Jones v. Griggs
Decision Date | 31 May 1941 |
Docket Number | 594. |
Citation | 14 S.E.2d 836,219 N.C. 700 |
Parties | JONES v. GRIGGS et al. |
Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
14 S.E.2d 836
219 N.C. 700
JONES v. GRIGGS et al.
No. 594.
Supreme Court of North Carolina
May 31, 1941
This is an action brought by plaintiff, administrator, cum testamento annexo, de bonis non of Henry Haynie, deceased, against E. C Griggs, principal and the sureties on his bond, for an accounting. The record discloses the complaint and answer which are lengthy.
Defendants in their answer deny liability and set up certain defenses and pray that certain parties be made defendants to the action. The facts set forth, in part, as alleged in the answer of E. C. Griggs, are "Henry Haynie died on March 1, 1910. His last will and testament was dated July 15, 1886, and was admitted to probate in the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court of Anson County on March 18, 1910, recorded in Will Book E, at pages 159, etc. Margaret Haynie, widow of the said Henry Haynie, was appointed executrix of said will, but she renounced her right to qualify as such and recommended the appointment of E. C. Griggs, her son-in-law, as Administrator, cum testamento annexo. Under his will, Henry Haynie devised and bequeathed all of his property both real and personal, to his widow, Margaret Haynie, 'To have hold, use, occupy and enjoy for and during the period of her natural life only. After her death to my daughter, Sarah Ann Haynie, to have and to hold absolutely and in fee simple.' The Sarah Ann Haynie mentioned in said Will was the only surviving child of Henry Haynie and Margaret Haynie and the said Sarah Ann Haynie subsequent to the execution of said Will, married E. C. Griggs, the Administrator herein. The said Sarah Ann Haynie by a prior marriage to a brother of the said E. C. Griggs had one child namely, David Griggs, who is now the wife of Fred B. Ballinger. Two children were born of the marriage of E. C. Griggs and Sarah Ann Haynie namely H. Battle Griggs and Hubert C. Griggs.
"After the death of Henry Haynie on March 1, 1910, his widow, Margaret Haynie, and the said Sarah Ann Haynie Griggs and her husband, E. C. Griggs, and the three children above named, all lived together as one family at the residence of the late Henry Haynie, and continued so to live up until the date of the death of Margaret Haynie on April 26, 1920; that the children of Sarah Ann Griggs, and her husband, E. C. Griggs, continued to make their home with their parents up until the date of their respective marriages, as follows: H. Battle Griggs married July 13, 1922; Herbert C. Griggs married October 7, 1924, and David Griggs married November 26, 1924.
"Mrs. Sarah Ann Griggs died May 27, 1929, after having first made, published and declared her last will and testament, which has been admitted to probate in the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court of Anson County. E. C. Griggs was appointed executor of the last will and testament of his wife, Sarah Ann Griggs. Under the provisions of her will she devised to her husband, E. C. Griggs, one-fourth in value of her real estate to have and to hold for and during the period of his natural life, with the remainder to her three children, David Griggs, H. Battle Griggs and Herbert C. Griggs, share and share alike. Under saidwill she bequeathed her personal property, share and share alike, to her husband, E. C. Griggs, and to her children, David Griggs, H. Battle Griggs and Herbert C. Griggs.
"Following the death of Sarah Ann Griggs in 1929, the devisees under her last will and testament, namely, E. C. Griggs, David Griggs (who married Ballinger), H. Battle Griggs and Herbert C. Griggs undertook to divide between themselves, and in accordance with the provisions of her said will all of the farming lands owned by the said Sarah Ann Griggs at the time of her death, said division was made by quitclaim deeds to said devisees. In said division 633 acres of land, more or less, was conveyed to E. C. Griggs for and during the period of his natural life, subject to the terms of the will of the said Sarah Ann Griggs; 412 1/2 acres, more or less, were conveyed to Herbert C. Griggs; 555 acres, more or less, were conveyed to H. Battle Griggs, and 511 acres, more or less, were conveyed to David G. Ballinger. All of the debts of the estate of the said Sarah Ann Griggs have been fully paid and satisfied.
"In January 1930, H. Battle Griggs, Herbert C. Griggs and David Griggs Ballinger and E. C. Griggs, the legatees and devisees named in the last will and testament of Sarah Ann Griggs, mutually agreed upon a division in accordance with the said last will and testament of the stock, farming tools and implements and substantially all of the personal property belonging to the estate of the said Sarah Ann Griggs, with the exception of certain personal property set out and enumerated in paragraph 14 of the plaintiff's complaint, which said personal property was and is as this defendant verily believes a part of the estate of the said Sarah Ann Griggs and that the said E. C. Griggs, as executor of said estate, is now entitled to the possession of said property; that thereafter about July 1930, the said devisees named in the last will and testament of the said Sarah Ann Griggs, deceased, mutually agreed upon and made a division of the lands belonging to the said Sarah Ann Griggs at the time of her death and executed quitclaim deeds to the several devisees above named; that all of the real estate owned by the said Sarah Ann Griggs at the time of her death was divided as aforesaid, with the exception of the lots of land on the west side of the Camden Road in the town of Wadesboro, which was the residence of the said Sarah Ann Griggs and her husband, E. C. Griggs, at the time of the death of the said Sarah Ann Griggs, and a certain lot and store building on the north side of East Wade Street in the town of Wadesboro; that said real estate was not then divided between the said parties as it was not susceptible of actual division between said parties and it was deemed advisable on account of economic conditions to hold said property and sell the same for division at a later time; that the devisees named in the last will and testament of Sarah Ann Griggs, above named, entered into possession of the respective lands mutually allotted to and conveyed to each of said parties, under the terms of said last will and testament, at or prior to the time of the execution of the quitclaim deeds hereinbefore referred to, and each of said devisees has used his or her portion of said land as the individual property of such devisee since said time.
