Quigley v. Cassidy

SHINN, P. J. This is a contest in a proceeding to determine interests in the estate of Walter Wright between the heirs at law of Nellie Wright, who predeceased her husband Walter, and the heirs at law of Walter, who died some six years after the death of Nellie. The property involved consists of certain money in bank, a parcel of real property with improvements, including a four-room house, a gas station and a streetcar converted into a café, with its equipment and the inventory and supplies of the café. With minor exceptions, of no materiality on the appeal, all the property in the estate of Walter was originally the separate property of Nellie and came to Walter as her surviving joint tenant. Walter left no spouse or issue and no will.

Pursuant to section 229 of the Probate Code, since Walter died intestate and left no spouse or issue, all the property which was originally owned by Nellie as her separate property, and which came to Walter as surviving joint tenant, was distributable to the heirs at law of Nellie. Any separate property of Walter, which did not come to him from Nellie as her surviving joint tenant or otherwise, was distributable to his heirs at law. Any property which was originally the community property of Nellie and Walter, and came to Walter as such, was distributable one-half to the heirs of Nellie and one-half to the heirs of Walter.

After the death of Nellie, Walter collected rentals from the gas station, which were found to have the same status as the real property which had come to Walter as surviving joint tenant. This finding is not questioned by anyone. There were deposits in separate banks of $2,241.90 and $1,505.50 as balances of rentals of the gas station collected by Walter. A finding of these facts is not questioned.

The court found that from the time of Nellie’s death in 1950 until Walter’s death six years later, Walter operated the café and managed the real property, and that “for said operating services and management’’ $1,440 should be deducted from the total amount that had been collected as rentals of the real property. The court found that the real property and other specific items of the total value of some $24,054.64 constituted property that had come to Walter as surviving joint tenant, and the same is vested in the heirs at law of Nellie subject to administration. Property of the value of some $3,092.91, including the $1,440, is vested in the heirs of Walter subject to administration.

The heirs of Nellie have appealed from the provision of the [442]