Williams v. Hollingsworth
| Decision Date | 24 May 1978 |
| Docket Number | No. B-7375,B-7375 |
| Citation | 568 S.W.2d 130 |
| Parties | Mary Hollingsworth WILLIAMS et al., Petitioners, v. Dorris HOLLINGSWORTH et al., Respondents. |
| Court | Texas Supreme Court |
Jack K. Smith, Corsicana, for petitioners.
Bondurant & Tubb, William L. Bondurant, Arlington, Morehead, Sharp, Tisdel & White, Erwin Davenport, Plainview, for respondents.
Mary Hollingsworth Williams, John L. Hollingsworth, Jr., William B. Hollingsworth and Jack Hollingsworth, who are children of John L. Hollingsworth, a deceased son of Ione D. Hollingsworth, filed suit in the Probate Court of Tarrant County to set aside the probate of the will of said Ione D. Hollingsworth. The will gave each of the contestants $100 and, after making certain specific devises and bequests to Borden B. Hollingsworth, divided the residue of the estate equally between Borden and Dorris Hollingsworth, the surviving sons of decedent. Answers were filed on behalf of Borden B. Hollingsworth, individually and as independent executor of the estate, and Dorris Hollingsworth.
Contestants and the independent executor appeared when the case was set for trial and announced to the court that they had entered into a settlement of the controversy whereby contestants would receive the sum of $8,000 from the residue of the estate and the will would otherwise stand as probated. The probate court rendered judgment pursuant to this settlement agreement after receiving written approval of the judgment by the attorneys for contestants and the independent executor. Dorris Hollingsworth was not present or represented at the hearing, and upon learning of the agreed judgment, he perfected this appeal. The court of civil appeals held that the agreed judgment was not proper and that contestants had abandoned their contest of the will by failing to introduce any evidence. It reversed the judgment of the probate court and ordered that contestants' cause of action be dismissed. 559 S.W.2d 111. We reverse the judgment of the court of civil appeals and remand the cause to the probate court.
The court of civil appeals correctly held that in the absence of any agreement in conformity with Rule 11, Tex.R.Civ.P., 1 between all parties or their attorneys, the probate court erred in awarding contestants the sum of $8,000 from the residue of the estate. It is a settled rule that a valid consent judgment cannot be rendered by a court when consent of one of the parties thereto is wanting. Burnaman v. Heaton, 150 Tex. 333, 240 S.W.2d 288 (1951). Neither Dorris Hollingsworth nor his attorney consented to this agreed judgment although one half of the settlement proceeds was to be paid from his part of the residuary. He timely perfected this appeal and the consent judgment was properly set aside.
The court of civil appeals erred, however, in concluding that contestants had abandoned their contest of the will and in rendering judgment that the cause be dismissed. This erroneous conclusion was based on the rule established prior to the abolishment of trial de novo in the district court. Jury...
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Kennedy v. Hyde
...occasions, this court has strongly implied that a settlement agreement is also to be judged by Rule 11 standards. Williams v. Hollingsworth, 568 S.W.2d 130, 131 (Tex.1978); Vickrey v. American Youth Camps, Inc., 532 S.W.2d 292, 292 The court of appeals in the instant case attempts to avoid ......
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Padilla v. LaFrance
...this Court never held that to be enforceable as a contract, a settlement agreement must comply with Rule 11. In Williams v. Hollingsworth, 568 S.W.2d 130, 131 (Tex.1978) and Vickrey v. American Youth Camps, Inc., 532 S.W.2d 292 (Tex.1976) (per curiam), this Court purportedly "strongly impli......
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In re Estate of Flores
...the burden of proof is on the contestant to show by a preponderance of the evidence that the will is invalid. See Williams v. Hollingsworth, 568 S.W.2d 130, 132 (Tex.1978); Lee v. Lee, 424 S.W.2d 609, 610 n. 1 (Tex.1968); Horton v. Horton, 965 S.W.2d 78, 85 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 1998, no pet......
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Oliver v. The Kroger Co.
...682 S.W.2d 525, 528 (Tex.1984). Texas courts have applied the rule to settlement agreements. Id. at 528 citing Williams v. Hollingsworth, 568 S.W.2d 130, 131 (Tex. 1978); Vickrey v. American Youth Camps, Inc., 532 S.W.2d 292 (Tex.1976). Although contract principles are generally applicable ......