Madden v. Madden

• Decision Date: 27 June 1932
• Citation: 279 Mass. 417
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court
• Parties: RUTH E. MADDEN, executrix, & another v. CHARLES J. MADDEN & others.

279 Mass. 417

RUTH E. MADDEN, executrix, & another v. CHARLES J. MADDEN & others.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Middlesex.

June 27, 1932

November 9, 1931.

Present: RUGG, C.

J., PIERCE, WAIT & FIELD, JJ.

Probate Court Proceedings in equity, Parties, Appeal. Res Judicata. Guardian, Of insane person. Insane Person. Attorney General. Words, "Aggrieved."

A will established a trust to provide for the support of the testator's son during his life. The son subsequently was committed to a State hospital as an insane person, and the Commonwealth presented to his guardian a bill for his support therein. The guardian having requested the trustee under the will to pay him a sum for use in paying the bill and also certain expenses of the guardian, the trustee brought a petition for instructions in a probate court naming as respondents the guardian, the insane son and the remaindermen under the will as "all the parties interested." Notice was given to such persons, but was not published. A decree was entered to the effect that the trustee should not make the payment requested by the guardian. The Attorney General "appearing for the department of mental diseases," filed an appeal. Held, that

(1) The proceeding was res inter alios so far as the Commonwealth, as a creditor of the son, was concerned;

(2) No personal right and no public or official duty of the Attorney General or of the department of mental diseases was affected by the decree;

(3) The appellant was not a "person aggrieved" within the meaning of G.L.c. 215, Section 9, and he could not maintain the appeal.

It was not necessary to determine whether the fact, that the appeal above described was by the Attorney General "appearing for the department of mental diseases" rather than by him in the name of the State treasurer, would have been fatal to the maintenance of the appeal if there had been no other objection thereto.

A further appeal from the decree above described by the guardian of the insane son was treated by this court as an appeal by the guardian in his own behalf and not in behalf of his ward; and, the guardian not having presented an oral argument or a brief in support of his appeal, it was held to have been waived.

PETITION for instructions, filed in the Probate Court for the county of Middlesex on August 20, 1930, and afterwards amended described in the opinion.

A decree entered by order of Harris, J., and appeals therefrom are described in the opinion.

E.T. Simoneau, Assistant Attorney General, for the department of mental diseases of the Commonwealth.

P.F. Shaughnessy, for the petitioner.

FIELD, J. Bridget T. Madden died November 23, 1926, leaving a will which provided as follows: "I give, devise and bequeath all of my real and personal property, consisting principally of the farm where I live and the house and barn and other buildings thereon and the furniture and fixtures and the cattle and other personal [sic] property thereon, to my daughter, Ruth E. Madden, in trust, nevertheless, for her support and for the support and maintenance of my son, Charles J. Madden, during his natural life, and I direct my said daughter, Ruth E. Madden, to take possession of all of my said property at my death and carry on the farm as I have been doing with the assistance of my said son, Charles J Madden, and to use the income thereof for his and her support during his lifetime, and to pay the taxes, insurance and the interest on the mortgage on my said property and to do all the other things necessary to carry on said farm, so that my said son, Charles J. Madden, will have his maintenance and support out of the proceeds of said farm during his natural life, and if my said daughter, Ruth E. Madden, finds she is unable to carry on my said farm at a profit so as to support herself and said Charles J. Madden, from the income thereof, then I authorize and direct my said daughter, Ruth E. Madden, to sell my said property, both real and personal . . . and to invest the proceeds thereof and use the income thereof, and so much of the principal as is necessary for the support and maintenance of my said son, Charles J. Madden, during his life, and at his death this trust is to terminate, and what remains of my property at the death of my said son, I give, devise and bequeath in four equal shares to my three children, William F. Madden, Sarah A. Casey, and Ruth E. Madden, and to John F. Good, who lived with me from the time he was two years old until he married. . . . I purposely give and bequeath to my children, as herein provided, and I provide especially herein for my son, Charles J. Madden, because he is unable to provide for himself."

