McDonald v. McDaniel

• Decision Date: 29 February 1912
• Citation: 145 S.W. 452
• Parties: McDONALD et al. v. McDANIEL et al.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

145 S.W. 452

McDONALD et al. v. McDANIEL et al.

Supreme Court of Missouri, Division No. 1.

February 29, 1912.

Motion for Rehearing Overruled March 29, 1912.

1. JUDGMENT (§ 640) —CONCLUSIVENESS— PROBATE COURTS.

A judgment of the probate court rendered on a matter and between parties over which it had full jurisdiction is as conclusive as one rendered by a court of general jurisdiction.

2. EXECUTORS AND ADMINISTRATORS (§ 348) —SALE OF LAND—JUDGMENT—VACATION.

A judgment of the probate court decreeing and approving the sale of a decedent's land for the payment of debts will not be set aside merely upon proof that the land was undervalued by the appraisers, and that the sale was a collusive one made by the administrator, who was a near relative of the purchaser and of the creditor who presented the fraudulent claim, for none of these circumstances afford any evidence of a fraud practiced in the very act of procuring the judgment.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Dallas County; Argus Cox, Judge.

Action by J. C. McDonald and others against Fannie McDaniel and others. From a judgment for plaintiffs, defendants appeal. Reversed.

Joseph McDonald died intestate in 1888, owning a tract of 120 acres of land in Dallas county, subject to the dower of Sidney Green, who was the mother of his wife. At his death he lived in Texas. He left three children, then minors (the present plaintiffs), but now of age, who bring this action to set aside a sale of land had in the course of administration to pay an allowed demand against his estate. The land was bought by the holder of the allowed demand at the price of $125, being two-thirds of its appraised value. The purchaser was Nathaniel B. McDaniel, who was the son of the dowress, and brother of the wife of Joseph McDonald, deceased. Calvin Breshears, a brother of the dowress, was appointed administrator by the probate court of Dallas county, and in pursuance of its order made the aforesaid sale to his nephew, Nathaniel B. McDaniel, who lived on the farm and took care of his mother.

The petition alleges: That the administration was taken out at the instance of the dowress and the creditor for the purpose of a fraudulent sale of the land to the said creditor. That the note evidencing his demand was invalid and barred by the statute of limitations. That the administrator made no defense to the claim, and did not notify the nonresident heirs (the present plaintiffs), although he knew of their places of residence. That he colluded with and contracted with the said Nathaniel B. McDaniel to sell him the land before he was appointed administrator, and did after his appointment sell the same at a grossly inadequate price of $125 when the land was worth at the time of said sale the sum of $1,000, the said Nathaniel B. McDaniel becoming the purchaser, and received a deed therefor executed by Calvin Breshears, administrator, dated the 23d day of May, 1891. That the said plaintiffs herein, although they wrote letters to Sidney Green inquiring about said land prior to the sale of said land, she to the knowledge of Nathaniel B. McDaniel and Fannie McDaniel, one of the defendants herein, answered these letters, telling plaintiff they had no lands here, the said Nathaniel and Fannie McDaniel thereby becoming parties to the deception of these plaintiffs. Each of these plaintiffs at the time said fraudulent judgment was procured by said fraudulent acts as aforesaid were minors, knew nothing of the proceedings at the time, and were therefore unable to make any defense. That the appraisers who appraised the land prior to the sale aforesaid misunderstood the purpose of said sale by reason of the misrepresentation of Nathaniel B. McDaniel and the administrator as to the rights of the purchaser under said sale. They appraised the land at much less than its real value. That the said Nathaniel B. McDaniel died on or about the year 1902. Plaintiffs therefore pray the court to set aside the judgment of the probate court which was fraudulently procured as aforesaid, and to cancel and hold for naught the deed from Calvin Breshears to said Nathaniel B. McDaniel, and divest the defendants of the title and vest the same in plaintiffs, and for all proper relief. The answer admitted the relationship of the parties plaintiff and defendant as charged in the petition; that the owner of the dower interest in the land (Sidney Green) died in January, 1907; that the owner of the note allowed as a demand against the estate of Joseph McDonald purchased the land under a sale made in pursuance of the orders of the probate court of Dallas county, and received a deed therefor; and that he had died: and that the defendants are his widow and children, and in possession of said land, and denied the other allegations of the petition. The evidence tended to show that the note allowed as a demand against intestate's estate was the unpaid balance of the sum which the maker, Joseph McDonald, had promised to pay one of his wife's brothers for his interest in the land in controversy; that it was originally given for $100, and credits had been entered thereon for $60. On the...