Bliss v. Bliss

• Decision Date: 19 June 1918
• Docket Number: 12.
• Citation: 104 A. 467,133 Md. 61
• Parties: BLISS v. BLISS et al.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

104 A. 467

133 Md. 61

BLISS v. BLISS et al.

No. 12.

Court of Appeals of Maryland

June 19, 1918

Appeal from Circuit Court, Prince George's County, in Equity Fillmore Beall, Judge.

"To be officially reported."

Proceeding by Eva Jackson Bliss, by her next friends, Sallie F. Jackson and Vivia G. Holmes, against Alonzo O. Bliss and R. A Bennett, committee of Eva Jackson Bliss, to set aside a decree adjudging her insane and appointing a commission. From an order dismissing the petition, she appeals. Case remanded without reversing or affirming, with directions.

Argued before BOYD, C.J., and BRISCOE, THOMAS, PATTISON STOCKBRIDGE, and CONSTABLE, JJ.

Eugene A. Jones, of Washington, D. C. (William J. Neale, of Washington, D. C., on the brief), for appellant.

Ogle Marbury, of Baltimore, and George P. Hoover, of Washington, D. C., for appellees.

THOMAS J.

On the 7th of September, 1917, Alonzo O. Bliss filed in the circuit court for Prince George's county a petition, alleging that his wife, Eva Jackson Bliss, was, and had been "for some time past," of unsound mind and incapable of the government of herself or the management of her estate; that she had "little property," and was dependent upon the petitioner "for her support and livelihood," and that it was necessary for her protection that a suitable committee be appointed for her person and estate; that she was then undergoing treatment at the Laurel Sanitarium, near Laurel, in Prince George's county, Md.; that the petitioner was informed by her physicians that it was "important and essential to her welfare" that she be allowed "to remain quiet and undisturbed for an indefinite time"; that it would greatly excite and injure her to remove her from said sanitarium; and that it would be impractical, dangerous, and injurious to her to have her brought before a jury. The petition then prayed that a "writ de lunatico inquirendo be issued to the sheriff of Prince George's county to inquire into the lunacy of the said Eva Jackson Bliss," and that by the order of the court her actual presence before the jury of inquisition and notice to her of the time of the sitting of said jury be dispensed with. The petition further prayed for a writ of subpoena, directed against Mrs. Bliss, commanding her to be and appear in said court on some certain day to be named therein, "and to answer the premises and abide by and perform such decree" as might be passed. The petition was sworn to by the petitioner, and there was filed with it the affidavit of Dr. Cornelius De Weese, physician of Laurel Sanitarium, as to the mental condition of Mrs. Bliss, and that it would greatly excite and injure her to bring her before a jury, and on the same day the court ordered the writ de lunatico inquirendo, and the writ of subpoena, to issue as prayed, and further ordered that in the execution of the first-mentioned writ the presence of Mrs. Bliss before the jury, "and notice to her of the time of the sitting" of the jury, be dispensed with.

The inquisition was taken on the 18th of September, 1915, at Laurel, and the jury found that Mrs. Bliss was of unsound mind and not capable of the government of herself or the management of her estate, and that she was possessed of the property described in the inventory as "$50,000 30-year 4 per cent. bonds Alonzo O. Bliss properties" and "$2,000 worth of securities. All in a safe deposit box in District National Bank, Washington, D. C.-Total value $52,000." The record shows that the writ of subpoena was returned by the sheriff, "served this 18th day of September, 1915." The inquisition was confirmed on the 28th of September, 1915, and Arthur L. Bliss and Cornelius De Weese were appointed committee of the person and estate of Mrs. Bliss. On the 23d of March, 1916, Arthur L. Bliss and Cornelius De Weese filed a petition to be relieved of their duties as such committee, and with it an account in which they charge themselves with three months' interest on the $50,000 4 per cent. mortgage bonds of the Alonzo O. Bliss property, amounting to $500, claimed credit for board, and attention at Laurel Sanitarium, costs, expenses, etc., amounting to $1,939.25, and stated that the amount of expenses in excess of income was advanced by Alonzo O. Bliss. They also filed an inventory of the estate of Mrs. Bliss, consisting of $50,000 bonds of the Alonzo O. Bliss property, a policy of life insurance in the Prudential Life Insurance Company, and a number of chattels, all of which were stated to be in the possession of Alonzo O. Bliss, and on the 28th of March, 1917, the court below passed an order, discharging the petitioners and appointing Alonzo O. Bliss and R. A. Bennett committee of the person and estate of Mrs. Bliss.

