In Re Guardianship of Roland

237 N.W. 349, 212 Iowa 907
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedJune 20, 1931
DocketNo. 40753.
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 237 N.W. 349 (In Re Guardianship of Roland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Guardianship of Roland, 237 N.W. 349, 212 Iowa 907 (iowa 1931).

Opinion

Grimm, J.

Lawrence G. Roland, a minor, was born on June 19, 1909, and his mother died a few hours after his birth. The boy was raised by his grandmother, Mrs. Harriet Burgoyne. After she had cared for him over ten years, she, on July 9, 1917, filed an application for the appointment of A. T. Bennett as guardian of the estate of said minor. Having been appointed, A. T. Bennett immediately qualified and filed his bond in the amount of $5,000.00, signed by the appellants, C. F. Lytle and F. W. Kemp, as sureties.

On April 5, 1920, Mrs. Burgoyne, the grandmother, filed a claim for $2,026.66 for the care and support of the minor up to that' time. The order allowing the claim provided, among other things, as follows:

“And the same is hereby allowed as a valid obligation in its -full amount against the estate of the above named ward herein, same to be paid out of the funds herein belonging to said ward before this guardianship proceeding is closed or terminated.

It appears that at the time this order was entered the guardian had in his possession money belonging to the estate in the sum of $3,951.02, which funds were on deposit in the Bennett Loan & Trust Company, a banking corporation of Sioux *909 City, Iowa. A. T. Bennett, the guardian; was the President of the said Bennett Loan & Trust Company, ...•

In passing, it may be noted that Mrs. Burgoyne’s claim contained, among other things, this language:'

“She therefore asks that an order be made fixing the time of the hearing of this claim as the court shall see fit, and that upon such hearing that her said claim be allowed and ordered paid by the guardian at such time as she shall ask the same to be paid but that as long as she may see fit to allow or permit the sum owing to her to remain in the hands of the guardian, that he be required to pay no interest to her on such claim but the interest accumulated on the amount owing to her shall be, by the guardian, included with the interest and accumulations belonging to the said ward, but that an order be made directing the guardian to pay to this claimant, such sum or part of her claim, from time to time, as she may desire, but should any money belonging to her remain in the hands of the guardian that the interest thereon and the accumulations thereon shall be credited to the ward and not to this claimant.”

On April 16, 1920, a new bond, with new sureties, was filed and substituted in lieu of the original bond. The sureties on the original bond were released by order of the court. C. F: Lytle and F. W. Kemp, the sureties on the original bond] appeared as interveners in the lower court, and they appear here as appellants.

On May 21, 1928, the guardian, A. T. Bennett, filed a report of his receipts and disbursements since the date of his prior report of April 16, 1920. He claims to.have had on April. 16, 1920, the sum of $3,951.02 and a Liberty Bond of $100.00, and that said funds on April 16, 1920, were on deposit in the Bennett Loan & Trust Company. The said report also contains the following :

. “ The guardian further states that on April 5, 1920, a hearing was had by this District Court upon the claim which had theretofore been filed by Harriet Burgoyne, the grandmother of said minor. That on such hearing this court allowed the claim of said Harriet Burgoyne in the sum of $2,026.66, which order or judgment of the court is recorded in probate record 40, on page 14. That from and after the date of April 5th, 1920, *910 it was the understanding of this guardian that the sum of money which had been so allowed to Harriet Burgoyne should be segregated from the balance of said guardianship funds in the care of the guardian and such funds were so segregated and thereafter the sum of $2,026.66 as allowed by the court, was treated and handled by the guardian and by said trust company as the funds of said Harriet t Burgoyne and interest was paid to the said Harriet ■ Burgoyne under an agreement had between this guardian, the said Harriet Burgoyne, and said Bennett Loan & Trust Company, at the rate of six per cent per annum, payable semi-annually unto the said Harriet Burgoyne. That all interest which has accrued upon said sum belonging to said Harriet Burgoyne has been paid to said Harriet Burgoyne up to and including October 15, 1927.”

The said report also contains the following:

■ “That computation of interest accrued on the amount on deposit in said Bennett Loan & Trust Company after deducting the several items of expense and allowances hereinbefore shown and by computing interest at 5 per cent per annum payable semi-annually as hereinbefore stated, shows that the total amount now on deposit by said Bennett Loan & Trust Company including principal and interest to June 1st, 1928, is the sum- of $1,-870.71; that an itemized statement of said computation is hereto attached and made a part hereof. That there is also at this time on deposit in said Bennett Loan & Trust Company the sum of $2,026.66 which under the- order of the court of April 5, 1920, is payable to Harriet Burgoyne with interest thereon from October 15, 1927.”

To this report, objections were filed by the minor through his next friend, Harriet Burgoyne.

On February 2, 1929, the guardian Bennett resigned and IT. W. Braekney was appointed as a new and substituted guardian. ■ On May 12, 1929, Braekney, the new guardian, filed separate objections to the report of A. T. Bennett, guardian. On May 12, 1929, the appellants Lytle and Kemp filed their petition of intervention, alleging that though exonerated from liability, they had an interest in the controversy as a result of an action at law then pending against them. They further alleged that the claim of Harriet Burgoyne had been allowed *911 on April 5, 1920, and that thereafter said sum of money was segregated and full control and custody thereof was assumed by the said Harriet Burgoyne.

It is the contention of the appellants that shortly after April 5, 1920, Bennett, acting as guardian and as president of the Bennett Loan & Trust Company, made an arrangement with Mrs. Burgoyne whereby $2,000.00 of her claim was segregated and placed to her credit at six per cent per annum.

It appears that the Bennett Loan & Trust Company suspended operations prior to 1924.

It is the contention of the appellees that the $2,026.66 was never paid to Mrs. Burgoyne or segregated by the guardian Bennett out of the guardian estate and that therefore Bennett, guardian, must account to Brackney, guardian, not only for the balance shown, according to the said Bennett report, but also for the amount of the Burgoyne claim.

The court found, in substance, that Bennett should not be credited with having paid to Mrs. Burgoyne the $2,026.66, but charged with the total amount, after deducting guardian’s fees allowed, in the sum of $250.00.

I. As was said in In re Estate of Michael O’Hara, 204 Iowa, 1331:

‘ ‘ One other general rule applicable to cases of this character is to be borne in mind, and that is that this action is in probate, and is tried as an ordinary action.

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Related

Bender v. Brooks
81 N.W.2d 650 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1957)
In Re Guardianship of Damon
28 N.W.2d 48 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1947)
In Re Estate of Nicholson
300 N.W. 332 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1941)
In Re Estate of Davie
278 N.W. 616 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1938)

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237 N.W. 349, 212 Iowa 907, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-guardianship-of-roland-iowa-1931.