Eckford v. Knox

Citations

• 67 Tex. 200
• 2 S.W. 372
• 1886 Tex. LEXIS 638

Syllabus

<p>1. Descent and Distribution.—The only class of persons who primarily inherit, on the death of a person, every species of property of which he may die seized, whether it he separate or community, are his children; the wife can take no interest in his community estate if they survive him, and if they or their descendants survive, no collateral or person in the ascending line can inherit any portion of his estate.</p> <p>3. Same—Adopted Heir.—The interest of an adopted heir in the estate of the person adopting him vests, on his death, without reference to whether children have been born in lawful wedlock or not; his heirship entitles him to an interest according to the terms of the statute in both the separate and community estate, and he stands,- as to bis right of inheritance, on the same plane with children born in lawful wedlock, though restricted as to the proportion of property he may take by the statute, provided a child survive begotten in lawful wedlock.</p> <p>& Same.—An adopted heir can not be postponed in his inheritance to any class of persons who are not themselves heirs; if there be no children begotten in lawful wedlock, his relation to the deceased is in contemplation of law that of the child, and he inherits as such.</p> <p>4. Same—Civil Law.—Our statute prescribing, the rights of an adopted heir, modifies the law of Spain on that subject in so far as his rights are concerned, in that he can not inherit under the civil law if his adopter has a legitimate child living. The statute of Texas confers on the adopted heir the rights of a child only with reference to the estate, and does not constitute him a member of the family of his adopter and invest him with the privileges and duties peculiar to the relation of parent and child, as does the civil law.</p> <p>6. Jurisdiction.—It is the policy of the law to settle in one suit the interests and rights of all the parties to it; hence, though the district court has no original jurisdiction to pass on a gu