This is a petition in equity brought in the Probate Court by Ruth E. Madden, executrix and trustee under the will of Bridget T. Madden, against Charles J. Madden, Sarah A. Carver, formerly Sarah A. Casey, John F. Good, William F. Madden and John W. Brennan, "guardian of said Charles J. Madden who is an insane person," alleging them "to be all the parties interested in the matter of said petition," wherein the petitioner alleges the allowance of the will of the testatrix, and alleges further that "On January 19, 1927, while . . . [the petitioner] was in possession of said farm and carrying it on with said Charles J. Madden, said Charles J. Madden was arrested . . . for assault . . . and . . . the court ordered that he be examined . . . as to his sanity, as provided by law, and after he was examined, he was committed on January 20, 1927, to the Westborough State Hospital, as an insane person, and he has remained there ever since, he being now thirty-eight years old, and after his arrest and commitment . . . [the] petitioner found that she was unable to carry on said farm, as authorized by the terms of said will and she sold said farm . . . and invested the proceeds thereof, less the expenses of the sale and probate of the will and her support and the support of said Charles J. Madden and other expenses, as stated in her account as executrix, . . . leaving a balance of $5,457.53 . . . in her hands when she was appointed trustee under said will July 30, 1930; and John W. Brennan was appointed guardian of said Charles J. Madden June 9, 1930, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has presented a bill to said guardian for the support of said Charles J. Madden at said State Hospital from January 20, 1927, to July 1, 1930, amounting to $1,258, and said guardian has requested the said trustee, Ruth E. Madden, to pay said $1,258 to him for the Commonwealth and also to pay $35 for the expenses of the petitioner allowed by the court for filing the petition for the appointment of said guardian and $24 for the surety on the bond of said guardian and for the other expenses of said guardian since his appointment." The petitioner prays "that she be instructed . . . as to whether she must pay under the trust created by said will said $1,258 to said guardian for said Commonwealth, and whether she must also pay the expenses of the appointment of said guardian as ordered by the court, and must pay said $24 for the surety on said guardian's bond and the other expenses of said guardian since his appointment, as aforesaid."

No answer was filed by Charles J. Madden or by the residuary legatees and devisees under the will.

John W. Brennan "as he is guardian of Charles J. Madden, an insane person," filed an answer admitting the truth of the allegations of the petition and alleging further that since his appointment "he has received no principal or income belonging to his said ward under the trust created by the will of his mother, the late Bridget T. Madden . . . and that no funds have been received by him for his said ward from any source," that "the department of mental diseases for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts" has presented to him "a bill for the care and maintenance of the said Charles J. Madden" from January 20, 1927, to July 1, 1930, amounting to $1,258, that said department has requested him to pay that amount and that he "desires to pay department . . . for the maintenance of said Charles J. Madden" for the period in question "if the same can legally be done, and if his care at said hospital is deemed to be maintenance as set forth under the terms of said will."

A decree was entered reciting that "notice has been given all parties interested," and that the petition has been "taken for confessed as against William F. Madden, Charles J. Madden and John W. Brennan, guardian of said Charles J. Madden for failure to answer and as against Sarah A. Carver and John F. Good for failure to appear and answer and said guardian later answered by leave of court," and decreeing "that it is not the duty of said petitioner to apply either the income or principal of the fund held in trust by her for the benefit of Charles J. Madden and others to the payment of said sum of $1,258 for his board at the Westborough

State Hospital, nor to the payment of the expense of procuring the appointment of a guardian for said Charles J. Madden, nor to the payment of the expense of procuring a surety on the bond of said guardian or other expenses."

Appeals from the decree were filed by the "Attorney General . . . appearing for the department of mental diseases," though neither the Attorney General nor the department of mental diseases was named as a party to the proceeding, and by John W. Brennan as "guardian of Charles J. Madden . . . an insane person."

1. The appeal by the "Attorney General . . . appearing for the department of mental diseases," cannot be maintained, since the appellant is not a "person aggrieved" by the decree within the meaning of G.L.c. 215, Section 9.

The right sought to be protected by this appeal is the right conferred upon the...