Caskey v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co.

183 So. 242, 190 La. 997, 1938 La. LEXIS 1335
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedJuly 7, 1938
DocketNo. 34871.
StatusPublished

This text of 183 So. 242 (Caskey v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Caskey v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 183 So. 242, 190 La. 997, 1938 La. LEXIS 1335 (La. 1938).

Opinion

PONDER, Justice.

This is a suit to recover on the surety bond of a tutor.

On April 9, 1925, Mrs. Mary Ford Caskey died in this State in the Parish of Bienville, leaving a surviving husband, W. A. Caskey, and three minor children, viz: Loffie, Eura B. and Charles Ford Caskey.

The surviving husband applied to be appointed tutor of the minors. An inventory was taken and an appraisement made of the property of the deceased wife, which showed that the deceased owned an undivided one-half interest in 160 acres of land of the value of $1,600, deceased’s interest in the community owned in indivisión with the surviving husband. The surviving husband was permitted by the court to give bond with the United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company, in the amount of $1,600 for the faithful performance of his tutorship in lieu of recording the extract of inventory in the mortgage records. The surviving husband, W. A. Caskey, was duly confirmed as tutor and letters issued to him as such. An under tutor was appointed and confirmed. The husband and children were sent into possession of the property as surviving spouse and sole heirs of the decedent. By proper proceedings the minors’ undivided one-half interest in the property was adjudicated to W. A. Caskey, their father, for $1,600 cash, and a deed was executed to that effect. The act of adjudication was not recorded in the *999 mortgage records. All of these proceedings were taken on May 4, 1925 and recorded May 11, 1925. On July 17, 1925 the'tutor applied to the court to lease the minors’ interest in this property and their interest in two other tracts of land. After proper proceedings the court on July 18, 1925 authorized the tutor to execute the lease. On April 30, 1936 a rule was issued to the tutor to file a final account at the instance of Loffie Caskey, who was then emancipated by marriage, and Eura B. Caskey, who was then emancipated by order of court. On the same date the tutor applied to the court to have a supplemental inventory taken alleging that all the property of the deceased was not listed in the original inventory. In this application the tutor alleged that he thought that all the property of the deceased had been inventoried but as a fact it had not. The supplemental inventory was taken by order of court which showed that the deceased left at her death property in addition to that listed in the original inventory consisting of real and personal property of'the value of $1,802.50. The final account was filed showing an amount of $2,718.50 due the children of the deceased. The account was homologated June 30, 1936 and judgment rendered against the tutor for $2,718.50. Execution was issued under this judgment on October 9, 1936, and the writ was returned nulla bona. The plaintiff then sought to recover from the surety on tutor’s bond one-third of the amount called for in the bond.

The defendant interposed exceptions of no cause or right of action, which were overruled.

On the merits the lower court rendered judgment in favor of the plaintiff for $533.-33 with 5% interest from June 30, 1936 and cost. On appeal the Court of Appeal reversed the judgment of the lower court and dismissed the plaintiff’s suit as of non suit. 180 So. 866. The. case is now before us on certiorari and review.

After carefully examining the record and the opinion of the Court of Appeal, we find that the Court of Appeal properly disposed of all the issues except wherein the Court of Appeal held that by the failure to record the act of adjudication in the mortgage records the minors were not divested of their title to the property and dismissed plaintiff’s suit as of non suit. We are of the opinion that the Court of Appeal erred in its opinion that the plaintiff’s suit should be dismissed because the tutor had failed to record the act of adjudication in the mortgage records.

The Court of Appeal relied upon the decisions in the Succession of Burguieres, 104 La. 46, 28 So. 883 and Brewer v. Brewer, 145 La. 835, 83 So. 30, wherein it was held to. the effect that under the provisions of Revised Statutes, § 2363, the act of adjudication must be recorded in the book of mortgages in the parish in which the property is situated else there is no divestiture of the title of minors.

Article 343, Rev.Civ.Code: “Whenever the parent of a minor has property in common with him, the parent can cause the share of the minor either in the whole of the property or in any part thereof to be adjudicated to the parent at the price of an estimation made under oath by experts appointed by the Judge, provided that a family *1001 meeting duly assembled shall declare that the adjudication is for the interest of the minor and the under tutor shall give his consent thereto. When the property is an immovable, the share of the minor which shall have been adjudicated shall remain specially mortgaged in the minor’s favor to secure the payment of the price of adjudication in principal and interest.”

Article 3317, Rev.Civ.Code: “When either of the parents of a minor shall cause to be adjudicated to him the property which he possessed in common with the minor, the property thus adjudged remains specially mortgaged in the minor’s favor for the payment of the price of adjudication and interest, reckoning from the day on which it was adjudged.”

Article 3353, Rev.Civ.Code: “When immovable property has been adjudicated to the father or mother of a minor, the act of adjudication must be recorded in the mortgage book of the parish where the property is situated.”

Rev.St. § 2363: “When mortgageable property has been adjudicated to either parent of the minor, the act of adjudication shall be recorded in the book of mortgages in the parish in which the property is situated, and it shall operate a mortgage and vendor’s privilege; the amount of the value of the property as stipulated in the act shall operate a mortgage against such property in favor of the minor; and no such adjudication shall have any legal or binding effect until such record is made.”

Act No. 223 of 1920, § 1, as amended by Act No. 68 of 1924, § 2, contains the following provisions:

“That natural, legal, testamentary or dative tutors may, in all cases, at their option and iti place of the general mortgage arising from the recordation of the certificate of the Clerk of Court of the amount of a minor’s property as shown by the inventory, or of a special mortgage given for the 'security of the rights and property of the minors and for the faithful discharge of the functions of the tutor pursuant to Article 325 of the Revised Civil Code, or of a special mortgage resulting from the adjudication to the tutor of property held in common by said minor and said tutor pursuant to Article 343 of said Code, or of a special mortgage given under Article 344 of said Code, give bond or security in the manner herein provided; and the bond or security so given shall not be recorded nor operate as a mortgage.”

An examination of the record shows that the tutor’s bond was dated and signed on April 28, 1925. The bond states that the inventory and appraisement has been made and that the tutor has obtained an order of court allowing him to substitute the bond in place of the minors’ mortgage existing upon the property of the tutor by reason of the recordation of the clerk’s certificate.

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Related

Townsend v. Atterberry
132 So. 411 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1931)
Pecastaing v. Globe Indemnity Co.
145 So. 259 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1932)
Caskey v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co.
180 So. 866 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1938)
Succession of Burguieres
104 La. 46 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1900)
Brewer v. Brewer
83 So. 30 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1919)

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Bluebook (online)
183 So. 242, 190 La. 997, 1938 La. LEXIS 1335, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/caskey-v-united-states-fidelity-guaranty-co-la-1938.