Paschal v. Melton
| Decision Date | 17 June 1932 |
| Docket Number | 8884. |
| Citation | 164 S.E. 757,174 Ga. 910 |
| Parties | PASCHAL, Sheriff, v. MELTON. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court.
Administrator claimed to have fraudulently obtained appointment and to have misappropriated part of estate's insurance money and to have deposited balance in bank which failed, held not in contempt for failure to comply with order requiring payment to regularly appointed administrator.
Where one obtained letters of administration of the estate of a decedent by such fraudulent representations to the court appointing him as rendered the judgment appointing him void and, acting as administrator under the power thus vested in him, collected a sum of money as the proceeds of an insurance policy upon the life of the decedent, which money should have been paid over to the estate or to the distributees of the estate, but, instead of paying it over, he misappropriated and misused the larger part of the fund and deposited the balance in a bank that failed, and the ordinary of the county of which the intestate was a resident at the time of his death regularly appointed an administrator of the estate, and the party first referred to as having fraudulently obtained letters of administration failed to pay over to the regularly and duly appointed administrator the amount of money collected as insurance, he could not be held to be in contempt of court because he failed to comply with the order of the court of ordinary adjudging that he pay the money over to the regularly appointed administrator, as he did not have in his hands the "actual money" which he had received as the proceeds of the life insurance policy.
Error from Superior Court, Putnam County; James B. Park, Judge.
Habeas corpus proceeding by W. E. Melton, opposed by J. L. Paschal Sheriff. Judgment was entered sustaining the petition for the writ and ordering petitioner's release, and defendant brings error.
Affirmed.
R. C Jenkins and S. T. Wingfield, both of Eatonton, for plaintiff in error.
M. F. Adams and E. J. Summerour, Jr., both of Eatonton, for defendant in error.
Love Melton died intestate in Aiken, S. C., leaving as his entire estate a policy of insurance in the amount of $1,000. W. E Melton, brother of the deceased, applied to the probate court in Aiken for letters of administration, representing that he and another brother were the sole heirs. He was appointed and gave bond, and collected the amount of the policy. Subsequently Mrs. Lydia Melton, claiming to be the widow and only heir of the deceased, brought suit in the superior court of McDuffie county, Ga., alleging that W. E. Melton had procured his appointment by fraud, that she was entitled to the fund in his hands, and that the deceased, while temporarily in South Carolina where he died, was in fact a resident of Putnam county, Ga., where administration should be had. This action resulted in a judgment in favor of Mrs. Lydia Melton against W. E. Melton for $1,000. It was therein further adjudged that the appointment of W. E. Melton was procured by fraud, and was void, and that the administration should be had in Putnam county. Execution issued upon this judgment, and was returned nulla bona. Thereupon Mrs. Lydia Melton applied to Putnam court of ordinary to have administration vested in W. A. Andrews, who was appointed temporary administrator. She then transferred to him the execution in her favor; and Andrews filed in the court of ordinary his petition setting up that W. E. Melton had in his possession the above sum, proceeds of the insurance policy, which he wrongfully withheld, and prayed that a rule nisi be issued, calling upon him to show cause why he should not pay over said sum, or, in default, be imprisoned as for contempt. Rule was issued accordingly and served upon Melton, who answered. The hearing in the court of ordinary resulted in a judgment requiring Melton to pay over, within fifteen days, the sum of $593, which he said he had paid out in due course of administration, or be attached for contempt, and a further finding that Melton was liable on his bond for the sum of $407 in addition, which was shown to be on deposit in a bank which had failed. After fifteen days, the money not being paid, the court ordered the sheriff to imprison Melton until the further order of the court. Upon being taken into custody, Melton applied to the judge of the superior court for a writ of habeas corpus, alleging that the proceeding and the judgment under which he was imprisoned were void for want of jurisdiction in the court. Upon the return of the writ the sheriff filed a demurrer to the petition. The judge overruled the demurrer, and, after evidence was submitted,...
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