In re Guardianship of Steadman's Estate

• Decision Date: 07 March 1936
• Docket Number: 7827.
• Citation: 265 N.W. 596,64 S.D. 156
• Parties: In re GUARDIANSHIP OF STEADMAN'S ESTATE. v. STEADMAN et al. VETERANS ADMINISTRATION OF UNITED STATES
• Court: South Dakota Supreme Court

265 N.W. 596

64 S.D. 156

In re GUARDIANSHIP OF STEADMAN'S ESTATE.

VETERANS ADMINISTRATION OF UNITED STATES v. STEADMAN et al.

No. 7827.

Supreme Court of South Dakota

March 7, 1936

Appeal from Circuit Court, Lincoln County; Lucius J. Wall, Judge.

Proceedings in the matter of the guardianship of the estate of Dilworth D. Steadman, insane, wherein a final accounting was filed by W. D. Steadman, as personal representative of Mrs. W. D Steadman, deceased guardian of the estate of Dilworth D Steadman, insane, to which the Veterans Administration of the United States, as legal representative of Dilworth D Steadman, insane, filed objection. From a judgment of the county court overruling the objection of the Veterans Administration, the Veterans Administration appealed to the Circuit Court, and from a judgment of the Circuit Court sustaining the objection, W. D. Steadman, as personal representative of Mrs. W. D. Steadman, deceased guardian of the estate of Dilworth D. Steadman, insane, and the Western Surety Company appeal.

Judgment of the Circuit Court affirmed.

Tom Kirby and Hans Hanson, both of Sioux Falls, for appellants.

John A Scotney, Chief Atty. Veterans Administration, and Roy Willy, both of Sioux Falls, for respondent.

CAMPBELL Judge.

Dilworth D. Steadman is an incompetent World War veteran. His mother, Mrs. W. D. Steadman, was appointed as his guardian by the county court of Lincoln county, S. D., in 1923, and duly qualified and entered upon the duties of the office. Mrs. Steadman died in July, 1933, and thereafter a final report and accounting of her guardianship was filed in her behalf by her personal representative in the county court of Lincoln county and allowance and approval thereof was sought. One of the items for which the final account asked approval and credit was the investment of $2,800 of the ward's funds by the guardian in a second mortgage upon real estate. The United States Veterans Administration appeared in the county court and objected to the allowance of this particular item. Such objections being overruled, and the item allowed, the Veterans Administration appealed to the circuit court, where their objections were sustained, and the item was disallowed. Judgment was entered accordingly, a new trial was denied, and the personal representative of the deceased guardian has appealed to this court.

The right of the Veterans Administration to appear and be heard in a matter of this kind, which has had the approval of this court (In re Moulton's Guardianship (Hines v. Moulton) [S.D.1935] 261 N.W. 666; In re Boschma (Hines v. Boschma) [S.D. 1935] 262 N.W. 173), is conceded in this case.

Material facts relating to the guardian's investment of the funds of her ward in the second mortgage may be summarized thus. In June, 1926, the guardian, in good faith and pursuant to the advice of her attorney, loaned the sum of $2,800 to one Olson, secured by second mortgage upon a well-improved quarter section of land in Lincoln county. The premises were well and reasonably worth $22,000 or more and were subject to a first mortgage in the sum of $10,000. At the time of making this investment the guardian had on hand the sum of $3,333.96, so that the investment reduced her cash on hand to $533.96 and the total assets of the guardianship after the making of such investment consisted of the second mortgage and the cash balance of $533.96. The total income to be anticipated for the ward's estate consisted only of such interest as might be obtained upon this investment and cash balance and such compensation as might be payable from time to time by the United States. The guardian made no attempt to obtain, and did not obtain, approval and leave of court prior to investing in this second mortgage. Neither did she obtain approval or leave of court in advance before renewing the mortgage, which she did at its due date in 1929. In 1926 some six months after the taking of the second mortgage, the guardian filed an annual report in the county court stating the fact that she had made such investment, and in 1927 she filed in the county court an annual report and account on a form furnished for that purpose by the Veterans Bureau, which report recited the second mortgage as an asset of the estate,...