Rhea v. Thomson

LAMBERSON, J.,

pro

tem.

The respondent, who is plaintiff herein, is special administratrix of the estate of Dora Thomson, deceased, who, in 1884, in the state of Illinois, was married to Morton W. Thomson, of whose estate the defendant and appellant is the administrator.

Dora Thomson inherited certain property from her father, from which she realized in 1910 the sum of about $21,060. About the year 1913 she realized by inheritance' from the

[468]

estate of her mother the sum of about $8,200. All of the proceeds were, in each instance, deposited in a bank to the account and in the name of her husband. Dora Thomson did not, during the years the couple lived in Illinois, have any bank account, and the only testimony in regard to her ' having an account is to the effect that about 1925, while the couple were residing in California, they planned to have a joint account upon which she could draw checks. The husband and wife had a small dwelling in Illinois, which was their home, and there is testimony to the effect that the husband had a small amount of real property at the time of marriage. He was a carpenter during the greater part of their years of residence in Illinois, and engaged at times in other occupations, but his income was, at all times during their married life, very modest. There is some testimony in the record that he, at one time, sold a piece of property in Illinois for the sum of $3,500, but the circumstances surrounding the sale are not clear. While they were still residents of Illinois, they invested in land in Canada and lived there temporarily. In 1913 the couple moved to California, and in February, 1916, there was purchased and conveyed to Dora Thomson, lot 1 in block 5 of West Adams and Jefferson Street Tract in the city of Los Angeles. Early in 1917 Dora Thomson, by deed, in which her husband joined, conveyed the Jefferson Tract property to Myron W. Smith, and Smith and his wife, in exchange therefor, deeded to the husband of Dora Thomson and to P. W. Thomson, his brother, ten acres of land in Riverside County. Dora Thomson died in March, 1926, and her husband a few months later.

Appellant claims that the title to the Riverside property is in himself as administrator of the estate of Morton W. Thomson. The purpose of the action is to quiet the title of respondent as special administratrix of the estate of Dora Thomson, deceased, to said property.