In re Hobson's Will

16 N.Y.S. 371, 68 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 504, 41 N.Y. St. Rep. 565, 61 Hun 504, 1891 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 452
New York Supreme Court·Decided November 13, 1891·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

Daniels, J.

The controversy, as it was presented to and decided by the surrogate, related to the liability of John L. Hobson, as administrator with the will annexed of Sarah M. Hobson, deceased, to account for the amount of a bond and mortgage payable to her, and collected by him after his appoint[372] ment as administrator of her estate. The debt, as it was first created, seems to have been the property of George G. Hobson, the husband of Sarah M. Hobson, who were the parents of the administrator, John L. Hobson. On the 19th of May, 1866, George G. Hobson created a trust for the benefit of his wife during her life, and for his own benefit during his life in case of his survivorship; and a bond and mortgage, executed by Austin, Falk & Co. on or about the 1st of May, 1866, to Sarah M. Hobson, was made a part of the capital of this trust. That mortgage was satisfied, and another taken in its place, payable in the same manner; and this second mortgage was also discharged upon the retirement of George W. Falk from the firm whose members executed the mortgage, and another mortgage was taken in its place, executed by the remaining members of the same firm. This last mortgage was dated on or about the 18th of November, 1874, and, together with the bond accompanying it, was in like manner payable to Sarah M. Hobson. She died, after enjoying the income of the trust, as she was entitled to do by the instrument creating it, on the 28th of July, 1875, nominating her husband as the executor of her will. But he did not prove the will, but continued to receive the proceeds of the trust until he died, on the 14th of February, 1882. During his life-time, and in 1878, he brought an action to establish the trust, making his son, John L. Hobson, one of the parties, and a judgment was recovered in that action to that effect, and in that judgment the mortgage is mentioned as one of the items of the trust. As a matter of fact, therefore, this mortgage belonged to the trust-estate as a part of its capital; but after the decease of his father, and on the 14th of July, 1882, John L. Hobson applied to the surrogate for letters of administration with the will annexed on the estate of his mother, Sarah M. Hobson, stating its value to be the amount of this mortgage. Letters in that form were issued to him, the will at that time having been probated, and his bond was fixed at the sum of $30,000, and the Fidelity §o Casualty Company, in the city of New York, one of the appellants from the surrogate’s decree, became the surety in this bond. After becoming in this manner qualified as the administrator of the estate with the will annexed, he received a large number of securities, including this bond and mortgage for $15,000, and gave a receipt for them, describing himself as the administrator of the estate of S. M. Hobson, deceased. An appraisement of the estate was also made at his instance, in which this bond and mortgage was the property appraised as the estate of the deceased testatrix; and this administrator with the will annexed has in that capacity received the money secured by the mortgage, and discharged it as satisfied; and in October, 1884, he applied to the surrogate for the settlement of his accounts, charging himself in his application with the amount of this mortgage and the interest he had received upon it, and then crediting himself with certain payments made by him, leaving a balance, as he stated it, of $6,104.95, in his hands yet to be distributed. His petition and accounts were verified in the usual manner, affirming the accuracy of the statements contained in them. It appeared upon the hearing before the referee appointed by the surrogate, and whose conclusions were substantially, confirmed by the surrogate, that he had made certain disbursements in his capacity of administrator, and also paid to two of the legatees entitled to share in the distribution of the estate after the expiration of the trust under the terms of the wills to which it was subjected, further sums of money, leaving a balance in his hands of the sum of $7,587.37, and that balance he was ordered by the decree within 30 days to pay over, with interest, to a substituted trustee, who liad been appointed to take charge of the trust-estate in that capacity. In November, 1882, John L. Hobson, the administrator, applied for his own appointment as trustee of the trust-estate, and an order was made, .with the consent, of parties interested in the trust, appointing him such trustee on giving a bond in the sum of $10,000. But in point of fact the bond given by him upon that appointment was in the sum [373] only of $5,000; and from the evidence in the case, as well as the conclusion of the referee before whom it was taken, whicli was adopted by the surrogate, it did not appear that John L. Hobson, as administrator, had ever made any transfer, either directly or indirectly, of this bond and mortgage, or of the moneys received upon it, to himself as trustee under this appointment; and, in the absence of that proof, and his continued action as administrator, the presumption was warranted that he still continued to hold the proceeds of the mortgage in the capacity in which he had received the security itself, which was that of administrator with the will annexed. In re Hood, 104 N. Y. 103, 10 N. E. Rep. 35.

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In re Hobson's Will, 16 N.Y.S. 371, 68 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 504, 41 N.Y. St. Rep. 565, 61 Hun 504, 1891 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 452 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1891).

16 N.Y.S. 371 (In re Hobson's Will) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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