Smith, Executor v. Chapman, Executor
| Decision Date | 01 October 1876 |
| Citation | 93 U.S. 41,23 L.Ed. 795 |
| Parties | SMITH, EXECUTOR, v. CHAPMAN, EXECUTOR |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
ERROR to the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Minnesota.
The case was argued by Mr. W. P. Clough for the plaintiff in error, and by Mr. Thomas J. Durant for the defendant in error.
Judgment was recovered in the Supreme Court of the State of New York by George W. Chapman, executor of Eunice Chapman, deceased, against John Gordon, then in full life, since deceased, in the sum of $4,759.80; and it appearing that the judgment was unsatisfied and in full force, and that the judgment debtor had deceased, the judgment creditor brought an action of debt on that judgment against the executors of the deceased judgment debtor, in which he demanded judgment for the amount recovered against the testator, with lawful interest. Due service was made on the first-named defendant; and he appeared and filed an answer setting up the following defence: That most of the property, rights, and credits of the testator, at the time of his death, were then situated in San Francisco, in the State of California; that the last will and testament of the deceased was duly proved, approved, and recorded in the probate court for the county where the testator died; that letters testamentary, in due form of law, were issued and delivered to P. B. Clark, one of the persons named in his will as executor, and that he, as sole executor of the estate of the decedent, fully administered the same; and that the defendant, at the time of the commencement of the action, had not, nor has he since had, any property, rights, or credits of the deceased in his hands to be administered.
Replications not being allowed by the law of the State, the parties, having waived a jury, went to trial before the court without any further pleadings, and the verdict and judgment were for the plaintiff. Rev. Stat., Minn. 1866, p. 459.
Exceptions were filed by the defendant to the rulings of the court in the progress of the trial; but the court here does not find it necessary to determine the questions raised by the exceptions, as it is clear that the form of the judgment is erroneous, and that the judgment must be reversed for that reason. Enough has already been remarked to show that the action was debt on judgment recovered against the deceased testator of the defendant, and that nothing is alleged in the declaration to show that the defendant has...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Desjardins v. Desjardins, 14582
...de bonis propriis against the executor or administrator of an estate was unwarranted in the absence of a devastavit. Smith v. Chapman, 93 U.S. 41, 43, 23 L.Ed. 795, 796; Lewis v. Parrish, 115 F. 285, 288 (C.A.2, 1902). Kentucky likewise follows the rule that in the absence of waste, fraud, ......
-
White v. McFarland
... ... liability, the addition of the words executor, etc., will be ... considered descriptio personae and disregarded as ... v. Cash, 58 Ind. 278; Daily's Adm. v ... Daily, 66 Ala. 266; Smith v. Jefferies, 16 So ... Rep. 377; Herd v. Herd, 71 Iowa 497; Newsum ... 450; Boyce Ex ... v. Grundy, 9 Pet. 287; Smith v. Chapman, 93 ... U.S. 41. (4) The execution is in favor of an alleged assignee ... ...
-
Borer v. Chapman
...and nothing was alleged in the declaration to show that the defendant had beco e personally liable for the judgment debt. Smith v. Chapman, 93 U. S. 41. The cause was therefore remanded to the circuit court, with instructions to take further proceedings therein in conformity with the opinio......
-
Senescal v. Bolton.
...the only judgment against him would be for whatever could be made by a levy against the goods of the deceased in his hands. Smith v. Chapman, 93 U. S. 41. The defendant in error admits that the judgment in this case is erroneous, but contends that it ought to be so modified as to make the l......