Cuney v. Shaw

Citations

• 56 Tex. 435
• 1882 Tex. LEXIS 52

Syllabus

<p>1. Estate of bankrupt — Concurrent jurisdiction of bankrupt and probate COURTS.— The widow and heirs of a testator sued to recover land sold under a decree of the United States district court in foreclosure of a mortgage held by the assignee of an estate in bankruptcy. The widow and two others had been appointed executors by the will, free from the control of the probate court. The suit to foreclose was brought by the assignee against the executrix, but the petition in the present case alleges that at the time the suit was brought and the sale made the estate was being administered by her under the rules of the probate court. In that suit the executrix appeared and answered, claiming only the homestead exemption. Held,</p> <p>(1) That the United States district courts, as courts of bankruptcy, and the state courts have concurrent jurisdiction of suits for the recovery of the property of a bankrupt estate, or of a debt due the estate, but the former have power to render their jurisdiction practically exclusive.</p> <p>(2) That had the defense been made that proceedings to collect the claim against the estate of deceased and enforce the hen were already pending in the probate court, the federal court would not have been divested of its jurisdiction, but the assignee merely required to elect between the two tribunals.</p> <p>(3) Where the bankrupt court proceeds to enforce a claim on the estate of a decedent, the preferences and exemptions given by the state law are to be respected.</p> <p>(4) That the decree rendered by the United States district court, in the exercise of its jurisdiction, bound the estate of deceased, and therefore those claiming the land as heirs or distributees; and this whether the estate was represented by an independent executrix, or one under the supervision of the probate court.</p>