68 Neb. 483 | Neb. | 1903
Lead Opinion
A general statement of the facts out of which this controversy arises may he found in an. opinion rendered in another branch of the same proceeding. Sorensen v. Sorensen, 56 Neb. 729. When the cause was here before, the question was, who was entitled to appointment as administrator of the estate? After that question had been determined and the claims of the alleged widow disposed of, the petitioners in the present case, who are brothers and children of a deceased brother and sister of the intestate, filed a petition in the county court praying for distribution of the estate to them as heirs and distributees under the statute. Alfred Hans Sorensen, the defendant in error, by his guardian, answered, admitting the relationship of the petitioners to the intestate as alleged, admitting certain other allegations as to the condition of the estate, the
Several difficult and interesting questions have been argued, which we need not examine at this time for the reason that we think the trial court erred in its ruling as tthe right to open and close. Prior to the trial, defendant, in error filed a paper in which he admitted “that the brothers, nephews and nieces named in the petition for distribution in this proceeding are the heirs at law and next of kin of the said Hans O. Sorensen, deceased, anentitled to his estate, unless it be proved that said Hans C. Sorensen intermarried with one Ellen Ferguson and the cross-petitioner, Alfred Hans Sorensen, is the issue of said marriage and the legitimate son of the said Hans C. Sorensen, as alleged in the cross-petition of said Alfred Hans Sorensen.” Upon this, over the objection and exception of plaintiffs in error, the right to open and close was granted to their adversary. The ruling is defended on two grounds: That the petition does not allege sufficiently there were no persons entitled to take as distributees in preference to petitioners, and hence that the general denial in the answer does not put such question in issue; and, second, that under the written admission and an oral admission in the same terms at the trial, the defendant in error had the burden of proof and was entitled to the right accorded him.
The right to open and close is governed by section 283, Code of Civil Procedure. That section, which in this respect is merely declaratory of the general rule, has been construed repeatedly, and we think the fair import of its language and of the decisions by which it is interpreted may be stated thus: If any of the material facts of a petition are not admitted, but are denied, either directly or argumentatively, the right to open and close is in the plaintiff. Rolfe v. Pilloud, 16 Neb. 21; Mizer v. Bristol, 30 Neb. 138; Seebrock v. Fedawa, 30 Neb. 424; Suiter v. Park Nat. Bank of Chicago, 35 Neb. 372; Welsh v. Burr, 56 Neb. 361; Summers v. Simms, 58 Neb. 579. It is obvious that if any material fact is put in issue, the plaintiff must fail, to that extent at least, unless he introduces evidence in support thereof; and this is true even where the sole issue, so far as the petition is concerned, is the amount of damages. Summers v. Simms, supra. Although the particular allegations of the petition put in issue are indefinite and ill stated, if they are enough lo sustain a judgment, the right to open and close is in the plaintiff. Hewit v. Bank of Indian Territory, 64 Neb. 463. We think it very clear that
Applying these principles to the case at bar, we think the petitioners should have been accorded the right to open and close. Brothers, and children of deceased brothers and sisters, of an intestate, are not prima fade heirs and distributees, and must allege and prove that there are no persons of the several classes which would take before them and exclude them, under sections 30 and 176, chapter 23, Compiled Statutes (Annotated Statutes, 4930, 5041) before they can obtain an order for distribution of the estate. Emerson v. White, 29 N. H. 482; Stinchfield v. Emerson, 52 Me. 465; Gardner v. Kelso, 80 Ala. 497, 2 So. 680; Henriques v. Yale University, 28 App. Div. (N. Y.) 354, 51 N. Y. Supp. 284, 289. In consequence, an admission that the petitioners for distribution are brothers and nephews and nieces of the intestate, and are heirs and distributees unless a person named is proved to be the son of the intestate, in connection- with a general denial and an allegation that such person is the son óf the intestate and is sole heir and distributee, does not relieve the petitioners of the necessity of making á prima facie case.. If no evidence were introduced by either party they would fail, notwithstanding the defendant in error’s gratuitous assumption of the burden of proof. A close analogy is furnished by an English case, where the question was as to the legitimacy of a person who, if legitimate, was clearly the heir at law. He offered to admit that plaintiff’s lessor was the heir at law, unless he, the person whose relation to the deceased was in dispute, was the heir. The court held he could not
By the Court: For the reasons stated in the foregoing opinion, the judgment of the district court is reversed and the cause is remanded for a new trial.
