Wood v. NATIONAL HOME FOR DISABLED V. SOLDIERS, 247.

• Decision Date: 03 January 1935
• Docket Number: No. 247.,247.
• Citation: 9 F. Supp. 403
• Parties: WOOD v. NATIONAL HOME FOR DISABLED VOLUNTEER SOLDIERS, DANVILLE, ILL., et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Illinois

9 F. Supp. 403

WOOD v. NATIONAL HOME FOR DISABLED VOLUNTEER SOLDIERS, DANVILLE, ILL., et al.

No. 247.

District Court, E. D. Illinois.

January 3, 1935.

Ray M. Foreman, of Danville, Ill., for plaintiff.

Walter E. Ackerman, of Danville, Ill., for defendants.

LINDLEY, District Judge.

Plaintiff, as administrator of the estate of Walter Searles, deceased, brought this suit to recover pension moneys that had accumulated to his credit in the hands of the treasurer at the Soldiers' Home from payments by the Pension Board prior to his death. The case was tried without a jury upon an agreed statement of facts.

The deceased was an inmate and member of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (now by act of Congress, July 3, 1930 46 Stat. 1016, Veterans' Administration Home of Danville, Ill., which is bound by the "contracts and obligations" of the predecessor), and died therein September 16, 1926, while a pensioner. Some $1,500 had been paid by the Pension Bureau in monthly installments to the treasurer of the home in the way of pensions for the deceased, and this remained on deposit with the treasurer at the time of deceased's death for his credit. Other detailed facts appear in the stipulation.

Title 24, § 136, U. S. Code (Act June 25, 1910), 24 USCA § 136, is as follows: "The application of any person for membership in the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers and the admission of the applicant thereunder shall be and constitute a valid and binding contract between such applicant and the Board of Managers of said home that on the death of said applicant while a member of such home, leaving no heirs at law nor next of kin, all personal property owned by said applicant at the time of his death, including money or choses in action held by him and not disposed of by will, whether such property be the proceeds of pensions or otherwise derived, shall vest in and become the property of said Board of Managers for the sole use and benefit of the post fund of said home, * * * subject to be reclaimed by any legatee or person entitled to take the same by inheritance at any time within five years after the death of such member."

Pursuant to said section, upon admission to the home, the deceased contracted that all of his personal property should upon his death, should he leave no heirs, at once pass to the board of managers, subject to be reclaimed "by any legatee or person entitled to take the same by inheritance."

Moneys such as these, under section 52, tit. 24, U. S. Code (24 USCA § 52), enacted August 17, 1912, are not a part of the funds of the home, but held by the treasurer in trust for the pensioner and in case of his death for his legal heirs. Pertinent provisions of that section are as follows: "The pensions of all inmates of the home, except such as shall be assigned as aforesaid, shall be paid to the treasurer of the home. The money thus derived shall not become a part of the funds of the home, but shall be held by the treasurer in trust for the pensioner to whom it would otherwise have been paid, and such part of it as shall not sooner have been paid to him shall be paid to him on his discharge from the institution. * * * In case of the death of any pensioner, any pension money due him and remaining in the hands of the treasurer shall be paid to his legal heirs, if demand is made within three years; otherwise the same shall escheat to the home."

Section 138 of title 24 of the U. S. Code (24 USCA § 138), enacted simultaneously with section 52, August 17, 1912, is as follows: "All pensions and arrears of pensions payable or to be paid to pensioners who are or may become inmates of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers shall be paid to the treasurers of said home, to be disbursed for the benefit of the pensioners without deduction for fines or penalties, under the rules and regulations of said home. Said payments shall be made by the Bureau of Pensions upon a certificate of the proper officer of the Home that the pensioner is an inmate thereof on the day to which said pension is drawn. The treasurers of said home, respectively, shall give security, to the satisfaction of the managers of said home, for the payment and application by them of all arrears of pension and pension moneys they may receive under the aforesaid provision. Any balance of the pension which may remain at the date of the pensioner's discharge shall be paid over to him."

The next section, 139, enacted July 1, 1902 (24 USCA § 139), is as follows: "Any balance of pension money due a member of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers at the time of his death shall be paid to his widow, minor children or dependent mother or father in the order named, and should no widow, minor child, or dependent parent be discovered within one year from the time of the death of the pensioner, said balance shall be paid to the post fund of the branch of said national home of which the pensioner was a member at the time of his death, to be used for the common benefit of the members of the home under the direction of the Board of Managers, subject to future reclamation by the relatives designated in this section upon application filed with the Board of Managers within five years after the pensioner's death."

Under this section, if it controls, such accumulated funds, in case there is no widow, minor children, or dependent parents, must be paid to the post fund of the home.

It should be observed that there are certain earlier acts. Thus, section 2 of the Act of Feb. 26, 1881, c. 80 (24 USCA § 138 note), is as follows: "All pensions payable, or to...