Williamson v. Grider

• Decision Date: 30 January 1911
• Citation: 135 S.W. 361,97 Ark. 588
• Parties: WILLIAMSON v. GRIDER
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

135 S.W. 361

97 Ark. 588

WILLIAMSON v. GRIDER

Supreme Court of Arkansas

January 30, 1911

Appeal from Mississippi Chancery Court, Osceola District; Edward D Robertson, Chancellor; reversed in part.

Mrs Sue M. Grider died April 13, 1901, testate. Her will was duly probated, and is as follows:

"Sans Souci, Miss. Co., Ark.

"March 13, 1886.

"I Sue M. Grider, being of sound mind, make this my last will and testament. I bequeath to my beloved husband, W. H Grider, and my dear mother, Georgia M. Erwin, my entire estate, both real and personal, of which I may die possessed subject to the expense of my funeral and the debts I may owe, but this shall be in trust for the use and benefit of my child, Georgia Grider, and any other children that may be born after the writing of this will; they, my children, are to share equally my estate; and I desire that my said husband and mother shall be empowered to mortgage, sell, or lease the lands belonging to me and to apply the proceeds of such rents to the payment of my debts, and, should they deem it expedient to mortgage said lands for the purposes above mentioned, then their mortgage of same shall bind my children, and the lands are subject to said mortgage.

"I desire that my mother and husband act without bond and that the court of probate take no jurisdiction of my estate, as I feel confident that my said husband and mother will manage my estate for the best interest of my children.

"The purposes of the above trust shall have been discharged, and the estate in my said husband and mother shall cease, when my debts shall have been paid, or when my children shall have arrived at legal age. After all my debts have been paid, I will and bequeath to my mother, Georgia M. Erwin, and to her heirs forever, 160 acres of cleared lands, being the northwest quarter, section 18, township 12, range 11, or the northeast quarter section 21, township 12, range 11, as she may choose.

"I hereby appoint by mother, Georgia M. Erwin, and my husband, Wm. H. Grider, executrix and executor of my will, to act jointly, and in the case of the death of either the survivor to act alone.

"I hereby seal and sign this my last will and testament.

"Sue M. Grider."

The property consisted of 5,000 acres of land in Mississippi County, Arkansas, 2,000 of which was cleared and in cultivation. There were mules, wagons and farming implements necessary for the plantation. There were two stocks of merchandise worth $ 4,700. There was also the home in Memphis, where the family lived at the time of her death. The children are Mrs. Georgia Gordon Williamson, born in 1882; Mrs. Josephine G. Mitchell, born in 1886; and John McGavock Grider, born May 28, 1892. The two daughters, appellants, were of age when this suit was brought, and the son, John McGavock, was a minor at the time of the bringing of the suit and also at the time of the decree herein. The property was incumbered by a mortgage to the American Freehold & Mortgage Company for $ 26,000, payable as follows: $ 5,000 January 1, 1902; $ 5,000 January 1, 1903; $ 5,000 January 1, 1904; $ 5,000 January 1, 1905; and $ 6,000 January 1, 1906, all bearing interest at 8 per cent. per annum from date until maturity and 10 per cent. thereafter until paid. The Delta Cotton Company also held a mortgage covering advances to be made during the year 1901, in the sum of $ 13,000. The total indebtedness of the estate amounted to $ 37,976.36.

