169 Ga. 712 | Ga. | 1930
Nannie Parks brought her petition against Harvey L. Brown as administrator of W. L. Parks, deceased, alleging that she is the widow of W. L. Parks, and lived with him for approximately twenty-five years, until the time of his death'; that during his life and while she was living with him as his wife, she constantly worked and earned wages, and out of her earnings she had accumulated sufficient money to buy a home in Atlanta and to deposit a considerable amount of money in a savings bank; that all of the money paid on said house and lot and all the money on deposit in the savings bank was her money and was derived from her earnings ; that the house and lot were purchased and paid for by her, but when the purchase-price was completely paid, through error and mistake, and without her knowledge and consent, the deed was made to her husband, and record title to the property was in him at the time of his death; that as a result of her having paid the entire purchase-price there was a resulting trust, and W. L. Parks held the property as trustee for petitioner, without his having any beneficial interest in it; that the defendant was appointed administrator on the petition of Eva Templeman, who averred in her application that she was the wife of W. L. Parks, but petitioner alleges that Eva Templeman is not and never was the legal wife of W. L. Parks, and therefore that Brown is not legally qualified as administrator of the estate, and she prays that he be removed as
The plaintiff amended her petition. In the amendment facts are set forth more in detail, to show that the appointment of Brown as administrator was obtained by fraudulent representations made to the court of ordinary by Eva Templeman, who claimed to have been the legal wife of W. L. Parks by a marriage that took place before the marriage by Parks to the petitioner, who claims that if Parks was ever married to Eva Templeman this marriage had been dissolved. Petitioner sets forth many alleged acts and a long course of behavior upon the part of Eva Templeman (or Parks), which she alleges are inconsistent with the claim of the latter that she had been the legal wife of W. L. Parks and was his widow. Petitioner claims that if the marriage between W. L. Parks and Eva Templeman had not actually been dissolved, nevertheless petitioner is entitled to recover-certain real estate on the ground that her money paid for it, though the title was taken in the name of W. L. Parks. She insists that she is entitled to recover certain sums of money as damages which she had sustained on account of having allowed wages which she had earned to be used in the purchase of certain real estate, and other sums, to be placed in bank in the name of W. L. Parks. She thought she was the legal wife of W. L. Parks, and W. L. Parks thought she was his legal wife. After alleging certain acts on the part of Eva Templeman, such as her marriage to other men and collecting life-insurance upon their deaths, petitioner claims that Eva Templeman (or Parks) is estopped from claiming any of the estate of W. L. Parks as his widow, even if she had been married to him prior to the date of the marriage of petitioner with Parks. Eva Parks was made a party defendant to the suit.
The court did not err in overruling the general demurrer to the petition. If Nannie Parks, the petitioner, was the legal wife of W. L. Parks, and the appointment of Brown as administrator was procured by the false and fraudulent representations of Eva Parks to the or dinar y, the judgment appointing Brown as administrator should be set aside. This is not a collateral attack upon the judgment of the court of ordinary, but a direct attack, and an .appeal to a court of equity to annul and set aside that judgment for fraud —fraud practiced upon the court itself. If the petitioner can establish by competent evidence that she was the legal wife of W. L. Parks, Eva Templeman (or Parks) liad no interest in the estate of the deceased, and the administrator who procured his appointment by the false and fraudulent representations to the court, made by the woman at whose instance he was appointed, should not be allowed to further handle the estate and should be compelled to give up that which he has taken into Iris possession.
Headnotes 2 to 7, inclusive, require no elaboration, and are rulings upon grounds of demurrer which are made by the intervenor in the case.
In paragraphs 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the amendment to the petition the plaintiff sets forth the fact that Eva Parks claimed to have married W. L. Parks in the year 1890, that is, prior to the marriage of petitioner with W. L. Parks; and then, in connection with this claim of Eva Parks, numerous facts are alleged, relative to the conduct of Eva Parks, such as her having been married to two other men and having collected life-insurance when one of them died, and other facts showing misconduct upon the part of Eva Parks, which petitioner claims was inconsistent with' the idea that Eva Parks was the wife of W. L. Parks. These paragraphs were demurred to upon
It is unnecessary to consider the demurrers to the parts of the petition upon which is based a claim by the petitioner that on account of the investment of the proceeds of the labor of the latter in certain property described there was a resulting trust, as the court below held that there was no resulting trust shown, and that ruling is not excepted to.
■Judgment reversed in both cases.