89 Neb. 216 | Neb. | 1911
Karl Sieker, a resident of York county, died testate in said county on the 9tli day of December, 1907, leaving a
The only contention by plaintiff is that the publication of the notice was not sufficient to give the county court jurisdiction to hear the matter of the probating of the will. The widow and heirs, of which plaintiff is one, all resided in York county. No personal service was had upon any of them, and plaintiff had no knowledge of the proceeding until long after the entry of the decree. The sole question therefore is: Was the publication of the notice all that the law required?
In Dame, Probate and Administration, sec. 82, in discussing the question of notice, it is said: “The method of service of the notice rests in the discretion of the court. It may be by personal service upon all parties interested, or by publication in such newspaper, printed in this state, as the court may direct, for three successive weeks previous to the time appointed. The notice must appear in three successive publications of the paper designated. It is not necessary that the last publication be 21 days from the first. The practice generally prevailing is to give
In 2 Black, Judgments (2d ed.) sec. 635, it is said: “The action of a probate court having jurisdiction, in admitting a will to probate or in rejecting it, is in the nature of a proceeding in rem, and, so long as it remains in force, it is conclusive as to the due execution and the validity of the will, both upon all the parties who may be before the court and upon all other persons whatever, in all proceedings arising out of tlxe will or where the parties claim under or are connected with it — (citing a number of cases in the note). ‘The proceeding,’ says the supreme court of Vermont, ‘is in form and substance upon the will itself. No process is issued agaiixst any one, but all persons interested in determinixig the state or condition of the instruxnent are constructively notified, by a newspaper publication, to appear and contest the probate; and the judgment is, not that this or that person shall pay a sum of money or do any particular act, but that the instrument is, or is not, the will of the testator. It determines the status of the subject matter of the proceeding. The jxidgxxxent is upon the thing itself; and, when the proper steps required by law are taken, the judgment is conclusive, and makes the instrument, as to all the world (at least so far as the property of the testator within this state is concerned), just what the jxxdgment declares it to be’”— citing Woodruff v. Taylor, 20 Vt. 65. We have examined this case, and, while not founded upon a cause similar to the one under consideration, it contains a clear exposition of the difference between cases in rem and in personam, and shows quite clearly that in the former class of cases, where notice is given by publication, the status of the rem (the thing) is conclusively established.
The case of Miller v. Estate of Miller, 69 Neb. 441, is cited with confidence by defendant. We are unable to ascertain from the opinion what notice of the hearing upon the petition to probate the will was given, but assume that it was by publication, since it was alleged by
In In re Estate of Brusha, 87 Neb. 254, the contention was that the order appointing an administrator was void for want of sufficient notice. The notice was given by publication. The language of the statute (Comp. St. 1909, ch. 28, sec. 195) upon the subject of notice is the same as in section 140, now under consideration, the notice to be given “by personal service on all persons interested, or by publication under an order of such court in such newspaper printed in this state as he (the judge) may direct.” In that case we held that “this statute leaves the matter, to the probate court to determine what publication shall be made in case personal service is not had upon the parties interested.” The same rule should be applied to section 140.
We have given due consideration to the carefully prepared brief filed by appellant, but we are satisfied that the provisions of the civil code cited cannot be applied to this case. The publication of the notice was in compliance with the statute, and the order of the county court directing the publication was sufficient authority without the previous filing of an affidavit therefor. While we think the procedure was in strict conformity with the statute, yet, did we hesitate to so hold, we would not be inclined to adopt the view contended for by plaintiff, for to so decide would overturn a great majority of the orders admitting wills to probate, as the almost universal practice has been that followed by the county court in this case, and it has become a rule of property, and titles acquired thereunder should not be thus disturbed. See White v. German Ins. Co., 15 Neb. 660.
The judgment of the district court holding the notice •sufficient is
Affirmed.