Torreyson's Estate, In re
| Decision Date | 15 April 1969 |
| Docket Number | No. 33292,33292 |
| Parties | In the Matter of the ESTATE of Howard R. TORREYSON, Deceased. FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF MEXICO, Missouri, Objector-Respondent, v. Robert J. AHSENS, Successor Administrator, d.b.n., w.w.a., Appellant. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Welliver, Porter & Cleaveland, David C. Wood, G. Bernard Esser, III, Columbia, for appellant.
Barnes & Barnes, Mexico, for objector-respondent.
DOERNER, Commissioner.
This case originated in the Probate Court of Audrain County upon the objection of the First National Bank of Mexico, Missouri, to the final settlement and petition for distribution filed by Robert J. Ahsens, Successor Administrator De Bonis Non, With Will Annexed, of the Estate of Howard R. Torreyson, Deceased. In brief, the Bank objected on the ground that the final settlement and petition for distribution failed to make any provision for the repayment to the Bank of money borrowed by the original Administrator for the continuation of the decedent's business. The Probate Court ruled that the loans were unauthorized and overruled the Bank's objections. On the latter's appeal the Circuit Court held that the loans were valid obligations of the estate, and directed that they be paid, on a pro rata basis along with other debts and expenses of administration. By his appeal the Successor Administrator seeks our reversal of that judgment.
Most of the facts are contained in a stipulation filed in the Probate Court and are therefore undisputed. For some unstated period prior to his death the decedent had engaged in the florist and greenhouse business in Mexico under the name of C. C. Wonneman and Sons. The business was losing money, and during his lifetime the decedent made periodic loans for use in the conduct of his business. Torreyson died testate on July 26, 1963, having made a short will which provided that all of his estate, after the payment of debts and expenses, was to go to his wife, Elizabeth T. Torreyson. Mrs. Torreyson was named therein as Executrix but she declined to qualify as such and James F. Cooper was appointed Administrator With Will Annexed on July 30, 1963. Two days after his appointment, on August 1, 1963, the Administrator filed and presented a verified petition to the Probate Court in which he stated that the assets of the estate consisted largely of real estate, buildings thereon, machinery and equipment used in the greenhouse business; that the estate was solvent, and that the decedent died testate but no specific provision regarding the continuance of the business was contained in the will; that it would be to the best interest of the estate to order the Administrator to continue the business of the decedent until the further order of the court; and that all assets of the estate be liable for obligations incurred in the continuance of the business. On the same day the Probate Court entered an order in which it found the facts as recited in the Administrator's petition, and which concluded as follows:
'IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED by the court that J. F. Cooper, the administrator wwa of the estate of Howard R. Torreyson, deceased, be and he is hereby authorized and directed to continue the business of the decedent as a florist and greenhouse operator; that said business be conducted solely by the administrator wwa, his agents, servants and employees; that all assets of the estate be liable for obligations incurred in the continuance of said business, and that said business be continued until the further order of this court.'
Subsequently, on March 9, 1964, the Administrator filed his Inventory and Appraisement in which two parcels of real estate were described and valued at $35,000 and $5,750, respectively; and the personal property was inventoried and appraised as:
'C. C. Wonneman and Sons-Greenhouse. Business appraised as follows:
Accounts Receivable as per list 13,273.51
Mdse Inventory 1,000.00
Two Delivery Station Wagons 2,500.00
All other equipment, growing plants
supplies, fixtures etc. of the business 25,515.50
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42,289.01
Less Accounts payable as per list 8,039.01
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Total Personal Property 34,250.00"
After the Probate Court made its order of August 1, 1963, the Administrator took charge of and continued the operation of the decedent's greenhouse business, apparently largely through the efforts of one Charles Wesley Wilson as manager. It was stipulated that during the entire time Cooper as Administrator WWA operated the business it continually lost money, and that to obtain funds the Bank from time to time made loans to the Administrator, evidence by notes which were signed, 'C. C. Wonneman & Sons, Charles Wesley Wilson.' In their briefs both parties regard the notes as though they had been signed by Cooper as Administrator, and we will do likewise. It was further stipulated that all of the funds so borrowed were deposited in the account of C. C. Wonneman and Sons, and were disbursed to pay obligations incurred in the conduct and operation of said business; and that the loans were made on the day and for the amounts stated, and interest paid on each note on the date indicated are:
Date of note Amount Interest paid to
------------------- ---------- ----------------
October 28, 1963 1000.00 April 28, 1965
November 18, 1963 900.00 May 18, 1965
November 23, 1963 650.00 May 23, 1964
November 30, 1963 1500.00 May 30, 1965
December 14, 1963 1000.00 June 14, 1965
January 3, 1964 1800.00 January 3, 1965
March 24, 1964 4000.00 March 24, 1965
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TOTAL .......... $10,850.00
By the stipulation it was agreed that no payment had been made on the principal of any of the above described notes, that the interest which remained due and unpaid on them aggregated $1156.59 as of November 8, 1966, and that the total principal and interest claimed by the Bank to be due as of that date was $12,006.49.
Cooper, the Administrator WWA, died, and Elizabeth R. Torreyson was appointed Administratrix D.B.N., W.W.A. of the decedent's estate. The exact date of Cooper's death is not stated in the transcript, but apparently it was sometime before December 23, 1965, because the record shows that on that day Mrs. Torreyson as Administratrix filed in the Probate Court a three-part pleading captioned 'Objections to Amended Settlement, Objections to Motion for Allowances and Fees, and Motion for an Accounting,' directed to Gertrude W. Cooper, Executrix of the Estate of James F. Cooper, deceased. The transcript also contains the order of the Probate Court made on February 2, 1966 relative to those objections and the motion in which the court ultimately found there was due the Torreyson estate the sum of $35,827.18, and that it recover from Cooper's estate and surety the sum of $5,487.39.
The transcript indicates that Mrs. Torreyson subsequently died, but again, the date of her death does not appear. She was succeeded as the decedent's personal representative by Robert J. Ahsens, who was appointed Successor Administrator, D.B.N., W.W.A. of the Torreyson estate. His final setlement was filed on October 31, 1966, and it is to his final settlement that the Bank objected on November 10, 1966 for the reason stated. It should be mentioned that the Probate Court's order of August 1, 1963 to continue the decedent's business was never rescinded, and that after the death of Cooper both Mrs. Torreyson as Administratrix and Ahsens as Successor Administrator continued the operation of the decedent's business without either obtaining an order from the court to do so, but neither of them borrowed any money to conduct the same.
Section 473.300, RSMo 1959, V.A.M.S. provides:
'(1) For the conduct of the business solely by the executor or administrator or as a corporation to be formed by the executor or administrator, or for the participation as a partner by the executor or administrator in a business in which the decedent was a partner, subject to applicable provisions of law and the agreement of the other person or persons continuing such business as partners;
'(2) The extent of the liability of the estate, or any part thereof, or of the executor or administrator, for obligations incurred in the continuation of the business;
'(3) As to whether liabilities incurred in the conduct of the business are to be chargeable solely to the part of the estate set aside for use in the business or to the estate as a whole; and
'(4) As to the period of time for which the business may be conducted, and such other conditions, restrictions, regulations and requirements as the court orders.'
As stated in the final report of the Joint Probate Laws Revision Committee of the Sixty-Seventh General Assembly, which drafted the present probate code, § 473.300 was adopted from § 131 of the Model Probate Code. Simes, Model Probate Code, p. 138. Prior to the adoption...
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