Pugh's Estate, In re
| Decision Date | 29 March 1955 |
| Docket Number | No. 36413,36413 |
| Citation | 1955 OK 87,281 P.2d 937 |
| Parties | In the Matter of the ESTATE of Etta Fay PUGH, Deceased. |
| Court | Oklahoma Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
1. Where husband and wife acquire title to a tract of real estate as joint tenants with right of survivorship and thereafter upon petition of the husband the parties are divorced and in the decree settling property rights between the parties the wife is awarded the entire title to said real estate as her share of jointly acquired property and the husband in compliance with the decree executed a quitclaim deed conveying all his right, title and interest in and to said real estate to his wife and thereafter both husband and wife file a petition requesting the court to vacate and set aside the divorce decree, to restore the parties to their former marital status and to restore property rights between them as they existed prior to the granting of the divorce and the court vacates the divorce decree and restores the parties to their property rights as requested, upon the death of the wife thereafter the husband will take entire title to said real estate under the survivorship deed to the exclusion of the heirs of the deceased wife.
2. The district court has jurisdiction upon the petition and request of all parties to vacate its judgment after the term at which it was rendered though the petition does not allege any statutory grounds for its vacation.
Appeal from the District Court of Tulsa County; Eben L. Taylor, Judge.
From a judgment of the district court reversing the judgment of the county court in a probate matter distributing the estate of Etta Fay Pugh, deceased, Eileen Cone, daughter and heir of deceased, appeals. Affirmed.
Hughey Baker, Tulsa, for appellant.
George W. Reed, Jr., Harry Seaton, Tulsa, for appellee.
This case is here on appeal by Eileen Cone from the judgment of the district court of Tulsa County reversing the judgment of the county court in a probate proceeding distributing the estate of Etta Fay Pugh, deceased.
On January 23, 1941, Etta Fay Pugh and Edison F. Pugh (husband and wife) acquired by purchase from George W. Burley and Pearl J. Burley title to a certain tract of real estate located in the City of Tulsa, County of Tulsa, Oklahoma, described as follows:
'The Westerly 37.5 feet of the Easterly 75 feet of Lots Seven (7) and Eight (8), Block Nineteen (19), of Gillette-Hall Addition to the City of Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma, according to the recorded plat thereof.'
Under the deed title was conveyed to them as joint tenants with the right of survivorship. The granting clause of the deed recites that upon the death of either the survivor to take the entire fee simple title. The premises were thereafter occupied by the parties as a home and constituted their homestead.
Thereafter Edison F. Pugh filed a petition for divorce against his wife in the district court of Tulsa County on the ground of extreme cruelty in which it is alleged that during their marriage they acquired the real estate above mentioned and certain personal property described in the petition and prayed that a divorce be granted and that an equitable distribution of the jointly acquired property be made between the parties.
On the 30th day of July, 1946, the divorce was granted and there was distributed by the decree to Etta Fay Pugh, defendant in the action, full title to the real estate above mentioned and the balance of the property was distributed to plaintiff, Edison F. Pugh.
Several days thereafter in compliance with the above decree of distribution Edison F. Pugh executed a quitclaim deed to his wife, Etta Fay Pugh, conveying to her all his right, title and interest in and to the above premises. On January 2, 1947, the parties to the divorce action filed a joint petition seeking a vacation of the divorce decree in which it is alleged that since the granting of the divorce they have become reconciled and have settled and adjusted all differences between them and prayed that the divorce decree be vacated and set aside; that they be restored to their marital status and that property rights be restored to them as they existed prior to the granting of the decree and prayed judgment accordingly. The trial court on the same day, after hearing in open court, granting the petition, vacated the divorce decree, restored the parties to their marital status and restored the property rights as they existed prior to the divorce.
Etta Fay Pugh died on March 1, 1950, leaving surviving her as her sole and only heirs, her husband, Edison F. Pugh, and her daughter by a former marriage, Eileen Cone, Edison F. Pugh, her surviving husband, was duly appointed administrator of her estate. The estate was administered by him and in due course he filed his final account and petition and supplemental petition for distribution of the estate in which he states that as administrator he came into possession of the real estate consisting of the lot in the City of Tulsa above described of the value of $5,500 and personal property of the value of $2,706.32; that he paid various expenses including taxes on the real estate and repaires and improvements on the real estate out of his own pocket in the sum of $4,381.93; that the real estate above mentioned was jointly owned by him and deceased, Etta Fay Pugh, as joint tenants with the right of survivorship and that upon the death of his wife, Etta Fay Pugh, the entire title in and to the real estate in question vested in him under survivorship deed to the exclusion of the heirs of his deceased wife and prayed that distribution be made accordingly.
Eileen Cone filed objections to the final account and to the petition and supplemental petition for distribution of the estate in which she alleged that she is the surviving daughter and heir of the deceased and pleaded the decree of divorce granted the parties as above mentioned, division made of the property...
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In the Matter of The EState Edward Metz v. Pense
...Court recognized the common-law doctrine of joint tenancies with right of survivorship prior to its statutory enactment. In re Pugh's Estate, 1955 OK 87, 281 P.2d 937. In 1945, the Oklahoma Legislature crafted a specific provision for estates held in joint tenancy and tenancy by the entiret......
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...vacate all or only a portion of the decree. See, for example, Arnold v. Arnold, 1944 OK 292, 194 Okla. 571, 153 P.2d 224; In re Pugh's Estate, 1955 OK 87, 281 P.2d 937. 5. In such event, the parties may file a joint motion to modify the decree, or Husband may file a separate action to enfor......
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