Reversed and remanded,
Rehearing
The following opinion on rehearing was. filed March 2, 1904. Judgment of reversal adhered to:
On the 3d day of February, 1895, Hans C. Sorensen died intestate, leaving an estate in Valley county, where he resided at the time of his death. Some of his collateral kin filed a petition in the county court of that county for letters of administration, alleging that the intestate had left neither widow nor issue, and that they were his next of kin and heirs at law. One claiming to be his widow appeared in the proceeding, and claimed the right to nominate an administrator of his estate. From the judgment of the county court on that branch of 'the case an appeal was taken to the district court, where judgment was given in favor of the party claiming to be the widow of the intestate. An opinion of this court, reversing the judgment of the district court, is reported under the present title in 56 Neb. 729.
On a second trial in the district court, the court found that the party -claiming to be the widow had never been married to the intestate, and gave judgment denying her right to nominate an administrator, and granting administration on the petition of the.collateral kin. No appeal was taken from this judgment, and it is in full force and effect.
Afterward, two brothers, and the children of a deceased brother and sister of the intestate, filed a petition in the county court for a distribution of the assets of the estate, alleging their relationship to the intestate, and that they were his only heirs at law. Thereafter, one Alfred Hans Sorensen, by his guardian, filed an answer and cross-petition, wherein the relationship of the parties as alleged in the petition for distribution was admitted, and all the
To the affirmative matters alleged in the answer and cross-petition, the petitioners interposed a general denial. They also pleaded the judgment rendered in the proceedings for the appointment of an administrator as an- estoppel on the question of the alleged marriage. .
A trial was had, which resulted in a judgment in favor of the cross-petitioner. An appeal was taken to the district court, where the petitioners filed new pleadings, which were stricken from the files, and the cause set down for trial on the pleadings filed in the county court. A trial was had, which also resulted in a finding and judgment for the cross-petitioner. The petitioners brought the case here on error, and an opinion, reversing the judgment of the district court, was filed therein, and is reported ante, p. 483; a rehearing was allowed, and the case is now before the court for -the second time.
The recommendation in the former opinion for the reversal of the judgment, is based on the ruling of the trial court permitting the defendant in error to open and close. The opinion contains an extended discussion of the principles governing the right to open and close, but it is now thought that the discussion is not altogether pertinent to the question as presented by the record in this case. The proceeding is in rem} and all persons interested in the estate are parties. Such proceedings ordinarily are binding, not only upon those actually before the court, but on all the world. It is obvious, therefore, that those actually before the court may not, by their pleadings, or otherwise, bind those not before it, nor dispense with the proof of any of the ultimate facts essential to a decree of distribution. Each party must rely on the strength of his own case, and
It Avill be remembered that the defendant in error claims as heir at law, on the ground that he is the issue of a marriage between his mother and the intestate. The plaintiffs in error contend that he is concluded on the question of a marriage between his alleged parents by the judgment in the proceeding had for the appointment of an administrator, Avherein the court found that the mother had never been the wife of the intestate. In support of this conten
It is true that it is allowable to reason back from a judgment. Hence, a judgment in rem, which, as we have seen, is binding on the whole world, stands, as to all persons, as an indisputable conclusion; and where it could only be drawn from certain premises, such premises are equally indisputable with .the conclusion itself. Burlen v. Shannon, 99 Mass. 200. But we must view the conclusion in the light of the main purpose of the proceeding in question, namely, the grant of administration on the estate of the intestate. As to every fact essential to such purpose, the judgment is conclusive and binding on all persons, because it is a conclusion which could not have been reached without a finding of such facts. The facts essential to a grant of administration are: (1) That the person on whose estate administration is asked died intestate; (2) that at the time of his death he was an inhabitant or resident of the county in which the proceeding is brought, or a nonresident of the state, and left an estate to be administered in such county. Compiled Statutes, chapter 23, section 177 (Annotated Statutes, 5042). , Such facts are the premises from which a grant of administration must be drawn as a conclusion, and, like the grantor judgment itself, are indisputable in a collateral proceeding between those claiming through such proceedings or under the intestate. Bradley v. Missouri P. R. Co., 51 Neb. 653. There is one exception to the foregoing rule, which is: If the party on whose estate such proceeding is had is alive, the proceeding and all judgments and orders therein are absolutely void. Van Fleet, Collateral Attack, sec. 610, and citations. Many reasons have been given for this exception, none of which seem to be entirely consistent with those supporting the rule as to the conclusiveness of other jurisdictional facts. It is thought that the true
