In re the Appeal of Moores

48 N.W. 39, 84 Mich. 474, 1891 Mich. LEXIS 831
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 6, 1891
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 48 N.W. 39 (In re the Appeal of Moores) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re the Appeal of Moores, 48 N.W. 39, 84 Mich. 474, 1891 Mich. LEXIS 831 (Mich. 1891).

Opinion

Morse, J.

April 13, 1875, Helen L. Lathrop executed her last will, in which she gave her son, John N. Derby, a legacy of $15,000, and devised to her husband, George A. Lathrop, certain lots, describing them, in Bast Saginaw. This will was duly admitted to probate December 30,-1875, and George A. Lathrop and Augustine S. Gay-lord appointed executors, who both duly qualified. Gay-lord, however, took no part in the actual management of the estate, and died June 21, 1877.

The will of Mrs.' Lathrop gave all her personal clothing and jewelry to a sister. Then follows the bequest to her son, John N. Derby, of the homestead and all the furniture and personal property therein;—

“Also the sum of $15,000 in money, the said money to be kept invested, and the interest thereof applied to his maintenance and suitable education until he shall attain the age of 21 years, the principal and any accumulation of the interest not required for the purpose aforesaid then to be paid to him.”

Then follows a devise to her husband as follows:

Fourthly. I give and devise unto my beloved husband, [478]*478George A. Lathrop, his heirs and assigns forever, lots 4 and 9, and the south 24 feet of lot 5, in block 15, according to Hoyt’s plat of East Saginaw, with the houses thereon.”

She also gives him block 10 in Derby’s addition to the village of Salina, now in the city of East Saginaw, to dispose of the same when and how he may deem proper,” the proceeds of the same to be used for the benefit of his son, George D. Lathrop. She also devises certain real estate to her sister, and $500 to a domestic in the family, and $6,000 to her executors in trust, the interest of such sum to be paid in equal proportions to a brother and sister annually, during their natural lives, the principal sums at their deaths to be paid to her son, John N. Derby, if then living and of the age of 21 years; the said sum to be mainly made out of the sale of real estate. The will then provides that if, after the payment of her debts and the charges of administration, her estate shall prove insufficient to pay the legacies in full, then she directs that they be paid in the following order:

1. The bequest to her sister of her personal clothing and jewelry.
2. The bequest to her son, John N. Derby.
3. The devise and bequest in the fourth clause of her will, to her husband, George A. Lathrop.

—And thereafter naming the order in which she wishes the other bequests paid. All the rest, residue, and .remainder of her estate she gives to her son and husband, share and share alike. She appointed Lathrop and Gaylord her executors, and authorized and empowered them to sell and convey any and all of her estate not specifically devised in the will, for cash or upon credit, or both, as to them might seem best, and out of the proceeds of such sales to pay and discharge the debts and expenses of administration, as well as the legacies; [479]*479“said legacies to be paid as soon as convenient after my ■decease, without sacrifice to my estate.”

This matter comes^ before us upon petition to the probate court and order of such court, appealed from to the •circuit court and affirmed and modified, and from that •court brought here for review upon writ of error. The points involved in said petition and order will be discussed as we proceed. The modification of the probate ■order made by the circuit court is not material to this issue. There were findings of fact by the circuit judge, and we shall first give a summary of so much, of such findings as is necessary for an understanding of the matters at issue.

February 24, 1876, Lathrop, as executor, filed an inventory in the probate court, showing real and personal estate to the value of $26,408.91. October 25, same year, he filed a partial account, showing cash received by him up to October 23, $5,266.23; disbursements, $2,124.89. August 21, 1879, another account was rendered, showing total amount received by him, $12,734.52, and total amount ■expended, $12,137.02, leaving balance of $597.50. In the inventory made and filed in the probate court the land devised to Lathrop, and block 10 of Derby’s addition, ■devised to him for the benefit of his son, were not included. December 18, 1877, Lathrop traded seven lots in this block 10, and lot 9, block 15, Hoyt’s plat, to one Henry Colclaugh for a farm in Boyal Oak, for the agreed ■consideration of $3,500. The title to the farm was taken in the name of Joseph Lathrop, of Detroit, and the transaction was had without any action by the probate ■court thereon. June 18, 1881, Lathrop sold to Emil Moores lot 4 and the south 24 feet of lot 5, block 15, Hoyt’s plat of East Saginaw, being part of the property devised to him in the fourth clause of his wife’s will, for $2,000, which sum Moores paid him in cash, and which [480]*480was its full value at the time of such sale. No proceedings were had in the probate court at the time. Moores knew that said property was a part of Helen L. Lathrop’s estate, but did not himself investigate the title, but left that entirely with his attorney, and in his purchase relied upon the report and opinion of such attorney. The conveyance was in two deeds, — one a quitclaim from G-eorge A. Lathrop, and the other an executor’s deed, in which Lathrop covenanted only as against his own acts.

Lathrop, before February 9, 1883, paid all the debts and expenses of death and administration except his own charges. He made sale of the real estate devised in the sixth clause of the will to Mrs. Lathrop’s sister, Caroline E. Hayden, for the purpose of paying debts and the legacy to John N. Derby, under due application to the probate court and • the order of such court granted on such application, and had converted into cash all the rest of the real and personal estate of his wife, except two co'htracts for the sale of land, upon which there was due about $115. June 3, 1880, the probate court ordered that Lathrop should close the settlement of the estate within six months. He failed to' do so, and was cited into court to account, and to show cause why he should not pay over to the guardian of John N. Derby the legacy due to him. Lathrop, in obedience to this citation, filed his account, upon which hearing was had. This account was filed February 9, 1883. In this account for the first time he charged the estate with the moneys paid out by him in the farm transaction with Henry Colei augh, and charged as a credit to the estate the money received by him in the same transaction. He also credited the" estate with the $2,000 received from Emil Moores. But the probate court struck out all the items of said account on both sides, credit and debit, in relation to the farm transaction, and also the $2,000 item received [481]*481from Moores. The record does not contain the full, itemized account. It shows only the items that were disallowed by the probate court.. The account, as filed, showed total receipts, $33,821.16, and total'cash disbursements, $29,980.62; leaving a balance in favor of the estate of $3,840.54, from which was to be deducted the compensation of Lathrop as executor.

It is also found as a fact that Lathrop took possession, after the probate of the will, of the real estate devised to him and his son, and received the rents and profits thereof, and paid the taxes and repairs.

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Bluebook (online)
48 N.W. 39, 84 Mich. 474, 1891 Mich. LEXIS 831, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-appeal-of-moores-mich-1891.