Burnell v. Malony

36 Vt. 636
Supreme Court of Vermont·Decided January 15, 1864·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

Kellogg, J.

On the trial of this case in the county court, it was admitted that the plaintiff, as administrator, was entitled [638] to recover the parcel of land for which this action was brought, unless the defendant, and those under whom he claimed had acquired title to it by acquiescence, and the only point made upon the exceptions relates to the charge of the court in respect to the beginning and continuing of an acquiescence by the guardian of the minor heirs of the intestate in an incorrect division line. The intestate died in the early part of 1837, leaving a widow and two children, a son and daughter, the oldest being then about three years of age. The widow was appointed administratrix of her husband’s estate in 1837, and on the 22d of June, 1839, she was appointed guardian for the two children. On the 11th of September, 1840, she married one Herrick, and her authority as administratrix and guardian became thereby extinguished by force of the provisions of the statute. C. S., p. 338, § 14, p. 417, § 58; O. S., p. 387, § 13, p. 485, § 54. Her daughter, who was the oldest of her children, was married, and died in 1857, leaving three children as the issue of her marriage. The plaintiff was appointed administrator de bonis non of the intestate on the 4th of February, 1859, and this action was commenced on the 28th of March, 1860. The question presented is, whether the children and heirs of the intestate were bound by the acquiescence of their mother in her representative character, either as their guardian, or as administratrix upon the estate of the intestate, in a mistaken boundary line while they remained minors.

An administrator is the legal representative of the right of his intestate, and a guardian is a trustee for his ward, but neither a guardian nor an administrator has any power to manage, control or dispose of real estate except in the manner provided by law. Neither can sell or convey such estate without a license from the probate court, and the regulations under which such licenses are granted evince the [jealous care with which the rights of minors and of all others interested in the property are protected. The chief duty of an administrator or guardian in respect to real estate is to take care of the property; but this duty will not authorize any alienation or transfer of the title except in a manner authorized by law» The interests of minors are specially [639] protected by a great variety of statute provisions. They are not affected by the statutes of limitation, and the policy of the statute provisions in their favor excludes the idea that their interest in real estate can be conveyed or affected in any other manner than such as .is authorized by the statute. The protection which the law extends over the interests of a minor would be ineffectual if ho was considered as bound to any greater extent by the acquiescence of his guardian than he would be by the guardian’s negligence or omission of duty. If infancy is a shield against the accruing of a right by adverse possession, it should be equally a defence against any interference with the title not recongnized or authorized by the statute. As the authority of an administrator or guardian is conferred by law, it should receive a strict construction, and, as they are without interest in the property entrusted to their care, no act or omission of theirs ought to affect the right which they may represent. The acquiescence of an administrator or guardian could have no greater binding force on the right of a minor than that of any other trustee having the care of the same property. If the acquiescence of a party having no interest in the estate but that of a mere custodian and trustee should be permitted to affect the right of the real owner, it would introduce a new form of conveyance into the law of real property not authorized by the statute nor recognized by any adjudged case. The mos't unequivocal act of acquiescence should be considered as binding only upon the party whose act it is, or who authorized it. The right of the heirs of MitcheE Russell was not, as we think, affected by any act of acquiescence in a mistaken boundary line for the true line by their mother, acting in the character of administratrix 'or in that of guardian, or by Herrick, who was not only a stranger to the title but was without any interest in it. This conclusion necessarily leads to a reversal of the judgment of the county court.

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Burnell v. Malony, 36 Vt. 636 (Vt. 1864).

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