68 Colo. 84 | Colo. | 1920
delivered the opinion of the court.
On January 18, 1918, a verified petition for determination of heirship in the matter of the estate of Joseph W. Brewer, deceased, was filed in the County Court of Weld County, Colorado, by a brother of the deceased. Three brothers and one sister, and no one else, were named in the petition as all persons who are or claim to be the heirs of the decedent. On February 15, 1918, one Laura Brewer filed her verified answer to the petition, claiming that she is the widow of Joseph W. Brewer, deceased, and as such widow is the sole and only heir at law of such decedent. Thereafter a hearing was had upon the petition and the answer, and the court dismissed the claim of Laura Brewer, and found that the heirs of Joseph W. Brewer, deceased, are those named in the petition. Subsequently a motion for a new trial was interposed and overruled, and a decree entered in accordance with the finding above mentioned. The claimant, Laura Brewer, brings the proceedings here for review.
The decree was, in effect, a determination that the plaintiff in error, Laura Brewer, was not the widow of Joseph W. Brewer, deceased, and never had been his wife. The only question necessary to be determined is whether or not the decree is manifestly against the weight of the evidence, in the respect above mentioned. It is admitted by the plaintiff in error that there had never been any marriage ceremony between her and the deceased, and that whatever claim she has to being the widow of the decedent is by virtue of a common law marriage.
The trial court’s finding was manifestly against the weight of the evidence. The decree is reversed and set
Reversed.
Chief Justice Garrigues and Mr. Justice Bailey concur.