Dalton v. Pruett, 8061
| Decision Date | 25 July 1972 |
| Docket Number | No. 8061,8061 |
| Citation | 483 S.W.2d 926 |
| Parties | Kenneth DALTON et al., Appellants, v. J. N. PRUETT, Individually and as Administrator of the Estate of Curvie E. Dalton, Deceased, et al., Appellees. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Clyde M. Marshall, Jr., Davis, Callaway & Marshall, Fort Worth, Wm. C. Odeneal, Odeneal & Odeneal, Dallas, Paul Worden, McKinney, for appellants.
Alex Orr, Abernathy & Orr, McKinney, for appellees.
This was a declaratory judgment suit brought by Appellee J. N. Pruett, individually and as Administrator of the estate of Curvie E. Dalton, deceased, to determine the ownership of real and personal property disposed of by the joint will of Kate King Dalton and Curvie E. Dalton, husband and wife.
In 1951, Curvie E. Dalton purchased a vacant lot in the City of McKinney at a time when he was a single man. Immediately thereafter he constructed a dwelling on the lot and subsequently married Kate King Dalton. By deed dated October 24 1953, Curvie E. Dalton conveyed the lot in the City of McKinney to his wife Kate, reciting a cash consideration of $8,500.00.
In 1955, Kate King Dalton and Curvie E. Dalton made a joint will by which the survivor of them was given a life estate in all real and personal property belonging to them, together with the right to dispose of the same during the lifetime of the survivor; and, at the date of death of the survivor, any and all of the estate then remaining was bequeathed to Jeffie N. Pruett and Monte N. Wardlow, share and share alike. Jeffie N. Pruett and Monte N. Wardlow were the children of Kate King Dalton by previous marriages.
On November 2, 1961, Kate King Dalton died and the joint will was duly probated as to her estate by the County Court of Collin County, Texas. In November of 1966, Monte N. Wardlow died testate in Tarrant County, Texas, and his will was duly probated by the Probate Court of Tarrant County. Monte N. Wardlow left all of his property to his wife Mary Wardlow in fee simple.
On March 29, 1969, Curvie E. Dalton died testate in Collin County and the joint will of Curvie E. Dalton and Kate King Dalton was probated by the County Court of Collin County as to the estate of Curvie E. Dalton.
This case was tried before the District Court of Collin County without the aid of a jury. The trial court entered judgment declaring J. N. Pruett and Mary Wardlow, widow of Monte N. Wardlow, equal owners of the remaining estate of Kate King Dalton and all of the estate of Curvie E. Dalton subject to the administration of the estate of Curvie E. Dalton, deceased, pending in the County Court of Collin County. From the judgment of the trial court Appellants Kenneth Dalton and Sandra Ford, grandchildren of Curvie E. Dalton by a previous marriage, have perfected their appeal to this Court and present four points of error for our consideration.
By their first point of error, Appellants Kenneth Dalton and Sandra Ford, contend that the trial court erred in holding that the deed from Curvie E. Dalton to his wife Kate King Dalton in 1953 conveyed the house and lot to the wife as her separate property. Appellants contend that during marriage the only manner in which a wife can acquire separate property is by gift, devise or descent as prescribed by Art. 16, Sec. 15, of the Texas Constitution, Vernon's Ann.St. and, since there was no evidence of a gift of the property from Curvie E. Dalton to Kate King Dalton, the deed only conveyed to Mrs. Dalton a community interest in the property.
The deed from C. E. Dalton to Kate King Dalton is silent as to whether the recited consideration of $8500.00 was the separate property of Mrs. Dalton, the Grantee. Neither does the deed recite that the property was being conveyed to her for her sole use and benefit.
It has been said that 'if the husband himself makes a conveyance to his wife, it is presumed to become her separate property,' but this is a presumption which may be rebutted by clear and convincing proof. 2 Texas Practice Guide 550, Sec. 50.08, 'Texas Community Property.' See also 1 Speer's Marital Rights in Texas 248, Sec. 151, 'Husband's Deed to Wife,' and 30 Tex.Jur.2d 159, Sec. 89, Effect of Conveyance by Husband to Wife. It has long been the settled law in Texas that a husband can execute a deed directly to the wife and such conveyance, regardless of whether the property conveyed is the husband's separate property or community property, causes the property to become the wife's separate property. This is so even though the deed may not recite that the conveyance is for the wife's sole and separate use. See Forman v. Glasgow, 219 S.W.2d 845 (Tex.Civ.App., Waco, 1949, no writ), and Pevehouse v. Pevehouse, 304 S.W.2d 770 (Tex.Civ.App., Amarillo, 1957, dism'd w.o.j.). Further, any attempt to set aside such conveyance more than four years after it has occurred is barred by the four year statute of limitations, Art. 5529, Vernon's Ann.Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat. Fitchett v. Bustamente, 329 S.W.2d 920 (Tex.Civ.App., El Paso, 1959, error ref'd n.r.e.).
When there has been a conveyance of property from the husband to the wife and a delivery of the deed, the presumption exists that it was his intention to make the property the separate property of his wife either by gift or by purchase; and, in the absence of fraud, accident or mistake, such conveyance cannot be disturbed. In the instant case there is a recital of a consideration of $8500.00 and the only evidence developed in the case was that the money came from the separate funds of Mrs. Dalton. The burden of going forward with the evidence shifted to Appellants to rebut the presumption that Curvie E. Dalton had intended to make the property the separate property of his wife Kate when he conveyed it to her. The trial court concluded that the conveyance made the property the separate property of Kate and that the heirs at law of Curvie E. Dalton (Appellants) were estopped by such conveyance from claiming an interest in the land conveyed to Kate King Dalton by general warranty deed. In the absence of proof to the contrary by Appellants, we must sustain the finding of the trial court that the land became the separate property of Kate King Dalton. Appellants' first point of error is overruled.
The Appellants assert in their second, third and fourth points of error that the trial court erred in holding the joint will of Kate King Dalton and Curvie E. Dalton to be a joint, mutual and...
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