Cooley v. Houston

Citations

• 229 Pa. 495
• 78 A. 1129
• 1911 Pa. LEXIS 520

Syllabus

<p>Equity — Partition—Jurisdiction—Title—Question of law.</p> <p>1. In an equitable proceeding in partition, in which the facts appear by bill and answer, and there is no adverse possession or adverse legal title shown and no issue of fact raised, the issue turning on a single question of law, equity has jurisdiction to determine the question and make partition, without compelling the plaintiff to establish his title in an action at law.</p> <p>2. To justify the suspension of proceedings in partition by tenants in common on the ground that defendant holds adversely, the answer must set up more than a mere denial of the tenancy.</p> <p>Decedents’ estates — Partition—Wills—Donee claiming adversely — • Election — Ignorance of material fact.</p> <p>3. Where a testator, possessed of an undivided half only of certain land, attempts to dispose of all the land as if he owned it in fee, devisees of a portion of the land under the will who are also entitled under the intestate laws to share in the undivided half of the land not owned by the testator cannot claim both as devisees of the testator and as heirs at law of the testator’s deceased co-owner and are put to their election between the two positions, but their acceptance of the devises under the will subsequent to the testator’s death will not bind them as by an election where such acceptance was made in total ignorance of a material fact a knowledge of which was necessary to enable them to make an intelligent choice. In such case, if the devisees later come into possession of the full facts and desire to take under the intestate laws their shares in the undivided half of the land not owned by the testator they are again put to an election between their two inconsistent claims and their action in filing a bill asking for partition in accordance with their interests under the intestate laws as heirs-at-law of the testator’s deceased co-owner will be held an election to reject the benefits conferred by the will; but, in so