In re Mertes' Estate
| Decision Date | 07 April 1914 |
| Docket Number | No. 22,331.,22,331. |
| Citation | 181 Ind. 478,104 N.E. 753 |
| Parties | In re MERTES' ESTATE. |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from Circuit Court, Dubois County; John L. Bretz, Judge.
In the matter of the Estate of Louis P. Mertes, deceased. Appeal by Ella B. Mertes from the denial of her petition to have certain personal property set off to her as surviving widow. Reversed, with instructions.
Richard M. Milburn, of Jasper, Robert W. Armstrong, of Huntingburg, Joseph A. Yager, and George W. Goble, for appellant.
In this matter, the appellant, Ella B. Mertes, as the widow of Louis P. Mertes, deceased, filed in the circuit court her petition to have certain personal property and real estate belonging to her deceased husband set off to her as the surviving widow, being in value, less than $500, under section 2943 et seq., Burns 1908. From an order of the court refusing to set the same off to her, appellant has appealed to this court.
The court, at the request of appellant, made special findings of facts and stated conclusions of law thereon. The facts found are: That Louis P. Mertes, on August 3, 1911, was a citizen of Dubois county, and more than 21 years of age, and owned certain real estate and personal property, appraised at $265.80, exclusive of liens thereon; that, 12 years prior thereto, decedent married appellant, and lived and cohabited together until the death of decedent; that on August 13, 1911, appellant killed her husband, the decedent, by shooting him with a pistol, and was at once arrested, and on November 13, 1911, was convicted of the crime of manslaughter, and was, at the time of the filing of her petition herein, confined in the women's prison at Indianapolis; that the petition herein was filed on September 26, 1911, showing that the estate of said Louis P. Mertes was less than $500, and that two duly qualified appraisers were appointed, and fixed the value of all property left by decedent at the sum set out herein, and filed their report on October 11, 1911; the appellant making affidavit that this inventory contained a true statement of all property, both real and personal, left by decedent. Upon this statement of facts, the court stated, as conclusions of law: (1) That appellant should take no part of the estate, for the reason that the same is against public policy and against the letter and spirit of the law; (2) that, as petitioner has been convicted of killing her husband, she is not entitled, as widow, to the statutory allowance of $500; (3) that, as petitioner has been convicted of killing her husband, she is not entitled to one-third of the real estate of which he died the owner; (4) that petitioner is not entitled to have any of the property set off to her, as prayed for in her petition.
To the conclusions of law appellant duly excepted, and, judgment having been duly entered according to the conclusions of law, appeal was prayed to this court.
We have been advised by appellant's brief that the court refused the petition of appellant, on the ground that she was not...
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Indiana Dept. of State Revenue, Inheritance Tax Division v. Alexander's Estate
...that the statutory allowance to the widow does not pass to her by reason of any law of descent or as an heir. In re Mertes' Estate, 1914, 181 Ind. 478, 480, 104 N.E. 753. Mugg v. Fenn, supra, 198 Ind. at page 375, 153 N.E. at page Our inheritance tax law was enacted by Acts 1931, Ch. 75, pp......
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National City Bank of Evansville v. Bledsoe
...have uniformly been upheld, since they merely prevent the murderer from profiting by his act. 16 The Indiana cases of In re Mertes' Estate, 1914, 181 Ind. 478, 104 N.E. 753, in which a convicted wife who had killed her husband was held entitled to recover her $500 statutory allowance; and B......
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Boyer v. Emerson (In re Emerson's Estate)
...be applied in this case without reading something into the statute which was not included therein by the Legislature. In re Mertes' Estate, 181 Ind. 478, 104 N. E. 753. It is in effect a penal statute, and must be strictly construed. [10] The life estate of Kate Emerson under the will in qu......
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In re Estate of Emerson
... ... Had Roy ... Emerson killed his father, the prohibition of the statute ... would be called into operation. It may not be applied in this ... case, without reading something into the statute which was ... not included therein by the legislature. In re Estate of ... Mertes, 181 Ind. 478, 104 N.E. 753. It is, in effect, a ... penal statute, and must be strictly construed ... The ... life estate of Kate Emerson, under the will in question, ... terminated at her death, and consequently there was no ... interest vested in her which her collateral ... ...