Stanley v. Mather
| Decision Date | 30 July 1887 |
| Citation | 31 F. 860 |
| Parties | STANLEY and others v. MATHER and others. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
Isham Lincoln & Beale, for complainants.
Roberts Hutchinson & Thomas, for defendants.
This is a suit brought to foreclose three mortgages executed by Thomas S. Mather on real estate in Chicago, to secure the payment of notes given by him to John Stanley, on which there is now due $15,000. The mortgagee was a citizen of Hartford county, connecticut, where he died in 1871, leaving the three complainants his only children and heirs. The mortgagor owned only an undivided one-sixth of the premises. Letters of administration were granted to Levi O. Smith and Levi Wells by the court having probate jurisdiction at the domicile of the mortgagee; and they proceeded to administer upon the personal estate of the decedent, under the direction of the court. They paid the costs of administration, and all claims against the estate, except a small debt which was secured by a mortgage executed by the decedent, in his life-time, upon part of his real estate. This debt was small, compared with the value of the property mortgaged to secure its payment and one of the complainants, under an arrangement between him and his two cocomplainants, paid this debt. After paying all the other debts and expenses of administration, a large surplus, exclusive of the notes and mortgages in suit, remained in the hands of the administrators, which, by order of the court, they distributed among the complainants as the only persons entitled to it. The distribution was reported to the court, and approved; but it does not appear that the administrators were formally and finally discharged. The notes and mortgages in suit were not brought to the attention of the probate court, for the reason that the notes were deemed to be of little or no value; and after the distribution, and without further direction from the court, the administrators delivered to the complainants these notes and the mortgages.
These facts are all admitted by the demurrer to the bill; and the sole question is, can the complainants maintain this suit to foreclose the mortgages? It is urged by the defendants that the notes are part of the personal estate; that they were never delivered to the complainants by the administrators under the direction of the probate court; and that only the personal representatives can sue to foreclose the mortgages. An...
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Hubbard v. Urton
...courts, and the right to have relief in a court of equity is sanctioned and approved by the supreme court of the United States. In Stanley v. Mather, 31 F. 860, a suit was brought by heirs to foreclose certain mortgages belonging to the estate. Letters of administration had previously been ......
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Plummer v. Park
...to it under circumstances that make their consent irrevocable; and not the creditors of the estate, for there are none. In Stanley v. Mather, 31 F. 860, Gresham, discussing a question identical in substance with the one now before us, said: "It does not follow because the administrator is t......
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Nunnally v. Wilder
...or those otherwise entitled, may sue to collect claims that were left unrecovered when the estate was closed. See Stanley v. Mather, 31 F. 860 (N.D.Ill.1887); Annot. 22 L.R.A. (N. S.) 458 and cases there cited; 21 Am.Jur. Executors & Administrators § 1005. The question appears not to have b......