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13 Tex. 127

Wells v. Cockrum

Texas Supreme Court

Decided July 1, 1854

Texas Supreme Court · decided 1854-07-01

Suit by the appellants against the appellee, commenced Oct. 21, 1853, on an instrument in-writing to pay a certain amount to the wife in work such as-she might direct, on the place where she then lived. The instrument was dated March 27, 1849, and was payable on or before the first day of September next thereafter. The instrument sued on was filed with the petitioner.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1854-07-01

How this case has been cited

Cited by 3 later decisions — most recently December 1937

3 state decisions

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Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Hemphill, Ch. J.

¶1The only question in this case of any importance, is whether the note or agreement was barred by the statute of limitations. More than four years had elapsed from the maturing of the contaact; but the appellants contend that the promise having been made to a feme covert, there was no bar—the statute being inoperative against married women.

¶2This might be a question of some difficulty, perhaps, if the *128note were the separate property of the wife, or if given on a consideration springing from her exclusively. But there was no allegation or proof that the note was her individual property.

¶3It was made to the appellant Eliza Jane after her marriage, and the presumption is, (there being no proof to the contrary,) that it formed a portion of the common property, (10 Tex. R. 207,) subject to the disposition of the husband, and to suit for its recovery by him and for his own benefit or that of the community, without the consent of the wife asked or given. Of course there can be no question that the statute would run against a contract of this description, and consequently there was no error in excluding this note from the consideration of the jury.

¶4Judgment affirmed.

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