But the right of any particular person to nominate an administrator, or to letters of administration, by reason of his relationship to the intestate, is not one of the essential facts upon which the grant is based. Such right is purely personal and may be renounced by the party entitled to exercise it. It is not an absolute right, because the person claiming it may be incompetent, or may be one of a class the members of which share the right in common, or, for some other reason, the case may call for the exercise of the discretion of the court. Atkinson v. Hasty, 21 Neb. 663; Spencer v. Wolfe, 49 Neb. 8. There is no presumption that one not claiming the right to nominate an administrator, or to letters of administration, has any interest in. the litigation between others concerning such right. It would be absurd to require such party to embroil himself in a controversy in which he had no interest, and to resist a judgment or decree to which he had no objection, and which of itself could work him no harm, merely to prevent an objectionable finding. We think the true rule is that a judgment in rem is binding and conclusive upon all persons as to every matter necessarily involved in the adjudication upon the status of the person or thing which is the subject matter of the proceeding, but as to matters involved in collateral litigation therein, between particular parties, and not necessarily involved in a judgment of that character, it is binding only upon those who actually litigated such matters and their priyies. That rule, as applied to the facts in this case, is fully supported by the following: Blackburn v. Crawfords, 3 Wall. (U. S.) 175; Kearney v. Denn, 15 Wall. (U. S.) 51, 57; Shores v. Hooper, 153 Mass. 228, 26 N. E. 846; Spencer v. Williams, 40 Law Jour. (Pro.)
.
But as to the parties who actually litigated the question of the alleged marriage between the intestate and the mother of the defendant in error in the proceeding for the appointment of an administrator, the judgment rendered in such proceeding is conclusive, and precludes a reexamination of that question in any subsequent litigation between them. Blackburn v. Crawfords and Kearney v. Denn, supra. It is claimed by the plaintiffs in error that the fendant in error is privy to such judgment, and is, therefore, bound by it as effectually as though he had actually participated in the litigation of that question. It is elementary that a judgment is conclusive, both on the parties and their privies. But privity, so far as concerns the effect of a judgment over property rights, at least, does not arise from mere relationship by blood or affinity, nor because two parties may have an interest .in the subject matter of the litigation. The term “privity” implies a relationship, by succession or representation, between a party to the first action and a party to the subsequent action, in respect to a matter adjudicated in the first. Samp v. Franklin, 144 N. Y. 607. The mother of the defendant in error did not, in any legal sense, represent him in the former proceeding, nor is there the slightest relationship between them by succession. Hence, so far as. his rights in these proceedings are concerned, he is not a privy to the former adjudication of the question of the marriage between his mother and the intestate, and is not bound by it.
On the trial in the present proceeding, the mother of the defendant in error was permitted, over the objections of the plaintiffs in error, to testify to facts tending to show a common-law marriage between herself and the intestate, and it is now claimed that her evidence was erroneously received. Section 329, Code of Civil Procedure, provides that “no person having a direct legal interest in the result of' any civil action or proceeding, when the adverse party
That the administrator is an adverse party, as to all persons claiming the right to share in the distribution of the personal estate, seems to us equally clear. ITe is in possession of such estate by virtue of his office, and the object of the proceeding is to terminate his right of possession. To that extent, at least, he is an adverse party within the meaning of the statute.
It remains to determine whether the witness has a direct legal interest in the result of the proceeding. In the consideration of that question it must be kept in mind that the right of the defendant in error to the estate, or any portion of it, hinges on the question of the marriage of his mother, the witness, with the intestate. If that marriage be established, his right to inherit the estate, to the exclusion of the plaintiffs in error, follows as a legal necessity. The fact of such marriage is the issue between the plaintiffs in error and the defendant in error in this proceeding, and a decree in favor of either of such parties will, of necessity, involve an adjudication of that issue, which, as between such parties, will operate as an estoppel and foreclose further inquiry upon that question. This follows from what has been said in a former part of this opinion on the subject of res judicata. The practical result of a decree in favor of the defendant in error would be to eliminate the plaintiffs in error from the list of
For this error in the reception of evidence just noticed, it is recommended that the former judgment of this court, reversing the judgment of the district court, be adhered to.
By the Court: The conclusions reached by the commissioners are approved, and it is ordered that the former judgment of this court, reversing the judgment of the district court, be adhered to.
Judgment oe reversal adhered to.
Rehearing
The following opinion on second rehearing was filed October 5, 1901. Judgment of reversal adhered to:
This case is before us on a second rehearing. Each of the former opinions recommended a reversal of the judgment of the lower court, but for different reasons; and as the case is again before us for a general review, of the entire proceedings in the court below, we shall state such facts appearing in the record as are necessary to an understanding of the conclusion which we shall presently reach.
