2 Shan. Cas. 146 | Tenn. | 1876
delivered, the opinion of the court:
This bill is filed by the heirs at law of George Peoples, deceased, to have a sale of land made Binder a decree of the chancery court, at Huntingdon, declared void, and the purchaser’s claim under said sale, removed as a cloud on complainants’ title. The chancellor so decreed, from which defendants, the purchasers, and heirs of one who had died, have appealed to this court.
Numerous irregularities and errors in the proceedings for said sale are charged in complainants’ bill, which need not be noticed. Mere irregularities, and even errors for which the ease might have been reversed in a direct proceeding by appeal or writ of error, cannot be noticed in a collateral attack, as tbis is. It is now settled beyond question, and has long been the established law, both in this state and elsewhere, that if the court rendering a judgment or decree lias jurisdiction of the subject-matter and of the parties decreed against, the judgment or decree is valid, when collaterally brought in question, these facts appearing on the face of the pleadings and decree. See Preeman on
The rule laid down in the' last cited case, is, that if the pleadings and decree assume a state of facts on which the court is authorized to make the decree, the sale made' under it is valid, otherwise the decree made is void, in cases like this, but that you cannot look to the evidence before the court, on which the decree was based, to see whether the court drew the proper conclusion from it or not. This rule stands on the soundest principle, one which cannot be departed from, otherwise we would have one chancery or cir-cid.t court reviewing the decisions and judgments of sister courts of co-ordinate jurisdiction because erroneously decided. No such incongruity could be sustained; an appellate tribunal must do this.
We proceed to test the validity of the sale sought to be set aside by these rules, and look to the original bill filed by Hutchison, the administrator of Peoples, and the decree of sale, to see whether the court had jurisdiction to make the sale, assuming for the present that the persons interested in the land were properly. made parties to the proceeding.
The original bill is made an exhibit to the present, so that we can see all its allegations. It is very brief, and its defects readily seen. It is filed, by Hutchison, claiming to be administrator of George Peoples, deceased, against the administrator and heirs of said Peoples, states Ids death in the State of Arkansas; that he was seized of the lands now in controversy, situated in the county of Oar-roll, in which his widow was entitled to dower, but that she preferred to take the same in money; the land is stated to be between 600 and 700 acres; that this was nearly all the property said Peoples had in Tennessee, and was worth
In addition to the above, the decree ordering the sale of the land, fails to find or assume facts that would authorize a sale of the land. The clerk and master was ordered to make a report, showing what assets had come- to the hands of the administrator, and the amount of indebtedness; whether the administrator had exhausted the assets in payment of debts, and the necessity for the sale of the land, lie submitted bis report, based on the deposition of the administrator alone, which report and deposition are embod
We need not cite other cases in support of this conclusion. The chancellor properly so held, and set aside the sale, and we affirm his decree in this reference. But under the principle of the case of Martin et al. v. Turner et al., 2 Heis., 389; see, also, 1 Cold., 525; 2 Sneed, 471, the complainants must account for all money paid by the purchasers which was appropriated to the payment and discharge of bona fide debts which were a charge on the land, as assets under our law. So much of the purchase money as can be shown to have been thus appropriated, will be declared a lien on the lairds on which it was paid, in favor of the purchasers, in proportion to the amount paid by said purchaser and the debts discharged by the same. An account of such debts and payments by the purchasers will be taken in the court below, and proper orders made in accordance with this view.
One other question remains in this case. It appears that the widow liad accepted the $1,448 of the purchase money paid into court, as value of her dower. She is not a party to this proceeding. The chancellor permitted the pur
We are unable to see any sound principle on which this part of the decree can stand. The purchasers get a good title to this dower interest. The widow cannot disturb them in the enjoyment of it during her natural life. The complainants cannot fairly be compelled, by this means, to purchase and pay for the dower interest. We therefore reverse the decree as to dower, and direct that it be laid off to the purchasers of the land by metes and bounds, and title vested in the purchasers in proportion to the amount paid by each as tenants in common; no account of rents of dower interest will be taken, as a matter of course.'
This disposes of all the questions we deem material to notice in this case. It will be remanded to the chancery court, to be proceeded in under this opinion. Costs of this court will be paid, one-half by the complainants, the other by defendants who are free from disability.