Daniels v. Johnson

This is a proceeding brought under section 21 of Act 297 of 1945 (Ark. Stats., 1947, section 62-1301) for determination of heirship of one J. W. (Jim) Edwards' estate, having a value variously estimated in counsels' briefs at $125,000 to $3,000,000. Three competing groups of claimants, apart from the widow, assert rights to heirship. The estate being non-ancestral and there being no children, it is conceded that the widow takes one-half, under Ark. Stats., 1947, section 61-206; the claims here urged are as to the other one-half. Under Act 297, section 21, the determination of heirship arrived at is ""prima facie evidence of the facts therein found,"" but does not finally conclude the rights of persons not parties to the proceeding. 1 The Act provides that ""any executor or administrator may make a final distribution of all estate upon such determination and shall, thereupon, together with the surety upon his bond, be discharged from liability arising from such determined interest."" J. W. (Jim) Edwards was the son, born about 1868, of two former slaves, ""Old Joe"" Edwards 2 and Aveline Edwards. A brother ""Tede"" or ""Tete"" and a sister Lizzie, born of the same parents, died without descendants long before Jim Edwards' death in 1946. Jim Edwards himself had no children.