158 Ga. 237 | Ga. | 1924
The cause under review is one in which a described house and lot in the city of Cuthbert was levied upon under a mortgage fi. fa. in favor of the Bank of Cuthbert and against A. C. Bridges in his representative capacity as administrator of the estate of Mrs. A. C. Bridges. The property was claimed by Myrtle Taylor, a minor represented by her guardian, Nannie M. Taylor.. It appears from the record that the house and lot was at one .time the property of one W. S. Taylor, who died intestate on September 17, 1916, leaving a widow, Mrs. W. S. Taylor, and one minor child, Myrtle Taylor, the present claimant.- At the
When the house and lot in controversy, in November, 1918, was set aside as a year’s support, the title thereto vested in Mrs. W. S. Taylor and the claimant, her minor child Myrtle. Civil Code (1910), §4044; Howard v. Pope, 109 Ga. 259 (34 S. E. 301). A year’s support is claimed solely for the support of the beneficiaries; and if it is not used for that purpose and a beneficiary dies, the right of possession vests in the surviving beneficiaries. In Whitt v. Ketchum, 84 Ga. 128 (10 S. E. 503), this court held that “allowance from the estate of a decedent for a year’s support, if not consumed during the year, will stand over for the support of the widow and minors afterwards, so long as they are members of the family and fill this description. Children attaining ma
In Dickerson v. Nash, 74 Ga. 357, this court held: “Where a widow had set apart to her as a year’s support the entire estate of her deceased husband, consisting in part of realty and in part of personalty, and, having consumed the entire personal estate, died, the title to the land vested in the minor children of the deceased husband, and was not subject to sale by the administrator of the widow.” In this connection see Roberts v. Dickerson, 95 Ga. 727 (22 S. E. 654), in which it was held, in a case where the year’s support was granted to a widow and minor son, that a minor child for whose benefit in part a year’s support was granted shared with the mother in the title, but after attaining majority the child could not, while the mother remained upon the land, coerce a partition of the land, the whole of it being charged with the support of the family; and that the administrator of the son’s
From the cases cited as well as from other decisions of this court there is to be deduced the principle that there can be no subdivision of the several interests of different beneficiaries of a year’s support as long as there is a beneficiary, either as widow or
It is true that it has been held that a widow may mortgage a year’s support for the purpose of obtaining the necessities of life for herself and family. Allen v. Lindsey, 113 Ga. 521 (4) (38 S. E. 975). Under this principle the plaintiff in error would have sustained its contention that the title was in Mrs. Bridges at the time she made the note and mortgage, and that she had the right to execute the mortgage under a foreclosure and sale of which her title would be divested, provided the plaintiff established that
After this ruling the witness testified: “Mrs. Taylor said she needed some money; she was then living here in Cuthbert, and had been doing business with me. I expect I had known her for eight or ten years prior to that. I knew of no means other than her farm to support her child and herself. Yes, I did know at that time that there was a year’s support, and that she and her daughter were living in the house. When that note matured it was re
Judgment affirmed.