Atlantic Nat. Bank of West Palm Beach v. Havens
| Decision Date | 24 March 1950 |
| Citation | 45 So.2d 342 |
| Parties | STLANTIC NAT. BANK OF WEST PALM BEACH v. HAVENS. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Loren D. Smith, West Palm Beach, for appellant.
Winters, Foskett, Cook & Tylander, West Palm Beach, for appellee.
This is an appeal in the Circuit Court of Palm Beach County, Florida. On January 5th, 1948, John T. Havens, for whose estate the appellee here is now administratrix, was indebted to the Atlantic National Bank of West Palm Beach in the sum of $155,000.00 plus $620.00 interest thereon; and the bank held its collateral for the bedt $200,000,00 par value 2 1/2% U. S. Treasury Bonds 1965/70. Mr. Havens instructed the bank to sell the collateral and from the proceeds first pay the note, and second, the balance was to be returned to John T. Havens. The bank followed the instructions and sold the collateral for $202,975.96, which was the sale price of the bonds with the accrued interest less the commission for selling. From this sum the bank deducted the amount owed by Mr. Havens to it, towit: $155,620.00, which left the bank indebted to Mr. Havens in the sum of $47,355.96, and the bank issued its cashier's check No. 123969, dated January 5, 1948, payable to the order of J. T. Havens in the amount of $47,355.96. So far as the record shows, nothing is known of what became of the check. Mr. Havens died more than a year later, to-wit: February, 2, 1948, and Mrs. Havens, the appellee here, was appointed administratrix of his estate. Both she and C. W. Johnson, who was an auditor for the estate, testified that they had made a thorough search of Mr. Havens' papers, and not only could not find any trace of the check, but could not find any entry affecting the check. Mrs. Havens demanded that the bank pay to her, as administratrix, the amount evidenced by the check, and failing in that, that they stop payment on the outstanding check ond re-issue to her a duplicate check.
Both of these things the bank refused to do and in fact, refused to do anything with reference to the check, unless they were given an indemnifying bond to protect them against any possible loss in the event the check should turn up in the hands of a holder in due course.
Mrs. Havens, as administratrix of her husband's estate, then brought a petition for a declaratory decree setting forth the facts. Testimony was taken before the court and Judge Chillingworth entered his final decree on August 1, 1949, and in the final decree, the Judge found as a matter of fact that the situation with reference to the cashier's check was brought about through the fault of John T. Havens and through no fault of the bank, and held the bank had no authority to stop payment on the cashier's check and release itself from liability thereon and that the court could not effectually release the bank from liability on the check to a holder in due course.
The court then held that the Statute of Limitations on the check was a...
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Allison v. First Nat. Bank In Albuquerque
...there was a duty to pay. 'So far as the statute of limitations is concerned a cause of action had accrued.' Atlantic Nat. Bank of West Palm Beach v. Havens, 45 So.2d 342 (Fla.1950), holds that the statute of limitations on cashier's checks begins to run on the date of issue. Under these dec......
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Tepper By and Through Michelson v. Citizens Federal Sav. and Loan Ass'n, 83-2285
...of limitations begins to run against an issuing bank on a cashier's check at the moment of issuance, Atlantic National Bank of West Palm Beach v. Havens, 45 So.2d 342 (Fla.1950), is distinguishable. A cashier's check is a check on which the issuing bank acts as both the drawer and the drawe......