DocketNumber: No. 11,728
Citation Numbers: 102 Ind. 23
Judges: Elliott
Filed Date: 3/11/1885
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/24/2022
The material facts stated in the special finding, exhibited in a somewhat abridged form, arc these: On the 25th day of November, 1875, John W. Maffett died intestate, the owner of the land described in the pleadings. He left surviving him his widow, Caroline Maffett, and his children, John W. and Sai’ah L. Maffett. Subsequently the widow married Charles Niles, and died during coverture seized of' one-third of the land described. The interest of which she died seized vested in her by virtue of her rights as the widow of John W. Maffett, her first husband. Daniel Morford became the administrator of her estate, and petitioned for an order to sell her land to pay debts due from her estate; to this petition the children of the intestate and John W. Maffett,, her first husband, were made parties, and they answered by a guardian ad litem. It was alleged in the petition that the intestate, Caroline Niles, ivas the owner in fee of the one-third1 part of the land. The proceedings Avcre in due form, and' sale Avas made pursuant to the order of the court, and the land Avas bought and paid for by the appellant.
The contention of the appellant is, that, as it appeared on-the face of the petition that the intestate owned the land in fee simple, and as the manner in which she acquired her title-
The appellees rely on the cases of Armstrong v. Cavitt, 78 Ind. 467, and Elliott v. Frakes, 71 Ind. 412. These cases are representatives of two different classes, and it is necessary to examine them separately and ascertain their bearing upon the present controversy.
Armstrong v. Cavitt, supra, has been followed in several subsequent cases, and must be regarded as correctly expressing the law. Slack v. Thacker, 84 Ind. 418; Hendrix v. McBeth, 87 Ind. 287; Compton v. Pruitt, 88 Ind. 171; Flenner v. Benson, 89 Ind. 108; Flenner v. Travellers Ins. Co., 89 Ind. 164; Nutter v. Hawkins, 93 Ind. 260; Matthews v. Pate, 93 Ind. 443; Pepper v. Zahnsinger, 94 Ind. 88. If the principle declared in these cases rules here, the discussion is at an end. The debatable question, however, is not what principle those cases declare, but whether the case in hand falls within it. The principle declared by these cases is, that the widow's interest in the real estate vested in her by virtue of her marital rights can not be sold to pay the husband's debts, and that it is beyond the power of the jurisdiction of the court to order it sold. That principle can not apply here, for the reason that it was the wife’s estate that was ordered sold, and the order was made to sell it for the payment of her OAvn debts, and not for the payment of the debts of the husband. The petition in this case proceeded upon the.theory that the Avife-OAvned the land, and that her estate Avas the debtor; Avhile in the eases cited the petition proceeded upon the theory that the land belonged to the husband and Avas liable to sale for the
Elliott v. Frakes, supra, decides, as does Armstrong v. Cavitt, supra, that the widow's interest can not, be sold to pay the husband's debts, and -decides, also, that children made parties to a petition to sell lands of their deceased father are not es-topped from claiming the estate which descends to them from iheir mother. The court, in the course of the opinion, said,
If, as the petition alleged, the fee of the land was in the mother, then the court had jurisdiction to direct the administrator to sell it to pay her debts. If the court had jurisdiction, its judgment, however erroneous, is not void, and if
Jurisdiction is the authority to hear and decide a legal controversy. It was said by the Supreme Court of the United States, that “ If the law confers the power to fender a judgment or decree, then the court has jurisdiction. What shall be adjudged or decreed between the parties, and with which is the right of the case, is judicial action by hearing and determining it.” Rhode Island v. Massachusetts, 12 Pet. 657.
“Any movement of a court is,” as it was said in Board, etc., v. Markle, 46 Ind. 96, “necessarily jurisdiction.” It does, not affect the question of jurisdiction that the judgment rendered was plainly erroneous, for, as it has been said, “the power to decide at all, necessarily carries with it the power to decide wrong as well as right.” Snelson v. State, 16 Ind. 29. There are very many cases enforcing these general principles, among them DeQuindre v. Williams, 31 Ind. 444, Weston v. Dumley, 33 Ind. 486, Dowell v. Lahr, 97 Ind. 146, Oppenheim v. Pittsburgh, etc., R. W. Co., 85 Ind. 471, Davidson v. Koehler,76 Ind. 398, vide auth. p. 421.
It seems clear that the face of the record discloses a case in which the court had jurisdiction of the subject-matter and of the persons of the parties, and, as this plenary jurisdiction existed, the judgment will repel all collateral attacks.
The case, when trimmed down to its real merits, comes to’ this, the petition of the administrator averred that his intestate owned the fee; the appellees answered this petition ; the court tried the issue, and erred in finding that, as matter of fact, the intestate did own the land. There was jurisdiction, but a wrong decision. As there was jurisdiction, nothing but a direct attack upon the judgment can shake it.
It has often been held that a judgment rendered by a court
It has been decided quite a number of times that the court of common pleas had jurisdiction to try the question of title in cases where land was sought to be sold to pay debts. In Gavin v. Graydon, 41 Ind. 559, the controversy was, in its legal aspects, much the same as here, and it was held that the judgment of the court of common pleas ordering the sale for the payment of debts concluded the heir as to all questions concerning the title to the land. In the course of the opinion it was said: “Exclusive jurisdiction is Conferred upon the •court to order the sale of real estate, and it seems to us that the power to make the order carries with it the right to de
Whatever may be the rights of the appellees in a direct proceeding, it is manifest that they can not prevail against the judgment directing the sale of the land, in this collateral proceeding. Judgment reversed.