Lee v. Wood

• Decision Date: 12 July 1888
• Citation: 4 So. 693,85 Ala. 169
• Parties: LEE v. WOOD, PROBATE JUDGE, ET AL.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

4 So. 693

85 Ala. 169

LEE v. WOOD, PROBATE JUDGE, ET AL.

Supreme Court of Alabama

July 12, 1888

Appeal from circuit court, Pike county; JOHN P. HUBBARD, Judge.

Action by Ida Lee, by her next friend, against Willis C. Wood probate judge, and the sureties on his official bond. Judgment for defendants, and plaintiff appeals.

P N. Hickman and W. D. Roberts, for appellant.

Gamble & Gamble and M.N. Carlisle, for appellees.

STONE C.J.

Willis C. Wood was qualified as judge of probate of Pike county July 20, 1868; the other defendants being sureties on his bond as such judge. On October 13, 1870, he appointed C. N Carpenter administrator of the estate of W. A. Carpenter, deceased, and approved his bond as such. Ida Lee, née Carpenter, is the child and distributee of W. A. Carpenter, entitled to share his estate. When this suit was brought she was still a minor, though married. B. A. Hill became guardian of Ida Carpenter, and afterwards, in March, 1875, C. N. Carpenter came to a settlement of his administration, and a decree was rendered against him, as such administrator, for the distributive share of said Ida. This decree was rendered in favor of Hill as guardian, and has not been collected. Two years after this Hill ceased to be guardian, and Ida has had no guardian since that time. The present suit was commenced March 4, 1887, and seeks to charge Woods and his sureties for approving the administration bond of C. N. Carpenter with insufficient sureties. The defense is the statutes of limitations; ten years in the case of Wood, and six years as to his sureties. Code 1886, §§ 2614, 2615. The sole question is whether the statute commenced to run from the date of the decree in favor of Hill as guardian. As a general rule, statutes of limitation do not run against those laboring under a personal disability, such as infancy. Code, § 2624. This rule, however, does not apply to infants, or other persons disabled, who have a trustee capable of suing. Bryan v. Weems, 29 Ala. 423; Riggs v. Fuller, 54 Ala. 141; Molton v. Henderson, 62 Ala. 426; Martin v. Tally, 72 Ala. 23; Darnall v. Adams, 13 B. Mon. 273; 7 Wait, Act. & Def. 280. When the statute begins to run, no supervening disability intercepts it. Doe v. Thorp, 8 Ala. 253; Bank v. Donelson, 12 Ala. 741; Lowe v. Jones, 15 Ala. 545; 7 Wait, Act. & Def. 272. The statute of limitations commenced to run against the guardian or trustee, at the least, in March, 1875,...