Court Opinion

ID: 9833352
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 22:38:51.40314+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:44:01.867169
License: Public Domain

On Motion for Rehearing.
1. Upon a former day of the present term of this court, we affirmed the judgment of the trial court dismissing appellants’ appeal for the reasons that the judge of the county court from which said appeal was taken did not fix the amount of the appeal bond, and that appellants, by not offering evidence as to an alleged will of Wolnitzek and wife upon the trial in the county court, had abandoned their cause of action. In the motion for rehearing counsel for appellants has filed an affidavit to the effect that the fact that the probate judge had not fixed the amount of the appeal bond came to his knowledge before the expiration of the time for filing a new bond herein, and that he spoke to counsel for appellee, who stated to him that this point would not be raised on appeal to the district court; that the motion, as originally made in the district court, did raise this point, but that upon attention of the counsel for appellee being called to the agreement, he admitted that he had made such agreement, and erased that ground of the motion. Attached to the motion for rehearing is a certified copy of the motion to dismiss appeal as originally filed, and the erasures therein, which shows that the first ground of said motion as filed read as follows : “Because said appeal bond is not sufficient in amount, and the amount named therein was not fixed by the county judge or of (by) any special county judge presiding in this case in the county court of Austin county, Tex., as required by law.” That the words following the words “in amount” and preceding the words “as required by law” are erased. In our original opinion herein we stated that it did not clearly appear upon what grounds the trial judge sustained the motion to quash the appeal bond, but we presumed that it was upon the ground that the probate judge had not fixed the amount of the same. It appears from the affidavit and the certified copy above referred to that this ground was especially waived, and did not therefore form the basis of the judgment of the trial court.
2. We have concluded that we were in error in holding, upon the authority of Sorrell v. Stone, 127 S. W. 300, that appellants’ appeal should have been dismissed by the district court, for the reason that they offered no evidence in the probate court. In the Sorrell Case, supra, appellant had filed a motion to set aside the probate of a will, thereby becoming the plaintiff in the cause, and we think it was correctly held in that case that the refusal to offer any testimony in support of plaintiff’s cause of action was- an abandonment of the suit, therefore no appeal would lie; but, in the instant case, appellants did not bring suit to establish a will, but were cited as proper parties in a suit brought by appellee to probate a will. It is true that appellants in their contest allege the making of a subsequent will, and offered no evidence to sustain'the same. The statute (article 3631, R. S. 1911) provides as follows : “Any person who may consider himself aggrieved by any decision, order, decree or judgment of the county court shall have the right to appeal therefrom to the district court -of the county, upon complying with the provisions of this chapter.” The provisions of the chapter referred to are that the party appealing shall execute a proper appeal bond, or malse affidavit of inability to do so. The decree of the county court in this case was that the will offered by appellee should be admitted to probate. Appellants considered., themselves aggrieved by this decree, as indicated by their notice of appeal, and executed an appeal bond, which we hold was in due form and in sufficient amount.
For the reasons above stated, the motion for rehearing is granted, and the judgment Of the trial court is reversed, and this cause is remanded for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion.
Motion granted. Reversed and remanded.