Huntington Natl. Bank v. Fulton, Supt.

197 N.E. 204, 49 Ohio App. 268, 17 Ohio Law. Abs. 711, 1 Ohio Op. 71, 1934 Ohio App. LEXIS 277
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 15, 1934
DocketNo 647
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 197 N.E. 204 (Huntington Natl. Bank v. Fulton, Supt.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Huntington Natl. Bank v. Fulton, Supt., 197 N.E. 204, 49 Ohio App. 268, 17 Ohio Law. Abs. 711, 1 Ohio Op. 71, 1934 Ohio App. LEXIS 277 (Ohio Ct. App. 1934).

Opinion

*714 OPINION

By GUERNSEY, J.

1. There is no averment in the pleadings that the subject matter of this action is res judicata or that the Common Pleas Court or this court does not have jurisdiction of the subject matter, and no question as to jurisdiction was raised on the trial of the cause in the Common Pleas Court. The- jurisdiction of the Common Pleas Court and of this court over the subject matter is now objected to for the first time, in the brief of defendant, upon the sole ground that as the Probate Court had jurisdiction of the settlement of decedent’s estate and of the accounting between the trustees, that such jurisdiction is exclusive, and that the Common Pleas Court did not have original jurisdiction of the subject matter of this action and consequently this court, on appeal, had no jurisdiction of the subject matter, and this ground will be the only ground considered; and except for this ground of objection, the parties will be considered as having waived any objection to, and acquiesced in, the jurisdiction of this court on appeal, over the subject matter of the action.

The final account filed by The Lima First American Trust Company as trustee, as set forth in the averments of the petition which, no evidence having been developed to the contrary are by stipulation of the parties admitted to be true, shows that it failed and refused to pay over and distribute to the plaintiff as successor trustee, the sum of $2580.94 constituting a part of the assets and property of the trust estate, and also shows the specific items of deposit in the banking department of the trustee making up said amount. .The order of the *715 Probate Court directed said trustee to account for and turn over to plaintiff as such successor trustee, all the assets and property belonging to said trust estate. This order and the identification in the account filed by the original trustee, of the specific items of assets to be turned over, had the effect, upon the successor trustee accepting the appointment and qualifying as trustee, of vesting in the successor trustee the title and right of possession to the specific items, and the successor trustee having the title and right of possession, is entitled to enforce all legal and equitable rights as owner with reference to such items without any further adjudication by the Probate Court with reference thereto.

It was not within the jurisdiction of the Probate Court to engraft or enforce trusts or liens on the funds of the trust company, as the Probate Court is not vested with general equitable jurisdiction authorizing it to engraft or enforce such trusts or liens, and the Probate Court did not have - and could not acquire jurisdiction over the treasurer of state, the custodian of one of the funds upon which a lien is sought to be engrafted; nor was it within the jurisdiction of the Probate Court to allow such claim as a preferred claim against the assets of the trust company in the possession of the superintendent of banks for the purpose of liquidation, as the allowance of claims against a bank in the process of liquidation is governed exclusively by the provisions of §710-1 et seq, GC, which vests such jurisdiction in the superintendent, of banks and the Common Pleas Court of the county where the bank in process of liquidation is situated. The Common Pleas Court has jurisdiction both in the matter of the allowance of claims against banks in process of liquidation, as well as general equitable jurisdiction and is the only court in which the relief sought in this action could be granted, so the Common Pleas Court had jurisdiction of the subject matter, and this court, on appeal from the Common Pleas Court, has jurisdiction ,of the subject matter.

2. It is contended by the defendant superintendent of banks, that by reason of the provisions of §710-165 GC, “moneys pending distribution or investment may be treated as a deposit in the trust department, or may be deposited in other departments of the bank, subject in other respects to the provisions of law relating to deposit of trust funds by trustees and others”, the various deposits made by the trustee of the trust funds in the commercial and savings departments of the trust . company were made under authority of law. The defendant apparently overlooks the provisions of §710-164, GC, which reads as follows:

“Investment of money and property held in trust. — In the management of money and property held by it as trustee, such trust company may invest such money and property in a general trust fund of the trust company. But it shall be competent for the authority making the appointment to direct' whether such money and property shall be held separately or any part thereof invested in a general trust fund of the trust company. The trust company always shall follow and be entirely governed by the directions contained in any will or instrument under which it acts.”

It will be noted that this section expressly provides that it shall be competent for the authority making the appointment (of a trastee) to direct whether such property and money shall-be held separately pr any part thereof invested in the general trust funds of the trust company, and that the trust company always shall follow and be entirely governed by the directions contained in any will or instrument under which it acts. Under the provisions of this section, Seth S. Wheeler in his last will and testament under which he appointed said trustee, had full authority to direct, as he did direct, that said trustee should keep said estate separate and apart from any other property or moneys owned or held by it, and the trust company under the pj'ovisions of this section was required to follow and be entirely governed by the directions contained in the will. As the trust company", in the will was prohibited from making such deposits, such deposits were wholly unauthorized.

3. The deposits made by the banking corporation trustee, of the trust funds in the commercial and savings departments of the bank conducted by it, being wholly unauthorized, such acts on its part constituted a violation of its duty, and a misapplication of funds, and the plaintiff as successor trustee may, upon tracing said deposit funds either in their original form or into specific property which passed to the superintendent of banks, have a trust en-grafted thereqn.

Terre Hapte Trust Company v Scott, Appellate Court of Indiana, 181 Northeastern, 369,

It must be noted, however, that the mere misapplication of a trust fund does not create a general lien on the' tort-feasor’s estate, but to entitle the owner to recover *716 such fund from a receiver or a trustee, it must be traced either in its original form or into specific property which passed to the receiver.

Smith v Fuller, 86 Oh St 57.

Board of Commissioners of Crawford County v Strawn, 157 Federal Reporter, 49.

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Related

In re Estate of Binder
25 Ohio Law. Abs. 472 (Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, 1937)
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24 Ohio Law. Abs. 435 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1937)
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21 Ohio Law. Abs. 678 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1936)
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Bluebook (online)
197 N.E. 204, 49 Ohio App. 268, 17 Ohio Law. Abs. 711, 1 Ohio Op. 71, 1934 Ohio App. LEXIS 277, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/huntington-natl-bank-v-fulton-supt-ohioctapp-1934.