Porter v. Estate of Porter
| Decision Date | 10 January 1934 |
| Docket Number | 6035 |
| Citation | 54 Idaho 99,28 P.2d 898 |
| Parties | RAY R. PORTER, Appellant, v. ESTATE OF LESLIE ALBERT PORTER, Deceased, and ROSE L. PORTER and LEWISTON NATIONAL BANK, Executors of the Estate of LESLIE ALBERT PORTER, Deceased, et al., Respondents |
| Court | Idaho Supreme Court |
WILL-PROBATE-ORDER DENYING REVOCATION-APPEAL.
1. Order refusing to revoke probate of will on ground of invalidity held not appealable, since allowance of such appeal was within discretion of legislature and was not provided for by statute (I. C. A., sec. 11-401, subd. 3, and secs. 15-223 to 15-229).
2. Statute governing appeals from probate court, not providing for appeal from order revoking probate of will could not be construed as allowing appeal from such order, in absence of showing of continuing knowing acquiescence by legislature or court in such appeals (I. C. A., sec. 11-401, subd. 3, and secs. 15-223 to 15-229).
APPEAL from the District Court of the Tenth Judicial District, for Nez Perce County. Hon. Miles S. Johnson, District Judge.
Appeal from dismissal by District Court, of appeal from order of Probate Court, refusing to revoke probate of a will. Affirmed.
Judgment affirmed and costs awarded to respondents.
Leo McCarty, for Appellant.
Our statute is taken from California and the supreme court of California in the case of the Estate of Freud, 73 Cal. 555 15 P. 135, held as follows:
"On contest for revocation of probate of will, where verdict is rendered determining its validity, judgment should be entered entirely annulling the probate."
The supreme court of Idaho has never been called upon to construe this statute but has heretofore passed upon subdivision 5 of section 11-401, which reads as follows:
"Against or in favor of directing the Partition, Lease, Mortgage, Sale or Conveyance of real property."
In the case of State v. Whelan, 6 Idaho 78, 52 P. 2, this court held that an appeal would lie from an order of the probate court, refusing to issue an order to show cause why real estate should not be sold to pay debts.
The supreme court of Nevada has held that an appeal would lie from an order refusing to revoke letters of administration in the case of In re Bailey's Estate, 31 Nev. 377 103 P. 232, Ann. Cas. 1912A, 743.
Tannahill & Durham, for Respondents.
The statutes of Idaho do not authorize an appeal from the probate court to the district court from an order refusing to revoke the probate of a will. (Const., art. 5, secs. 13, 20; sec 11-401, I. C. A.; Estate of Montgomery, 55 Cal. 210; Estate of Keans, 56 Cal. 407; Estate of Sbarboro, 70 Cal. 147, 11 P. 563.)
August 11, 1932, appellant petitioned for the revocation of the probate December 14, 1931, of his father's will, because of the alleged invalidity thereof. The executor filed a general demurrer and thereafter, a general denial, and October 3, 1932, the probate court by appropriate order denied the petition, thereupon, October 11, 1932, the appellant appealed to the district court which, February 25, 1933, dismissed the appeal on the ground that subd. 3, sec. 11-401, I. C. A., or otherwise gives no appeal from an order refusing to revoke the probate of a will.
Appellant contends that because his petition was based on the alleged invalidity of the will his appeal herein could be, and should be, considered as from an order in favor of the validity of the will under the first clause of subd. 3, sec. 11-401, I. C. A.
Sections 15-223 through 15-229, I. C. A., provide the procedure for, within eight months after an order probating a will, having such probate set aside.
The legislature in providing for appeals from the probate court has made the distinction between appeals from an order vacating and invalidating a will, the culmination thereof provided for in sections 15-202--15-210, I. C. A., and an appeal from an order revoking such probate under the proceedings outlined in sections 15-223--15-229, I. C. A.
By the allegations of his petition and a comparison of the relevant dates it is apparent appellant comes within the second outlined statutory proceeding and not the first.
Appellant relies principally upon two cases to support his contention that subd. 3, sec. 11-401, I. C. A., should be construed as giving an appeal herein. (In re Bailey's Estate, 31 Nev. 377, 103 P. 232, Ann. Cas. 1912A 743.) The statute there, however, has a provision which we do not have and which justifies the decision therein but does not support a construction favorable to appellant.
"Any person interested in, affected by, and aggrieved at the decision and decree of the district court . . . . and any other decision wherein the amount in controversy equals or exceeds, exclusive of costs, one thousand dollars, may appeal to the Supreme Court of the state, . . . ."
Likewise in the case of Mackey v. Atoka, 34 Okla. 572, 126 P. 767; "from any other judgment, decree, or order of the probate court, or the judge thereof, affecting a substantial right."
In none of the other cases cited by appellant was the point involved herein raised or passed upon, nor has this court, though appeals may have been taken from orders refusing to revoke the probate of a will, ever considered or decided the point.
The California statute prior to 1901, was, and Montana's now is, identical with ours, and both have held that no appeal lies from an order refusing to revoke the probate of a will.
Appellant contends, however, that it is unfair to construe the statute as allowing one side an appeal and not the other, relying on 3 C. J. 399 and 616.
Two lines of authority that have considered the element of "unfairness" of a one-sided appeal statute, one line, to remove such inequality allows an appeal to both parties, [1] the other line of authority, to balance the scales, denies both an appeal. [2]
This court has, however, repeatedly held, that an appeal is purely statutory and that the legislature has, under the Constitution, the sole right, to grant or withhold, a right of appeal in any and all matters coming before the probate courts. And thus this court has, in the past at least, aligned itself with the attitude of the Montana and California courts which deny an appeal. ( Earl Fruit Co. v. State, 40 Idaho 426, at 431, 233 P. 518.)
Since no appeal is provided by the statute from an order refusing to revoke the probate of a will and it was within the discretionary powers of the legislature, to allow or grant one, we may not usurp the prerogative of the legislature and read into the statute something which is not there. ( General Custer Min. Co. v. Van Camp, 2 Idaho 40, 3 P. 22; Pierson v. State Board of Land Commrs., 14 Idaho 159, 93 P. 775; Ingard v. Barker, 27 Idaho 124, at 135, 147 P. 293; Eaton v. Glindeman, 33 Idaho 389, at 394, 195 P. 90; In re Drainage Dist. No. 3, 40 Idaho 549, at 554, 235 P. 895.)
Appellant further contends that a tacit construction and usage of a statute which has long been established should not be departed from. In other words judicial repose should be accorded to the operation of or under statutes long acquiesced in. (Rogers v. Goodwin, 2 Mass. 475; Ferris v. Coover, 11 Cal. 175; Continental Imp. Co. v. Phelps, 47 Mich. 299, 11 N.W. 167; 59 C. J. 1036.)
The application of such rule, appellant contends, rests on Morgan v. Ireland, 1 Idaho 786; Snyder v Raymond, 48 Idaho 810, 285 P. 478. Morgan v. Ireland, supra, was decided in 1880, the circumstances out of which it arose occurring in 1878, at which time the Probate Practice Act of 1871 and 1875 was in effect, which by section 300, page 301, 1875...
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