Jorgenson v. Larson
| Decision Date | 27 December 1901 |
| Docket Number | 12,779 - (143) |
| Citation | 88 N.W. 439,85 Minn. 134 |
| Parties | GEORGE O. JORGENSON v. SIVER LARSON |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Action in the district court for Watonwan county against defendant as administrator of the estate of K. O. Jorgenson, deceased to recover the value of the widow's third of a tract of land which plaintiff had purchased from defendant in his lifetime under an executory contract, which interest his widow refused to convey. The case was tried before Cray, J who found in favor of defendant. From an order denying a motion for a new trial, plaintiff appealed. Affirmed.
Agreement to Sell Land -- Refusal of Vendor's Widow to Convey -- Damages.
The owner of land, a married man, agreed to convey it to the plaintiff upon being paid the purchase price therefor, which was paid during the life of the vendor. The wife was not a party to the contract. The vendor died intestate, leaving, him surviving, his widow and children. The widow, after the death of her husband, refused to convey her third of the land to the plaintiff, who commenced this action against the vendor's administrator for damages for the loss of one-third of the land. Held, that this claim against the estate became absolute when the widow refused to convey her interest in the land, and, not having been presented to the probate court for allowance, this action cannot be maintained.
W. S. Hammond, for appellant.
W. E. Young, for respondent.
The facts in this case, as found by the trial court, are substantially these: In the year 1885, K. O. Jorgenson was the owner of eighty acres of land in the county of Watonwan, this state, and then entered into a contract with the plaintiff for the sale of the land to him for the sum of $500, to be paid in installments. Jorgenson was then a married man, which fact the plaintiff then knew; but the wife was not a party to such contract. The plaintiff paid the full purchase price for the land to Jorgenson in his lifetime, but the latter died intestate August 28, 1898, without having conveyed the land to the plaintiff, as he had agreed to do. He left, him surviving, his widow and several several children, as his heirs at law. The defendant was duly appointed administrator of the estate of the intestate October 10, 1898, and is still the duly-qualified administrator of such estate. Thereafter, and prior to August 17, 1899, the plaintiff demanded of the administrator of the estate and of the widow a conveyance of the land pursuant to such contract, but each of them then refused to so convey the land to the plaintiff. The plaintiff then commenced an action in the district court of the county of Watonwan against the administrator, widow, and children to compel specific performance of the contract. See Jorgenson v. Jorgenson, 81 Minn. 428, 84 N.W. 221.
Such proceedings were had in that action that on December 22, 1900, a judgment was entered therein requiring the defendants other than the widow to convey the land to the plaintiff, by sufficient deed, subject to the statutory right and interest of the widow, as to whom the action was dismissed on the merits. After this, and before this action was commenced, the plaintiff demanded of the defendant that he cause to be conveyed to him the undivided one-third of the land which belonged to the widow, or pay to him the damages he had sustained by the failure of defendant's intestate to so convey the land to him. This demand was refused, and this action was brought to recover from the defendant, as administrator, such damages. Such undivided one-third of the land is of the value of $800.
At the time the defendant was appointed administrator, the probate court duly made its order, due notice of which was given limiting the time within which creditors might present claims against the estate of the intestate to six months from the date thereof, and appointing May 1, 1899, as the time for an examination and allowance of such claims. The trial court, as a conclusion of law, found that the defendant was entitled to...
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