Craig v. Craig

Decision Date30 April 1868
Citation31 Tex. 203
PartiesTHOMAS C. CRAIG v. MARY J. CRAIG.
CourtTexas Supreme Court

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

The divorce having been granted on the part of the wife, the court decreed one-half of the community property to the wife, including the homestead, and the other half to their only child. This was error. Whether the husband could thus be divested of all title in the community property or not, it was error to deprive him of all interest in the community property. Pas. Dig. art. 3451, note 801.

ERROR from Panola. The case was tried before Hon. M. D. ECTOR, one of the district judges.

The facts are sufficiently stated in the opinion of the court.

Drury Field, for plaintiff in error.

W. R. Poag, for defendant in error.

MORRILL, C. J.

The petition charges cruel treatment, etc.; alleges the parties to be the father and mother of one child, and the plaintiff to be the mother of two children by a former marriage; that the community property consists of eight hundred and thirteen acres of land purchased of S. Holland, Jr., and S. Holland, Sr., on the 23d June, 1856, which is the homestead.

The jury found that the parties were married 24th January, 1856; that the husband cursed the wife, drew his knife and in anger cut at her, cut her handkerchief around her neck; that he left her, with intention of abandonment, on the 19th January, 1861, without any fault on the part of the wife; that the parties have one child, named David Craig, about eight years old in 1866; that the community property consisted of eight hundred and thirteen acres of land, and that the wife has no separate property.

The district court granted and decreed the divorce; decreed the care, custody, and maintenance of the minor, David Craig, to the mother; appointed a commission to divide the land in two equal moieties, having due regard to quantity and quality, granting that portion of the land containing the houses to the wife, and the other portion to be the property of the minor.

The plaintiff in error, Thomas, assigns as error the illegality of the decree, divesting him of the title to real estate contrary to the provisions of article 3452 of Paschal's Digest. Whether the proviso in this article had reference to such real estate as either party might have had before marriage only, or to community property also, does not seem to have been definitely settled by this court. But we consider that the facts in this case did not justify the court in decreeing that the plaintiff should be divested of...

To continue reading

Request your trial
6 cases
  • Bradshaw v. Bradshaw, 16–0328
    • United States
    • Texas Supreme Court
    • June 29, 2018
    ...; Rice v. Rice , 21 Tex. 58, 66 (1858) ; Baker v. Baker , 104 S.W.2d 531, 532 (Tex. Civ. App.—San Antonio 1936, no writ) ); Craig v. Craig , 31 Tex. 203, 204 (1868) (finding abuse of discretion when trial court's property division divested one party of "all his property").2 As the court of ......
  • Walker v. Walker, 6514
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Appeals
    • May 18, 1950
    ... ... Tiemann, 34 Tex. 522; Craig v. Craig, 31 Tex. 203; Reasonover v. Reasonover, Tex.Civ.App., 59 S.W.2d 887; Aucutt v. Aucutt, Tex.Civ.App., 63 S.W.2d 755; and Donias v. Quintero, ... ...
  • Phillips v. Phillips
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Appeals
    • March 16, 1918
    ... ... 416, 86 S. W. 36, writ denied), yet it has no authority to divest title thereto out of one of the parties (Tiemann v. Tiemann, 34 Tex. 523; Craig v. Craig, 31 Tex. 203). Of course an equitable partition of the community property may be adjudged decreeing title in each to half of the joint ... ...
  • Lewis v. Lewis
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Appeals
    • April 7, 1944
    ... ... at page 69): "The decree must not divest either party of their title in the lands or slaves." ...         In Craig v. Craig, 31 Tex. 203, divorce was granted and the court appointed a ... commissioner and decreed that the large acreage tract of community land be ... ...
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT