State ex rel. Scoville v. Wilson

• Decision Date: 03 March 1891
• Citation: 31 Neb. 462,48 N.W. 147
• Parties: STATE EX REL. SCOVILLE v. WILSON.
• Court: Nebraska Supreme Court

31 Neb. 462

48 N.W. 147

STATE EX REL. SCOVILLE

v.WILSON.

Supreme Court of Nebraska.

March 3, 1891.

Syllabus by the Court.

1. Where a husband has absconded from the state, and the maintenance and support of the family thereby devolve upon the wife, and it appears that neither she nor her husband is the owner of lands, town lots, or houses subject to exemption as a homestead, she, as the head of the family, is entitled, in lieu thereof, to goods of the value of $500.

2. After the levy of an attachment upon exempt property, the defendant filed an inventory of all her property, as well as that of her husband, and claimed that the property was exempt under the provisions of section 521 of the Code. Held, that it was the duty of the officer to call appraisers to appraise the property described in the inventory.

Mandamus.

C. S. Allen and Clark & Allen, for relator.

S. H. Sornborger, Geo. I. Wright, and Good & Good, for respondent.

MAXWELL, J.

This is an application for a peremptory writ of mandamus to compel the respondent, the sheriff of Saunders county, to call to his assistance three disinterested freeholders, and appraise certain property claimed by the relator as exempt under section 521 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The relator is the wife of F. A. Scoville, who has absconded, and his whereabouts are unknown. In November, 1888, attachments were sued out against the said F. A. Scoville in the district court of Saunders county, and the personal property of the said defendant Scoville was levied upon. The relator then filed in the said district court an inventory, under oath, of the whole of the personal property owned by herself and her said husband, and prayed for $500 exemption in personal property in lieu of a homestead, and to release certain property specifically exempt. The officer then refused, and still refuses, to call appraisers and appraise said property, and set apart the $500 exemption. The relator, therefore, applies to this court for relief.

In the case of Frazier v. Syas, 10 Neb. 115, 4 N. W. Rep. 934, where the husband had absconded, but the wife remained on the homestead, and she, being the head of the family, claimed the benefit of the exemption, it was held that she was entitled to the exemption. That decision was approved in Hamilton v. Fleming, 26 Neb. 245, 41 N. W. Rep. 1002, where it is said that “to hold that by the departure of the husband the family would be deprived of the right to hold such property, would,...