Brownlee v. Hare

64 Ind. 311
Indiana Supreme Court·Decided November 15, 1878·Published·Cited by 28 cases

Opinion

Howk, C. J.

At the April term, 1876, of the court below, the appellant, the administrator of the estate of David W. St. Clair, deceased, submitted to the court his final settlement report, duly verified, of said estate.

In this report, the appellant showed to the court, in substance, that the means that came into the,hands of said administrator, and the only means that belonged to said decedent’s estate, were, in the first place, a claim in favor of said decedent against one Silas Braffit, who was the decedent’s guardian, which claim the administrator undertook to collect-at the instance of the officers of Grant county, who before that time had charge of said decedent, who was a pauper without children or their descendants; that said administrator undertook his said trust for the purpose of collecting said claim, and recovered a judgment against said Braffit for the amount in his hands, with interest at ten per cent.; that said administrator caused a tract of land to be sold, which was purchased by him and sold on time for one thousand dollars, a small part of the purchasé-money for the land being paid by said administrator out of his own means, and the remainder by said claim; that about the time the said land was so sold, the heirs of said decedent, who were his brothers and sisters, claimed that they were entitled to said estate or means, and it was so determined in a suit by the county of Grant against said administrator; that said heirs or those who were of age, and said administrator, entered into agreements as to the shares and amounts that each of said heirs was to receive, which were adopted by each of said heirs as they became of age; that, according to the terms of said agreement, the appellant had paid the appellees, Sarah A. Hare and Silas B. and William H. St. Clair, each, the sum of ninety dollars, the appellee Lydia J. Brown the sum of one hundred dollars, and the appellee John B. Jumper, guardian of Lydia B. Jumper-, the sum of one hundred and ten dollars, and he had also paid [313] the costs in said estate; that according to said agreements and compromises, made with each of said parties, there was due to the appellee Mrs. Hare the sum of five dollars and thirty-eight cents, and to the appellees Silas B. and William H. St. Clair, each, the sum of four dollars and sixty-six cents; that the appellee Lydia J. Brown, after she became of age, by her husband’s direction agreed to receive one hundred dollars in full for her share, and she has been paid the sum of one hundred and ten dollars; that the foregoing was all the estate of said decedent with which the appellant was chargeable, with the credits to which he was entitled, and the appellant asked that said estate be declared settled.

The appellees filed written objections to said final. settlement report, and prayed the court to require the appellant to make a more full and complete repor’t. The' appellant neither demurred to nor answered the appellees’ objections to his report, nor was there any action then had by the court thereon. By the written agreement of the parties then filed, the court ordered that the cause should be referred to a master commissioner, who was to take all the evidence offered by either of .the parties, and report -the same to the court, at its next term, and it was expressly agreed, “ that on the report of the evidence, so made' by said commissioner, the judge of'this coui’t is to render such judgment to the parties, or either of them, as the evidence so reported might warrant and authorize.”

At the September term, 1876, the master commissioner reported to the court the evidence taken by him in this cause. Hpon this evidence, the court found -that the appellant, as administrator of said decedent’s estate, was chargeable with the sum of one thousand dollars, and allowed him the use and interest of said sum, in full for his services and expenses as.such administrator, and that there then remained, in the hands of said administrator, [314] the .sum of five hundred and twenty dollars, after allowing him the sum of four hundred and eighty dollars theretofore paid to the heirs of said decedent. The court then ordered the appellant to pay into court the said sum of five hundred and twenty dollars, for distribution to the heirs of said decedent, and to pay the costs of this suit.

The appellant’s motion for a new trial was overruled, and his exception was entered to this decision;-and thereupon the court further ordered, that the appellant pay over the said sum of five hundred and twenty dollars, the amount then in his hands unappropriated, within sixty days, and that, in default thereof, he be attached as for contempt of the court, from all of which the appellant now prosecutes this appeal to this court.

The appellant has here assigned, as errors, the - following decisions of the circuit court:

1. In overruling his motion for a new trial;

2. In overruling his motion in arrest of judgment;

3. In overruling his motion to set aside the objections filed by G. T. B. Carr, Esq., for the reasons that said objections do hot state the names of the objectors, nor do they deny the statements of the report, nor do they deny nor in any way gainsay the vouchers filed ;

4. In making the order to attach the appellant unless the amount found by the court to be due was paid ; and,

5. The whole proceeding and judgment of the court was unauthorized and void.

We will consider and decide the several questions presented by these alleged errors, in the order of their assignment.

1. In his motion for a new trial, the following causes therefor were assigned by the appellant:

1st. That the evidence did not sustain the finding of the court;

2d. There was no issue in said case; and,

[315]*3153d. The finding and order were contrary to law, and were not sustained by the evidence.

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