On the 3d of February, 1895, one Hans C. Sorensen departed this.life intestate, leaving an estate of the value of about f20,000. Due administration was had thereon, and the present controversy is to determine who is entitled to receive this estate; that is, whn are the heirs at law of the intestate. The brothers and children of the sisters of the deceased, claim to be his only heirs at law, and as such filed a petition in the probate court for the distribution of the estate to them. In this proceeding, an infant appeared by guardian and filed an answer and cross-petition, in which the relationship of the petitioners to the deceased is admitted, but a general denial is made of every other fact therein and for affirmative relief. It alleges that he, the infant, is the minor son and only heir at law of the deceased, the issue of a marriage between the deceased and one Ellen Ferguson.
In the district court, the cross-petitioner was allowed the right to open and close. This ruling was predicated
It is nest urged that the judicial contest (56 Neb. 729) between the alleged wife and the petitioners over the appointment of the administrator of this estate is an adjudication of the status of the alleged wife and this incidentally determined the heirship of the infant. This subject received careful and considerate attention at the hands of the learned commissioner who wrote the former opinion, and Avhose able elucidation we approve, as Avell as the conclusion reached, that “so far as his rights in these proceedings are concerned, he is not a privy to the former adjudication of the question of the marriage betAveen his mother and the intestate, and is not bound by it.” Ante, p. 490.
The mother of the infant was permitted, over the objections of the petitioners, to testify to conversations and transactions had with the deceased. The purpose of this controversy Avas to establish a common law marriage between herself and the intestate. It is claimed that she
This question has been considered upon the point in issue in McCoy v. Conrad, 64 Neb. 150, and the court said (p. 154): “If a party is so placed in a litigation that lie. is called upon to defend that which he has obtained from a deceased person, and malee the defense which the deceased might have made if living, or to establish a claim which the deceased might have been interested to establish if living, then he may be said, in that litigation, to represent a deceased person; but where he is not standing in the place of the,deceased person, and asserting a right of the deceased which has descended to him from the deceased, that is, where the right of the deceased himself, at the time of his death, is not in any way involved, and the question is, not what was the right of the deceased at the time of his death, but,- merely, to whom has the right descended; in such a contest, neither party can be said to represent the deceased.”
Tested by the above rule, it is clear that neither the petitioners nor the cross-petitioner can be said to be the representative of the decedent in this action. But it is insisted that the administrator is, and as against him the testimony is within the bar of the statute. The administrator can have no interest by virtue of his office in the result of this action. It will not take from nor add to the estate. He is now a mere stakeholder, and the sum of his official duties is to pay over, that is, distribute, the pro
This brings us to what we now deem the essential question in this controversy, and one which heretofore has not been considered. Does the evidence in this record establish a common-law marriage between the mother of the infant and the intestate?
There was a time, perhaps, when the doctrine of a liberal construction of the testimony and slight proof of a common-law marriage subserved a useful purpose; but if it ever did, that time is long since past. There is nothing to be said in its favor now. Especially is this so in this state, where the legislature has undertaken to provide for the formal solemnization of the marriage rites, if not in public, at least in the presence of witnesses, and have the fact of the marriage preserved in records provided for that purpose by the state. This ancient doctrine is alien to the ideas and customs of our people. It tends to weaken the public estimate of the sanctity of the marriage relation. It puts in doubt the certainty of the rights of inheritance. It opens the door to false pretenses of marriage and the imposition upon estates of supposititious heirs. It places honest, God-ordained matrimony and mere meretricious cohabitation too nearly on a level with each other. In view of these consequences, that are apparent to all, it seems to us that grave considerations of public policy re quire us to closely scrutinize the testimony offered and the
It appears from the record that the intestate lived for a number of years in the town of Ord; that he was a bachelor, who lived alone and did his own housekeeping; that at the time of this alleged marriage he was about fifty years of age; that the woman was a widow, aged about forty years, and lived, together with her children, about a block away; that she did laundry work and house-cleaning for her neighbors, including the intestate. These matters are mentioned merely to exhibit the surrounding conditions of the parties. It may be well to observe here that if this alleged husband, and admits that she and the intestate had of the woman .alone. There is none other. In her direct examination she testifies that the intestate, at his house, about the middle of October, 1894 (a more exact date-she would not give), made a verbal proposal of marriage to her, which she accepted, and that she and the intestate then and there agreed henceforth to be husband and wife; that'this marriage was to be kept secret; that she went home and lived with her children as before; that about a week after they had sexual intercourse, which was occasionally indulged in at times thereafter; that the result of this intercourse is the infant who is the cross-petitioner in this action; and that intestate gave her from time to time small sums of money.
