15 S.E.2d 478 | Ga. | 1941
Where parties holding as heirs an undivided interest in lands have abandoned, without formally dismissing, a proceeding instituted in the superior court for partition, and agreed among themselves to institute such a proceeding in the court of ordinary to bring about a partition of the same lands, and this is done by appropriate proceeding in that court, resulting in a judgment confirming the assignment of the various parcels by the appraisers, no objection being filed or appeal taken, they are bound by such judgment. They will not subsequently be permitted to disregard such judgment, and seek, by amendment to the original petition in the superior court, another partitioning of such lands.
We have stated at some length in the outline of facts appearing above the rather ragged and multiple course of this litigation, in order to shorten what is here to be said in ruling upon the questions now made. After the judgment of this court inZeagler v. Zeagler, supra, became final in the court below, there remained nothing to be done in reference to it except to carry out the recommendation of the auditor by appropriate proceedings to partition the lands between the parties. As inCates v. Duncan,
"What is the essential test of jurisdiction of the subject-matter? `In accordance with the general rule as to presumptions in favor of jurisdiction as against collateral attack, it is usually held that where a court has jurisdiction of cases ejusdem generis, its judgment in any case is not merely void; because its invalidity can not appear without inquiry into the facts, an inquiry which the court itself must be presumed to have made, and which will not, therefore, be permitted to be reviewed collaterally.' 15 R. C. L. 863, § 337. In 7 R. C. L. 1029, § 57, it is said: `Jurisdiction of the subject-matter does not mean simply jurisdiction of the particular case then occupying the attention of the court, but jurisdiction of the class of cases to which that particular case belongs. As applied to the subject-matter of a suit, jurisdiction is always conferred by law, and it is incorrect to suppose that the power to decide in any case rests solely on the averments of a pleading, but on the contrary the jurisdiction of a court in no way depends on the sufficiency or insufficiency of the pleadings, and if the pleadings state a case belonging to a general class over which the authority of the court extends, then jurisdiction attaches and the court has power to hear and determine the issues involved.' If the particular *457 case falls within the general class of which the court has jurisdiction, then it is necessary to look to the particular case to find grounds for ousting the jurisdiction of the court. This is what the courts generally refuse to do. Broadly, they lay down the rule that if the court has the jurisdiction to enter upon the inquiry in respect to the issues involved, then the court has jurisdiction of the subject-matter. The result is not altered by the fact that the court may arrive at an utterly erroneous conclusion. Any other rule would leave open to investigation the particular facts and the particular pleadings of every case before the issue of jurisdiction could be resolved, and such a rule would result in great confusion and largely undermine the application and effect of res adjudicata."
"The well-recognized principle that the court of ordinary in Georgia is a court of record and of general jurisdiction, and that every intendment will be indulged in favor of judgments of this court, is stated in Bush v. Lindsey,
Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur. *459