On the 3d of July, 1917, Mrs. Bliss, by her mother, Sallie F. Jackson, and her sister, Vivia G. Holmes, as her next friends, filed a petition in the cause, in which, after referring to the previous proceedings, including the appointment of Alonzo O. Bliss and R. A. Bennett committee of her person and estate, she alleged that at the time of the appointment of said committee she was a patient at the Laurel Sanitarium; but, as her condition did not improve while there, she was, with the advice and consent of her said committee, removed to the home of her sister, Vivia G. Holmes, near Wheaton, in the state of Maryland, where she still resided, and that since then she had shown marked improvement in her mental and physical condition; that for three months or more Alonzo O. Bliss had not been inclined to contribute to her proper support and maintenance, and had from time to time threatened to remove her from the home of her sister. The petition further alleged that the said mother and sister of Mrs. Bliss, as her next friends, had filed a bill of complaint in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia against Alonzo O. Bliss, in which they sought to compel him to contribute out of his own estate to her support; to have set aside a deed alleged to have been executed by her and procured by him while she was insane, and to have a proper person appointed trustee on the ground that, as she was a resident of the District of Columbia, and had no property in the state of Maryland, the circuit court for Prince George's county had no jurisdiction to entertain the proceedings in which she was adjudged insane and Alonzo O. Bliss and R. A. Bennett were appointed committee of her person and estate, but that Alonzo O. Bliss had evaded service of process in that case. The petition then alleged that Alonzo O. Bliss, in execution of his threats, had induced R. A. Bennett to unite with him in an order directing one of the deputy sheriffs of Montgomery county to take forcible possession of Mrs. Bliss and to remove her from the house of her sister to the Springfield Hospital for the Insane, at Sykesville, in the state of Maryland; that the deputy sheriff, accompanied by certain physicians, had attempted to execute the order by going upon the premises of Vivia G. Holmes and demanding the custody of Mrs. Bliss, but that the demand was refused because the welfare of Mrs. Bliss, "mentally and otherwise," depends upon her being taken care of in the home of friends and relations, and because to subject her to the excitement incident to her removal and association with the violent insane would impair her chances of ultimate recovery; that Alonzo O. Bliss was threatening further and other attempts to secure possession of the person of Mrs. Bliss; that as she was not a resident of the state of Maryland and had no property in that state, the circuit court for Prince George's county had no jurisdiction to appoint Alonzo O. Bliss and R. A. Bennett committee of her person and estate, and that they were not lawfully entitled to the custody of Mrs. Bliss, and that the proceedings instituted by Alonzo O. Bliss in said court was a fraud upon that court and the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. The petition prayed that Alonzo O. Bliss and R. A. Bennett be restrained "from in any wise molesting the said Eva Jackson Bliss"; that the order appointing them committee be vacated and set aside, and for further relief. The court passed an order restraining the committee as prayed until the further order of the court to be passed after a hearing to be had on the 10th of July, 1917.

On the 24th of July, the committee filed in the court below a petition, setting out the proceedings in the case, and alleging that while Mrs. Bliss was a patient at Laurel Sanitarium, some of the members of her family expressed doubt as to her mental condition, and that with the view of convincing them of her insanity, and at their request, they permitted her to be removed to the home of Vivia G. Holmes in Montgomery county, Md., with the understanding that she was to remain there temporarily; that upon information that came to them from time to time they concluded that she was not receiving in the home of Mrs. Holmes the care and attention she required, and that, after consulting eminent physicians they decided that it would be to her interest to remove her to some proper institution; that accordingly they arranged to have her received as a patient at Springfield State Hospital, at Sykesville, Md., and gave an order to Dr. Charles C. Marbury for her removal from the home of Mrs. Holmes to that institution. The petition prayed for an order, commanding Mrs. Holmes to surrender the custody of Mrs. Bliss to the petitioners. On the same day the committee answered the petition of Mrs. Bliss, by her mother and sister as her next friends, and filed a demurrer "to so much and such part of the petition" as questioned the jurisdiction of the court and alleged that the orders thereof were procured by fraud. The court below passed an order,...