On cross-examination she admits that she never told any one of this marriage; that she signed her children’s school report in her former name; that she received aid, provisions and .fuel from the overseer of the poor during the winter after the marriage and in the lifetime of her alleged husband, and admits that she and the intestate had agreed to be married on the Wednesday of the week that he went to Lincoln and there died; that she had told her neighbors, Mrs. Colby and Mrs. Briley, that she was going to be then married; and that she had engaged Mrs. Briley to keep her children until after the marriage ceremony was performed; that the intestate was in bad health, and that
From this evidence it . would seem clear that there was no marriage per verba de prwsenti. The fact that she and the intestate had agreed to get married on a future day conclusively negatives the claim of a de prwsenti marriage. There could not be a marriage consummated, and a marriage in expectancy at the same time between the same parties, and the evidence in the record is {incontroverted that there was a marriage in expectancy between the parties at the time of the intestate’s death.
Was there a marriage per verba de futuro cum copula? This must be answered in the negative for the same reason; that is, so long as the marriage is in expectancy, it can not be said to have been consummated. Bishop in his work on Marriage and Divorce, vol. 1, sec. 254, says: “The marriage by consent per verba de futuro cum copula does not differ from any other informal marriage. It is, in effect, and in its essence, a marriage by consent de prwsenti; and the common method of designating it is only for convenience, and as indicating the sort of evidence by which.it is established; so, of course, its consequences are, by all opinions, precisely the same as those of marriage by consent
It is said in Stewart, Marriage and Divorce, sec. 87: “In states where no marriage celebration is necessary, and Avhen such contract is folloAved by sexual intercourse between the parties, the law, so as not to presume fornication, presumes that parties who have promised to marry mean sexual intercourse folloAving such promise to be the consummation of such agreement. But this presumption may be rebutted by any facts which show that the parties knew or intended their intercourse to be illicit, as where at the time they Avere looking forward to being married with a ceremony.” See, also, Peck v. Peck, 12 R. I. 485; Fryer v. Fryer, Rich. Eq. Cas. (S. Car.) 85.
In Stoltz v. Doering, 112 Ill. 34, it is said that at common law the fact of sexual intercourse after an agreement to marry at a future day does not constitute marriage, and that the copula must have been in fulfilment of the agreement to marry.
From these authorities, it appears that the law, in the absence of evidence, raises the presumption that by the act of copula the parties then and there intended to consummate their existing agreement to marry; that is, to convert the future agreement into a present consummation. This is the whole doctrine of marriages de futuro cum copula.
There is no difference in the basic principles of the marriage contract from any other; the minds of the parties must meet, and the agreement to marry must he made. The time when the marriage shall take place may be the present, or may be in the future. If in the future, there is not
Furthermore, we think the evidence insufficient upon another ground. It fails to show that the parties lived together as husband and wife; in fact, it affirmatively shows that they did not so live, nor is there any act or deed of the parties that can be said to be a public recognition of t he marriage relation.
It is said in Lorimer v. Lorimer, 124 Mich. 631, 635, 83 N. W. 609, that “Óur courts have gone a good way to sustain the validity of a marriage where an agreement to live and cohabit together as husband and wife has been made and acted upon. But at no time has it been said that, in the absence of a valid marriage ceremony, a simple agreement to live together, even though the parties intended to carry out the agreement, is sufficient to constitute a valid marriage, unless acted upon by living together and cohabiting as husband and wife.” Of like effect are the holdings in People v. McQuaid, 85 Mich. 123; Maryland v. Baldwin, 112 U. S. 490; Commonwealth v. Stump, 53 Pa. St. 132; Hiler v. People, 156 Ill. 511; Cargile v. Wood, 63 Mo. 501.
In Maryland v. Baldwin, supra, it is held that “In the absence of statutory regulations, a marriage is a civil contract and may be made ‘per verba de prcesenti’; that is, by words in the present tense without attending ceremonies, religious or civil, but some public recognition of it is necessary as evidence of its existence.” The reason for this is given in the opinion of Mr. Justice Field in which he says: “The protection of the parties and their children and con
We therefore recommend that the former opinion be adhered to.
By the Court: For the reasons stated in the foregoing opinion, the former opinion is adhered .to.
