Highfield v. Delaware Trust Co.
| Decision Date | 17 December 1936 |
| Citation | 188 A. 919,38 Del. 116 |
| Court | Delaware Superior Court |
| Parties | J. GILPIN HIGHFIELD, Register of Wills in and for New Castle County, v. DELAWARE TRUST COMPANY, Executor of the Last Will and Testament of William duPont, Deceased |
Superior Court for New Castle County, March Term, 1936.
Amicable action of debt.
The case came before the Court upon an agreed statement of facts.
William duPont died February 20, 1928. On August 8, 1929, the executor, the defendant herein, filed its first administration account with the Register of Wills in and for New Castle County, for examination, adjustment and settlement. This account comprehended all debts and credits of the deceased at the time of his death.
At the time of the filing of the account Chapter 275, Vol. 36, Laws of Delaware, entitled "An Act to amend Chapter 156 of the Revised Code relating to Fees of the Register of Wills in and for New Castle County," was, and still is, in force and effect. The act in question amended 4860, Sec. 13 of the Revised Code of 1915 by fixing maximum fees to be charged upon large estates for filing, adjusting and settling accounts and settlements, and for recording and indexing them. Prior to the enactment of the amendatory statute, the fee chargeable by the Register of Wills for filing adjusting, settling and certifying the account where the sum of debts and credits inclusive of interest calculated, was in excess of $ 40,000, was one-fourth of one per cent.; and the fee for recording and indexing, direct and indirect, accounts and settlements, where the total estate did not exceed $ 1,000, was $ 3.00, and for every additional $ 500.00, or fractional part thereof, in excess of $ 1,000, twenty-five cents.
By the amendatory statute, after the words "Over $ 40,000 one-fourth of one per cent." were added, "not exceeding in any case, however, the sum of $ 20,000.00" and after the words "and for every additional $ 500.00 or fractional part thereof, in excess of $ 1,000.00, twenty-five cents," were added, "not exceeding, however, in any case the sum of $ 1,500.00."
At the filing of the first account the executor paid to the Register of Wills the sum of $ 20,000.00 for filing, adjusting, settling and certifying the account, and the sum of $ 1,500.00 for recording and indexing it, direct and indirect, being the maximum fees provided by the statute.
Subsequently, the executor filed a final account of its administration, which included additional credits, consisting of income and profits of the estate received by it during the course of administration. The additional credits were in amounts sufficient to justify a further and additional maximum charge of $ 20,000.00 for filing, adjusting, settling and certifying an account, and a charge of $ 1,500.00 for recording and indexing an account, if the statute was intended to apply to each account filed in the course of administration, and not to the aggregate of the estate.
The Register of Wills, taking the view that the statute required the collection of the several charges and fees for each account, demanded the payment of the further sums of $ 20,000.00 and $ 1,500.00 for the respective services. The executor refused payment, basing its refusal upon its contention that the first and final accounts constitute the account upon which fees are chargeable, and that when, on August 8, 1929, it paid the maximum fees, it paid all the fees and charges required by the statute for the respective services.
The case, as stated, contains a statement that it has been the practice of the Register of Wills, where more than one administration account has been submitted, to treat each account as a separate account and to calculate the fees accordingly, as for example, where a first account is filed showing credits of $ 20,000.00 and a final account is filed showing credits of $ 50,000.00 of which $ 20,000.00 is carried over from the first account, the fee upon the first account is based upon credits of $ 20,000.00, and the fee upon the second account is based upon $ 30,000; but that there has arisen no case in the office since the enactment of the statute, in which two or more accounts have been filed in the same estate showing separately or in the aggregate credits in excess of the amount at which the maximum fees permitted by the statute could be charged.
It was agreed that, if the Court should be of the opinion that the executor is required to pay further fees and charges upon the filing of the final account, judgment shall be entered in favor of the plaintiff in such amount as shall be found to be due; and, conversely, that judgment shall be entered in favor of the defendant for costs.
Judgment is rendered for the defendant for costs.
Harry W. Lunger for plaintiff.
James H. Hughes, Jr., (of Ward and Gray) for defendant.
Prior to the enactment of Chapter 60, Volume 23, Laws of Delaware, approved April 6, 1905, certain County Officers, including Registers of Wills, received their compensation by way of fees.
The earliest fee bill incident to the office of Register of Wills seems to have been established by Chapter 125, Revised Code of 1852. This fee bill, the forerunner of subsequent ones, was in detail, covering all services rendered by that officer. Among them were fees for "adjusting and settling account, certifying and registering such settlement," and they were calculated and chargeable upon "the sum of debts and credits," inclusive of interest, on an ascending scale.
By Chapter 159, Volume 13, Laws of Delaware, enacted in 1867, fees were established for recording and indexing accounts and settlements. These fees were calculated and chargeable upon "the whole amount of the estate," likewise in an ascending scale.
The purpose of these enactments was to provide a reasonable compensation to the officer for the services rendered by him. From them he maintained his office.
By Chapter 60, Volume 23, Laws of Delaware, all the fees, costs, allowances and other perquisites which were taxable and paid to County Officers, including Register of Wills, for any official service rendered, were declared to be for the sole use of the county of such officers. Salaries were provided in lieu of fees.
By Chapter 246, Volume 24, Laws of Delaware, the fee bill incident to the office of Register of Wills in Kent and Sussex Counties was revised and a revision of the fee bill incident to the same office in New Castle County was accomplished by Chapter 247 of the same volume. The basic idea seems to have been to establish scales of fees which would produce revenues sufficient to maintain the offices, for in important particulars, notably in respect of fees for adjusting and settling accounts, and...
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Zoller's Estate, In re
...effect is to raise revenue. In our opinion they are taxes. Counsel for the Register of Wills relies on Highfield v. Delaware Trust Co., 8 W.W. Harr. 116, 38 Del. 116, 188 A. 919, 921. In that case the late Chief Justice Layton reviewed the statutory history of the Registers' fees, and, refe......