Trent v. Griffy
| Decision Date | 02 December 1921 |
| Citation | 193 Ky. 124,235 S.W. 22 |
| Parties | TRENT v. GRIFFY. |
| Court | Kentucky Court of Appeals |
Appeal from Circuit Court, Anderson County.
Action by B. S. Griffy, as administrator of Anna A. Witherspoon deceased, against Cordelia L. Trent. Judgment for plaintiff and defendant appeals. Reversed, with directions.
Lillard Carter, of Lawrenceburg, for appellant.
Edwards Odgen & Peak, of Louisville, and J. W. Gaines, of Lawrenceburg, for appellee.
On March 10, 1917, Anna A. Witherspoon died intestate, a resident of Anderson county. Her husband, L. J. Witherspoon survived her, and her three daughters, Onie Moore, Sadie Ripy, and Henrietta Griffy, were her only heirs at law.
Thereafter, in December, 1918, the husband died, and in March, 1919, Sadie Ripy died, and thereafter, in April, 1919, appellee Griffy qualified as administrator of Anna A. Witherspoon, and in May, 1919, instituted this action at law against appellant for the possession of a certificate for 10 shares of stock in the Anderson National Bank alleged to have been the property of Anna A. Witherspoon and in the possession of the defendant, and also prayed for judgment against the defendant for $150 in dividends which she is alleged to have collected thereon.
The defendant filed an answer which she made a counterclaim against the plaintiff and a cross-petition against the Anderson National Bank and against the other heirs at law of Anna A. Witherspoon and against the executor and devisees of Sadie Ripy, deceased. To that pleading as amended the trial court sustained a demurrer, and the correctness of that ruling is the only question presented. The answer as amended alleges that at the time of her death Anna A. Witherspoon was the owner and in possession of the bank stock described in the petition, which was then of the value of $2,500; that at the time of her death the said decedent owned no real estate, owed no debts whatever, and that no person whatever was indebted to her in any sum; that she held no notes or accounts or choses in action of any kind or character or any stocks or bonds except the bank stock referred to, but that she was then the owner of much household and kitchen furniture, silverware, jewelry, and other personal belongings of greater value than $2,600.
She alleges that under the laws of this state L. J. Witherspoon, surviving husband of decedent, was entitled to one-half of the surplus personal property owned by her at the time of her death, and that immediately after her death he elected to take and did take possession of the said bank stock sued for as and for his own as such surviving husband, and the same was then of value less than one-half of the surplus personalty of the decedent; that at the time said L. J. Witherspoon took over said bank stock as alleged his said action was known to and acquiesced in by the only three heirs at law, and the said L. J. Witherspoon by agreement with and acquiescence of said three heirs at that time dispensed thereby with administration on the estate of said Anna A. Witherspoon, and the said three heirs at law at said time, with the consent of said L. J. Witherspoon, divided up between them the remainder of the personal estate of said Anna A. Witherspoon, and each of said three heirs at law then or thereafter took possession of and carried away her said part of her mother's estate, and that the part so taken by them was at least one-half in value of the surplus estate of said Anna A. Witherspoon.
She states that after the division and agreement as aforesaid L J. Witherspoon, the defendant's grandfather, took the certificate of bank stock to the Anderson National Bank, and at his request the bank canceled the original certificate held by Anna A. Witherspoon for 10 shares and issued in lieu thereof a certificate for 10 shares of the capital stock of said institution to the defendant in the name of Cordelia L. Waller, she at that time being a single woman, and that being her maiden name, and that thereafter the said L. J. Witherspoon transferred, gave, assigned, and delivered possession of the certificate to this defendant as a free gift for her own use and control; that she is the granddaughter of said L. J. Witherspoon and the daughter of Sadie W. Ripy by her first husband, Harold Waller; and that she was when an infant two years of age taken into the home of her grandfather, L. J. Witherspoon, and there by him reared as his own child until her marriage, which occurred after the gift of the bank stock as aforesaid. She alleges she...
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McGehee v. Dorman
...agreement dispense with administration and agree upon division of personal property of an intestate, there being no debts. Trent v. Griffy, 193 Ky. 124, 235 S.W. 22. The defendant alleges, in effect, that the dividends received by him merely as agent of the real owners. Because of this fact......
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...passes to him, and the devisees take no title until the settlement of the estate or distribution by the executor. Trent v. Griffy, 193 Ky. 124, 235 S.W. 22. For the reasons stated, we believe the decision in the Horseman case, supra, is not in point and that that of the McLeod case is contr......
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