Former judgment adhered to.
Rehearing
The following opinion on third rehearing was filed May 8, 1905. Judgment of reversal adhered to:
The brief of the petitioners presents a very able argument upon this question, but it is predicated upon discussions from other jurisdictions based upon statutes essentially different from our own. Several decisions from the supreme court of Illinois are presented and strongly argued, but the difference between the two statutes is not discussed. Indeed it seems to be assumed that the statutes are identically the same. The statute of that state (ch. 51, sec. 2) is: “No party to any civil action, suit or proceeding, or person directly interested in the event thereof, shall be allowed to testify therein of his own motion, or in his oAvn behalf, by virtue of the foregoing section, when
“The heir of a deceased person” may be and often is the representative of the deceased in litigation that arises concerning the estate, but as is plainly shown in McCoy v. Conrad, supra,,the heir is not in all litigation concerning the estate of the deceased the representative of the deceased within the meaning of our statute. It is only when he stands in place of the deceased so as to uphold a right that the deceased had at the time of his death that he may be said to represent the deceased. When the right of the deceased at the time of his death is not in controversy, but the question is to whom does that right descend, the heir, although a party to the litigation, does not in that action represent the deceased within the meaning of the statute. Under the Illinois statute if the heir is the adverse party the statute applies. In the case at bar it is not because the witness was an heir of the deceased that she was allowed to testify, but because the adverse party does not represent the deceased. It does not appear from the opinion in Laurence v. Laurence, 164 Ill. 367, 45 N. E 1071, which was one of the cases principally relied upon, that this witness would not there have been allowed to testify since she was not testifying “of her own motion, or in her own behalf” which is by their statute made an essential element of disqualification. Under the construction of our statute now well established this witness was competent to testify.
In a similar case the supreme court of Minnesota suggested the increasing number of common law widows raising claim (in many instances doubtless fraudulently) to the estates of deceased men of wealth, and intimated that legislation to further protect estates from such depredation might be justifiable. Hulett v. Carey, 66 Minn. 327, 69 N. W. 31.
This witness testified that she was married to Mr. Sorensen by an “agreement.” ' “He promised to be my husband and I promised to be his wife.” This agreement took place “at his home.” She lived at that time “across the street from there.” “He requested me to come, he wanted to have a talk with me.” “He called at my house and requested me to come.” When she went to his house he told her he was tired of living alone, he did not believe in a public ceremony, and after some other conversation of that nature said “I promise to be your husband if you will promise to be my wife.” To this she agreed; she could not state the date of this contract except that it was “about the middle of October, 1894.” It was also agreed that they should continue living separately and just as they had been living. She says, “I understood that I was his wife from that time on.”
Our marriage laws aim at publicity. To allege that these laAvs have been disregarded, and that a secret marriage has been entered into, is to cast suspicion upon the conduct of the parties. Subsequent cohabitation, and holding each other out to the world as husband and vvife furnish strong corroboration of the existence of the contract. Where these elements of proof are Avanting, and, one party being deceased, the existence of the contract rests AAholly upon the unsupported testimony of the other party, the presumption raised by the circumstances amounts to proof opposed to the marriage contract itself. We do not think that the evidence of this witness is so direct, certain and consistent as to establish the contract of marriage in the face of this presumption. Gibson v. Gibson, 24 Neb. 394; Bailey v. State, 36 Neb. 808; University of Michigan v. McGuckin, 64 Neb. 300; Eaton v. Eaton, 66 Neb. 676, are not, when rightly considered, inconsistent with the views herein expressed.
He testified that the deceased had in August, about two months before the time of the alleged marriage, and while intoxicated, said that he Avas “tired of baching and thought of getting married” and was “thinking of a widow with three children.” This might or might not have referred to Mrs. Ferguson. No time was mentioned, and if his language was serious, it was too indefinite to be of any value as evidence. There could be no reason to suppose that a verdict would be directed on account of this testimony when it had been refused upon the evidence as it stood Avithout it.
In American Fire Ins. Co. v. Landfare, 56 Neb. 482, it was said: “One who tenders an instruction which is given, which assumes the existence of evidence to establish an issuable fact in the case, cannot afterwards be heard to assert that there was no evidence received tending to prove such fact.” It does not appear that the defendant in that case was compelled to submit the matter in question to the jury, and having on its own motion requested the court to submit a question of fact, it was not allowed afterwards to say that there was no evidence upon which to submit it.
We think the conclusion reached in the former opnion is right and should be adhered to.
Former opinion adhered to.