{
  "id": 1447069,
  "name": "Jones, Administratrix, v. Harrison",
  "name_abbreviation": "Jones v. Harrison",
  "decision_date": "1942-01-19",
  "docket_number": "4-6561",
  "first_page": "578",
  "last_page": "581",
  "citations": [
    {
      "type": "official",
      "cite": "203 Ark. 578"
    },
    {
      "type": "parallel",
      "cite": "157 S.W.2d 773"
    }
  ],
  "court": {
    "name_abbreviation": "Ark.",
    "id": 8808,
    "name": "Arkansas Supreme Court"
  },
  "jurisdiction": {
    "id": 34,
    "name_long": "Arkansas",
    "name": "Ark."
  },
  "cites_to": [],
  "analysis": {
    "cardinality": 357,
    "char_count": 4918,
    "ocr_confidence": 0.507,
    "sha256": "9f87d3943d1a8a48fff5d30e954c8996318a4ffe3b3c23f5b5f2de92753b842f",
    "simhash": "1:08fc7b9e99311529",
    "word_count": 843
  },
  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T23:00:45.785345+00:00",
  "provenance": {
    "date_added": "2019-08-29",
    "source": "Harvard",
    "batch": "2018"
  },
  "casebody": {
    "judges": [],
    "parties": [
      "Jones, Administratrix, v. Harrison."
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "Grieein Smith, C. J.\nAppellant, as administratrix of the estate of S. E. Harrison, petitioned probate court to- direct appellee to return $864:76 for inclusion in estate assets.\nS. E. Harrison died May 11, 1940, from cancer of the esophagus. He did business with Bank of Wilson. April 26, 1940, his balance was the exact sum appellant seeks to recover. Apprehending that her husband\u2019s illness would necessarily prove fatal, Mrs. Harrison called an official of the bank and asked whether, in the event of her husband\u2019s death, checks drawn by her would be paid. She was told payment would be refused.\nJune 7, 1939, Harrison, in writing, had authorized the bank \u201c. . . to pay'checks against my account with you, signed by my wife.\u201d Although the account was not joint, Mrs. Harrison deposited $2,000 June 7, and $400 June 24, to S. E. Harrison\u2019s credit. The money came to appellee through death of a daughter. It is conceded that $1,650 of the deposit went for real property to which appellee took title. Her statement to the banker when inquiry was made relative to the Harrison account was that $400 of the money belonged to her.\nThe check for $864.76 was made payable to \u201ccash,\u201d and was immediately deposited to a new account opened by appellee. She instructed that any checks drawn by her husband should be charged against the deposit.\nMay 10, 1940, appellee issued a check for $734, payable to a sister. At the end of June appellee\u2019s bank statement showed a balance of 53c. In explanation of the .$734 check, appellee testified that proceeds were brought to her. This statement was coupled with the assertion that the money was used to pay bills.\nAppellee testified that her husband was conscious until a day or two before he died. He had been in bed most of the time for two weeks before death, but for a week did not leave the house. Six weeks prior to death lie went with a son to Memphis for medical examination. After returning home he drove an automobile.\nOther members of the family testified that for three or four weeks before May 11, Harrison was under the influence of opiates, administered to alleviate pain. Dr. R. L. Johnson\u2019s opinion was that the disease had \u201clittle or no effect\u201d on the patient\u2019s mental condition, but \u201c. . . his mental powers were suspended at frequent intervals during each day while he was under the influence of drugs. His mental understanding was somewhat depressed all the time a month prior to his death, due to the cumulative action of the opiates.\u201d\nUrged as error is the answer made by appellee that \u201cMr. Harrison told me to draw that money out to pay debts.\u201d Reference is to the item of $864.76. Pope\u2019s Digest, \u00a7 5154. Appellee seeks to justify the testimony on the ground that an objection was not interposed until the answer had been given. We think the objection was sufficient. The question that elicited the response was of a nature not in itself improper; hence, appellant\u2019s counsel could not anticipate that an inadmissible answer would be given, and therefore he was not required to object until significance of the response was apparent.\nAppelle'e contends that even if it be held that the bank balance was the property of S. E. Harrison, there was a gift inter vivos. This contention is predicated upon assumption that evidence of the husband\u2019s acts was admissible, or that the statute\u2019s bar was waived.\nOur conclusion is that the court\u2019s decision rests upon another ground, and it is this: When appellee came into possession of $2,400 and deposited it to her husband\u2019s account, the latter instructed the bank to honor any check she might draw. There was no limitation upon this authority. If appellee\u2019s testimony regarding her husband\u2019s mental status on the seventh of June is true, he understood the effect of business transactions. That appellee considered him capable of looking after his affairs \u2014at least in a limited way\u2014is shown by her instruction to the bank to charge her account with checks Mr. Harrison might write. She must have thought him capable of some volition, otherwise the direction would not have been given.\nAlthough ground for refusing to direct restoration of the fund is not stated, the judgment must have rested upon relationship of the parties and the court\u2019s belief that withdrawal of the money at the time and in the manner shown was not contrary to the husband\u2019s wishes, as expressed in the writing directed to the bank.\nAffirmed.\nMrs. Mozelle Jones, the administratrix, was a daughter of S. E. Harrison.\nAppellee was the widow of S. E. Harrison. Mrs. Jones, the administratrix, was a daughter of S. E. Harrison by a former marriage.\nThree days after Mr. Harrison died, appellee paid Dr. Johnson $113.75. She says other bills were paid, some before May 11.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "Grieein Smith, C. J."
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "G. T. Carpenter, for appellant.",
      "James G. Coston and J. T. Coston, for appellee."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "Jones, Administratrix, v. Harrison.\n4-6561\n157 S. W. 2d 773\nOpinion delivered January 19, 1942.\nG. T. Carpenter, for appellant.\nJames G. Coston and J. T. Coston, for appellee."
  },
  "file_name": "0578-01",
  "first_page_order": 596,
  "last_page_order": 599
}