daughter's husband, for his life, with one-half of the remainder to her collateral heirs and the other one-half to B. F. Guido's collateral heirs. The will contained this further provision:

"(8) This WILL is made in consideration of the making on this same day, by my husband, B. F. Guido, of a will with the same terms and provisions, and it is our intention to create a TRUST ESTATE as herein provided for the benefit of Mrs. Stella Marie Lowman and her husband, after her death, and for the distribution of the Trust Estate after termination of the Trust in the manner and terms herein set forth."

The application of B. F. Guido to probate the said will was granted, and on January 11, 1950, the will was admitted to probate. B. F. Guido was appointed independent executor without bond. He took possession of the entire estate and appropriated it to his own use and benefit. He did not account to anyone for any of the said estate, but received and accepted the benefits under the will during his lifetime.

B. F. Guido subsequently married Doris C. M. Guido (now Doris C. M. Falsetti, and one of the plaintiffs herein) in April, 1951. In June 1957, B. F. Guido died testate while a resident of California. A will of B. F. Guido, dated July 3, 1951, referred to as the "subsequent will" was admitted to probate in California, and the plaintiff Doris C. M. Falsetti was appointed administratrix with the will annexed. This subsequent will in effect devised forty-nine percent (49%) of his estate to plaintiff Doris C. M. Guido Falsetti, forty-nine percent (49%) to the defendant Stella Marie Lowman, and one percent (1%) to each of two Roman Catholic Parish Churches.

Plaintiff Doris C. M. Falsetti filed exemplified copies of B. F. Guido's subsequent will and the foreign order of probate and letters of administration in Brazoria County, Texas. In December 1958, orders in the ancillary proceeding in B. F. Guido's estate were entered which admitted the will to probate and appointed plaintiff Doris C. M. Falsetti, Administratrix with will annexed. Mrs. Falsetti was removed as Ancillary Administratrix upon motion by Stella Marie Lowman in February 1960. The action in the Texas State Court which led ultimately to the judgment now under scrutiny was filed in September 1958, by Stella Marie Lowman et vir. against Doris C. M. Guido, et al. A final judgment was rendered by the District Court of Brazoria County, Texas, dated September 16, 1960, and entered on October 18, 1960.⁴

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In November 1960, plaintiffs Louie A. Falsetti and Doris C. M. Guido were married, subsequent to the entry of the state court judgment now under attack. In May 1961, immediately prior to the filing of this Federal Court suit and after the state court judgment had become final,⁵ the County Court of Brazoria County entered an order appointing plaintiff Louie A. Falsetti successor ancillary administrator for certain limited purposes set forth in the order.⁶

The foregoing material facts led the court below to conclude, as previously stated, that the judgment of the Texas State Court was void because (1) it was rendered in violation of Article 1982 Vernon's Civil Statutes Annotated; and (2) the judgment on its face reveals the necessity of administration in the Estate of B. F. Guido, and because plaintiff Doris C. M. Guido Falsetti, Administratrix, and a necessary party was dismissed prior to the entry of judgment.

The defendants assert five theories in support of their contention that the State Court judgment is valid. First, Article 1982, V.C.S.A. was literally complied with; second, the judgment was regular on its face and contained absolute jurisdictional recitals; third, the state court had complete jurisdiction of the Brazoria County land and all interested parties; fourth, res judicata; and fifth, estoppel. Close scrutiny of Article 1982 is requisite to any decision upon the merits of the defendants' contentions.

The general rule regarding this section is that its provisions are mandatory, and that in every action against the estate of a decedent which involves title to land, the administrator, if any, and the heirs shall be made parties defendant. Jones v. Gibbs, 133 Tex. 645, 130 S.W.2d 274 (1939); Allen v. Matthews, Tex.Civ.App., 210 S.W.2d 849, 851 (1948). A failure to comply with Article 1982 will subject the proceedings to subsequent attack. East v. Dugan, 79 Tex. 329, 15 S.W. 273; French v. French, 148 S.W.2d 930, writ dismissed.

Prior to the entry of the state court judgment, the Probate Court had dismissed the Administratrix (plaintiff Doris C. M. Guido Falsetti) and had refused to act on three successive applications seeking the appointment of a successor administrator. The Federal District Court had before it an affidavit of the Probate Judge (admitted in evidence over objection) stating that he had refused to appoint an administrator because he felt none was necessary. The plaintiffs urge that the actual necessity of an administrator is immaterial. They argue that the judgment remains void unless it shows on its face that no administrator was necessary. We are unable to agree with this position, although we do agree with the holding of the District Court that the requirements of Article 1982 are mandatory. The reasons for our conclusion follow.

It is necessary for us to examine the purpose or objective sought to be accomplished by Article 1982. We are of the opinion that this statute is primarily devoted to the meritorious objective of providing adequate notice to all parties who have an interest in, or may have an interest in, title to or ownership of real property comprising a decedent's estate. Compliance with the requirements of this Article will afford such interested parties an opportunity to present properly their claims against the estate in an expeditious, orderly manner. The administrator could then adequately represent the estate and defend against such claims when appropriate. The Article applies to real property. The law has always favored prompt, decisive vesting of title to real property, and the statute in question was apparently enacted with such objective in mind. Its purpose was accomplished when Mrs. Doris C. M. Guido Falsetti, as ancillary administratrix, was made a party d...