American Surety Co. v. Gedney

167 So. 355, 123 Fla. 703, 1936 Fla. LEXIS 1035
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedApril 11, 1936
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 167 So. 355 (American Surety Co. v. Gedney) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
American Surety Co. v. Gedney, 167 So. 355, 123 Fla. 703, 1936 Fla. LEXIS 1035 (Fla. 1936).

Opinion

Buford, J.

The writ of error brings for review judgment against the surety on a bond executed by the defendant in divorce proceedings, which bond contained the following conditions:

“The condition of the above obligation is such that, whereas, the said Anna, Gedney has this day applied for Writ of Ne Exeat Republicae staying the said Mathias M. Gedney from departing out of the jurisdiction of this Court without leave first had, now if the said Mathias M. Gedney shall not go or attempt to go out of this State without leave of this Court, and if he shall abide by and comply with all lawful orders and decrees of said Court and pay all sums of money now due and give bond and security that he will pay sums which shall, in the future, become due by reason of the final decree in this case, then this obligation' to be void, also to remain in full force and effect.”

The declaration alleged in part as follows:

*705 “Plaintiff states that the said Mathias M. Gedney has not abided by and complied with a certain order and decree of this Court duly entered in said cause in Chancery Order Book 111 at page 354 thereof, nor any part thereof.
“That, in particular, plaintiff alleges that said order, by paragraph 2 thereof, ordered said Mathias M. Gedney to pay to plaintiff the sum of Eight Hundred Sixty-five Dollars ($865.00) as back alimony, on September 30th, 1933, in default and owing to the plaintiff, but that defendant has not paid the said sum, nor complied with said portion of the said order or any part thereof;
“That in particular, further, plaintiff alleges that by said order, by paragraph 4 thereof, the said defendant was required to pay to plaintiff the further sum of One Hundred Ten and 01/100 Dollars ($110.01) as in indebtedness on account of plaintiff’s costs in taking certain depositions in the aforesaid chancery cause, but that said defendant has not paid the said sum nor-any part thereof;’’

Then follows other allegations specifically stating the conditions of other paragraphs of the order above referred to and the amounts required to be paid under each thereof, and that the defendant had entirely failed to abide by and comply with the provisions of the said order in the particulars named. The order is attached to and by apt words made a part of the declaration. The order was made and entered as is alleged, on September 30, 1933, and was a modification of an order theretofore entered and was made subsequent to the execution of a bond which bond was executed on December 24, 1931. There is no question about the execution of the bond.

The bond is termed by the plaintiff in error a Ne Exeat bond. It is not purely a Ne Exeat bond. It is a bond which was given, that is, made and executed by the defendant *706 and his surety under order of court in a divorce proceeding wherein the custody of children was involved and it not only was a bond not to depart the jurisdiction of the court but it was also a bond made under authority of Sec. 3198 R. G. S., 4990 C. G. L., in connection with an order to pay alimony and also a bond made under authority of Sec. 3201 R. G. S., 4993 C. G. L., relating to the enforcement of orders touching the care and maintenance of children.

The declaration does not allege that the defendant has departed the jurisdiction of the court without leave and consent thereof. Nor does it allege or claim damages by reason of violation of the bail feature of the bond. That part of the bond which is sought to be enforced is that which stands as security that the defendant should comply with all the lawful orders and decrees of the court.

There is no contention that the orders and decree referred to were not lawfully made by the Circuit Court in the exercise of its discretion and jurisdiction in this behalf.

The record shows that after the bond was entered into, the following order was made:

“This cause coming on this day to be heard on motion of the defendant, Mathias M. Gedney, through his solicitors, Messrs. Wylie & Warren, for permission of the Court to leave the State of Florida until such time as his presence may be required by this Court, and the defendant himself being in court, and R. G. McCutcheon, the attorney in fact for the American Surety Company of New York, appearing in court on behalf of the American Surety Company of New York and giving the consent of the American Surety Company of New York to the departure from the State of Florida of the defendant and to the entry of this order.
“It Is Ordered that permission be and the same is hereby granted to the defendant, Mathis M. Gedney, to leave the *707 State of Florida until such time as his presence in the State may be requested or required by this Court.
“It Is Further Ordered that the said defendant shall return to the State of Florida and to the jurisdiction of this Court on fifteen (15) days written notice served on Messrs. Wylie & Warren, his attorneys, that an order requiring his presence has been entered by this Court, and that service of any notice or notices in the above entitled cause on Messrs. Wylie & Warren aforesaid shall be considered as service of notice on the defendant.
“It Is Further Ordered that nothing herein contained shall be considered as a modification or release of any of the rights, claims or demands of the plaintiff against the defendant or of the liability of the defendant or of the American Surety Company of New York under and by virtue of the bond filed herein on the 24th day of December, A. D. 1931, in which the defendant is named as principal and the American Surety Company of New York is named as surety and that said bond shall be and remain in full force and effect.
“Done and Ordered in Chambers at St. Petersburg, Florida, this 31st day of December, A. D. 1931.”

The record further shows that this order was assented to by the American Surety Company of New York, and by Mathias M. Gedney, and by his attorneys, Wylie & Warren.

This bond is entirely different from that bond which was under consideration in the case of Thomas v. Martin, 100 Fla. 146, 129 Sou. 603. In that case the bond under consideration was a bail bond only and it is pointed out in the opinion in that case that Irene C. Thomas could not have maintained an action upon that bond because the bond did not require Clyde O. Thomas to pay money to her or to perform any order or decree made in the case that had been *708 instituted by her on the Chancery side of the docket. The language used was as follows:

“The copy of the order directing the issuance of the writ of ne exeat annexed to and made a part of the declaration does not direct to whom the bond should run. The bond taken by the officer and upon which this action is based runs to the ‘Governor of the State of Florida and his successors in office.’ It does not bind Clyde O.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cory v. Cory
476 So. 2d 1298 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1985)
Bredin v. Bredin
89 So. 2d 353 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1956)
Aiken v. Aiken
81 So. 2d 757 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1955)
State Fire & Casualty Co. v. Hynes
62 So. 2d 723 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1952)
Pan American Surety Co. v. Walterson
44 So. 2d 94 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1950)
Lieberman v. Lieberman
43 So. 2d 460 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1949)
American Surety Co. of New York v. Gedney
185 So. 844 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1939)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
167 So. 355, 123 Fla. 703, 1936 Fla. LEXIS 1035, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/american-surety-co-v-gedney-fla-1936.