"That in making the division of the real and personal property referred to in the preceding paragraph, and by participating in and holding and recognizing the property allotted to each of said devisees, by mutual consent of parties referred to in preceding paragraph, the said parties are now estopped to deny that said property was a part of the property owned by Sarah Ann Griggs at the time of her death and that the same passed under the last will and testament of the said Sarah Ann Griggs, and the plaintiff in this action is also estopped by the acts and conduct of the said legatees and devisees to claim any interest in said property, and has no right to recover anything from the defendants herein.
"That this defendant is informed, advised, believes and so alleges that the plaintiff in this action has no interest whatsoever in the estate of Sarah Ann Griggs, deceased, and that the said plaintiff, R. B. Jones, administrator, C.T.A., D.B.N., of Henry Haynie, deceased, is not now the owner of any property sued for in this action, and is not entitled to and should not be permitted to maintain said action against this defendant or the sureties on his administration bond. This defendant further says and alleges that the personal property set out and referred to in paragraph 14 of the plaintiff's complaint is a part of the estate and property of Sarah Ann Griggs, deceased, and that R. B. Jones, C.T.A., D.B.N., of the estate of Henry Haynie, deceased, is not the owner of any of said property and has no right to administer the same, and that the Court had no power or authority to permit or allow the said plaintiff to dispose of any of said property or to make use of the same in any way whatsoever in payment of costs and charges of administration, including any alleged attorneys' fees, commissions or costs of any kind, and that no legal determination has been had of the title to saidproperty and such orders as have heretofore been made by the Court do not have the legal effect of transferring the title to said property to the plaintiff herein; and this defendant is informed, advised, believes and so alleges that the said E. C. Griggs, executor of Sarah Anne Griggs, deceased, is entitled to have the said property returned to him forthwith without any deduction or impairment thereof, and that he is entitled to recover interest thereon while the same has been wrongfully held by and wrongfully used and misapplied by the plaintiff herein."
A motion was made in the cause as follows:
"Now come the defendants, L. D. Robinson, W. Henry Liles and F. M Hightower, Jr., and Elizabeth Ratliff Hightower, executors of F. M. Hightower, deceased, and Effie A. Little and H. W. Little, Jr., executors of H. W. Little, deceased, and the First National Bank, of Wadesboro, N. C., administrator of C. M. Burns, deceased, through their undersigned counsel, and move the Court to enter an order herein making the following parties defendants herein, to-wit: E. C. Griggs, individually, E. C. Griggs, executor of the last will and testament of Mrs. Sarah Anne Griggs, deceased, H. Battle Griggs, Herbert C. Griggs and Mrs. David G. Ballenger.
"These defendants respectfully show to the Court that the said above named parties are necessary and proper parties...
To continue reading
Request your trialSubscribers can access the reported version of this case.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see a list of all the cited cases and legislation of a document.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see a list of all the documents that have cited the case.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see the revised versions of legislation with amendments.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see any amendments made to the case.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see a visualisation of a case and its relationships to other cases. An alternative to lists of cases, the Precedent Map makes it easier to establish which ones may be of most relevance to your research and prioritise further reading. You also get a useful overview of how the case was received.

Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see the list of results connected to your document through the topics and citations Vincent found.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
-
Strickland v. Hughes, 437
- United States
- North Carolina Supreme Court
- April 17, 1968
...such person is a necessary party to the action. Garrett v. Rose, supra; Colbert v. Collins, 227 N.C. 395, 42 S.E.2d 349; Jones v. Griggs, 219 N.C. 700, 14 S.E.2d 836. The term 'proper party' to an action or proceeding means 'a party who has an interest in the controversy or subject matter w...... -
Smith v. Smith
- United States
- North Carolina Supreme Court
- October 13, 1943
... ... Cooper v. Cooper, ... 221 N.C. 124, 19 S.E.2d 237; Query v. Gate City Life Ins ... Co., 218 N.C. 386, 11 S.E.2d 139; Jones v ... Griggs, 219 N.C. 700, 14 S.E.2d 836, and numerous other ... cases. See 2 North Carolina Digest, Appeal and Error, ... k274(7). Moreover, ... ... -
Swink v. Horn
- United States
- North Carolina Supreme Court
- November 20, 1946
... ... 178 N.C. 571, 101 S.E. 214; Best v. Garris, 211 N.C ... 305, 190 S.E. 221; In re Escoffery, 216 N.C. 19, 3 ... S.E.2d 425; Jones v. Griggs, 219 N.C. 700, 14 S.E.2d ... It was ... said in Fox v. Cramerton Mills, Inc., 225 N.C. 580, ... 35 S.E.2d 869, 871: ... ... -
Jones v. Griggs
- United States
- North Carolina Supreme Court
- June 2, 1943