W. H. Grider had managed his wife's business from the time of their marriage in 1880 till her death. He had cleared large areas of land on the plantation, had built two gin houses, had leased some of the lands, and was cultivating the residue by share croppers. He was doing a general merchandise business and furnishing tenants and croppers plantation supplies from the stores. The money necessary to carry on this business had been advanced from year to year by commission merchants, who were secured by mortgages on the crops, wagons, mules, and farming implements on the plantation. Upon the death of Mrs. Grider, the trustees under the will took charge of the estate. It appears that Mrs. Erwin was an elderly lady, and that the active management of the trust devolved on W. H. Grider. Mrs. Erwin simply acquiesced in what he did. The trustees construed the will as giving them power to manage the estate of Mrs. Sue M. Grider in the way it had been managed by W. H. Grider before her death, and accordingly they continued to so manage it after her death during the remainder of the year 1901, and obtained large advances from the Delta Cotton Company, in addition to the balance due it of an old indebtedness that had been advanced prior to Mrs. Grider's death. These advances were made under the mortgage that had been executed by Mrs. Grider to operate the plantation for the year 1901. But the trustees were unable to make the same arrangements for the year 1902, unless they could obtain from the chancery court a decision holding that they had authority to do so. Therefore at the March term, 1902, W. H. Grider filed a petition in the name of himself and Mrs. Erwin, his co-trustee, and Georgia D. Grider, also Josephine L. Grider and John McGavock Grider, by W. H. Grider, their next friend. After setting out the will, the petition alleged the manner in which the plantation had been operated theretofore, and then set forth that "the trustees would have difficulty in arranging for advances for the purpose of operating the plantation during the existence of the trust, in the usual way that it had been operated, unless it should be construed by the court that they had authority under the will to do so." The petition then continued as follows:

"That the said Sue M. Grider left no cash, and without advances the plantation can not be operated, and the beneficiaries under said will, although the owners of a valuable estate, will be without returns from it, and without means for their support and education unless they have relief in this court. Petitioners would also show to the court that, under the will of Sue M. Grider, deceased, no express provision is made for the maintenance and education of her children, nor any compensation to the trustees for handling the trust property, but petitioners submit that it was her manifest intention that all should be supported and sustained by said plantation until all of her children should be 21 years of age; that the control and management of the trust until then should be plenary and supervised by no court; that the annual income from said estate is from $ 8,000 to $ 15,000, and the real estate is incumbered by a mortgage placed thereon by the testatrix in her life time for the sum of $ 26,000, and that the property was further incumbered at her death by a mortgage for the year 1901 to secure further advances, which latter mortgage will be satisfied and paid by the crop of 1901, leaving the whole indebtedness of the testatrix practically the mortgage of $ 26,000.

"W. H. Grider and Georgia M. Erwin, as trustees, join in this petition for the purpose of placing themselves under such directions as the court will see proper to give in connection with said trust estate, and especially with reference to the making of arrangements whereby the plantation may be furnished.

"The premises considered, petitioners pray a construction of said will, and that the trustees, or the survivor of them, be decreed to have power to annually mortgage or otherwise pledge the rents, shares, income, and profits of said plantation, mules and farming implements for the purpose of having it supplied; and petitioners pray for all proper relief."

The court, on the allegations of the petitions and the consideration of the provisions of the will, found as follows:

"That the legal title to the estate of Sue M. Grider, deceased, by her last will and testament, passed to the trustees therein, namely, W. H. Grider and Georgia M. Erwin, to be held by them until the debts of said deceased should be paid or her youngest child should reach the age of twenty-one years, and that in the meantime the said trustees should manage and control said plantation and property as in their discretion they thought best; and the court further finds that in the lifetime of the said Sue M. Grider the said plantation was successfully managed and controlled by her husband, Wm. H. Grider; that it was furnished annually by commission merchants, who were secured by a mortgage on stock, crops, and implements, and that it is necessary and expedient that it be operated in the same way for the year 1902."

The court then proceeded to render the following decree:

"It is thereupon considered, ordered, and decreed by the court that under said will the trustees are charged with the duty of operating said plantation in the usual and customary way, and to that end it is hereby decreed that they may legally mortgage or otherwise pledge the rents, share crops, and proceeds of landlord liens on crops made on said plantation for the year 1902, and the mules and farming implements now on said plantation, or that may be put there, to secure advances for the year 1902, in such sums as the said trustees may think proper. And petitioners will pay all costs of this proceeding."

Thereafter W. H. Grider, as the active trustee, continued to manage and operate the trust estate, submitting the manner of his management and the result of his operations to the chancery court in annual reports. The court accepted these reports, and made further orders concerning the management of the estate. On June 1, 1904, the chancery court entered the following order:

"In re W. H. Grider and George M. Erwin, trustees of the estate of Sue M. Grider, deceased. Now on this day comes W. H Grider, and files his...