In re the Estate of Van De Walker

10 Mills Surr. 180, 79 Misc. 661, 141 N.Y.S. 325
CourtNew York Surrogate's Court
DecidedMarch 15, 1913
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 10 Mills Surr. 180 (In re the Estate of Van De Walker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Surrogate's 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 Estate of Van De Walker, 10 Mills Surr. 180, 79 Misc. 661, 141 N.Y.S. 325 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1913).

Opinion

Sexton, S.

On July 9, 1912, John B. Van De Walker, as administrator with the will annexed, accounted in this court for $3,800, the proceeds of certain real estate which he sold under a power of sale contained in the will of the deceased.

The following items in the account were objected to by the legatees, Ada Morgan (formerly Ada Van De Walker) and James F. Van De Walker.

1. “ Paid Harriet C. Jones, to satisfy a judgment held by her against Ada Morgan, a daughter of decedent, and devisee and legatee named in his will to clear the title of the premises sold by me, owned by decedent at the time of his death, $513.52."

[182]*1822. “ J. B. Wiggins, funeral charges for burial of Maria Van De Walker, widow of decedent, $150.00.”

S. “ Rents received by me from said estate, $90.73.”

The will gave the widow the life use of the real estate and personal property with the right to use it all for her support, and further provided:

“ At the death of my wife I give and bequeath what is left of my said property as follows, viz.:

“ 1,000, to my daughter Hattie Jones.

“ $1,000, to my daughter Ada Van De Walker (now Ada Morgan).

“ $1,000, to my son, John B. Van De Walker.

“ The rest and residue I give and devise to my son James F. Van De Walker and to my daughter Mary Ferris, share and share alike.”

Two executors were appointed and empowered “ to sell my real estate if necessary to carry out the provisions of my will.”

This is an accounting after the death of the life tenant.

The first objection deals with a judgment in favor of the legatee Hattie C. Jones against the legatee Ada Van De Walker (now Ada Morgan), which judgment was on July 3,1911, paid by the administrator to said Jones, without the consent of said Morgan, upon the sole theory that said Morgan was a devisee under the will, and that the judgment was a lien upon her interest in the real estate; hence good title could not- be given to the purchaser without the payment of said judgment. So far as the record shows, the payment of the judgment was a voluntary act upon the part of the administrator, as no proceedings of any kind had been taken to force payment or collect the judgment, or restrain the representative from paying the amount of the legacy to the legatee Ada Morgan.

[183]*183There being no personal property a sale of the real estate was necessary to create a fund out of which the legacies could be paid.

It is probably true that within the case of Underwood v. Curtis, 127 N. Y. 523, the real property did not actually become converted into personalty until it was sold, and there was no way that the .legatee Morgan could get her share until the property was sold. It is clear that Ada Van De Walker (now Ada Morgan) did not take any of the real estate as heir, and has no title to it as such; hence a judgment against her would not be a lien thereon. Sayles v. Best, 20 N. Y. Supp. 951.

Suppose the title to the real estate vested in the heirs, of whom Ada Morgan was one, still that title was subject to the power of sale, and was divested by its execution. Blanchard v. Blanchard, 4 Hun, 289; Hetzell v. Barber, 6 id. 534; Germond v. Jones, 2 Hill, 569.

There was no occasion for any sale, except for the payment of legacies, and to the extent of the legacies, the power of sale having been exercised, the land was legally converted into personalty. Matter of Weinstein, 43 Misc. Rep. 577.

It is the duty of the representative of the estate to pay out the proceeds of the sale of the real property, pursuant to the directions and wishes of the testator, as set forth in his will. Matter of Barandon, 41 Misc. Rep. 380.

In this case the representative owed no active duty to the judgment creditor of Ada Morgan beyond that involved in the faithful administration of his trust. There is no law which authorized or empowered him to pay the judgment in question out of the moneys in his hands. His duty was to bring the fund intact into court and after citing the legatees, next of kin and creditors of the testator, if any, distribute it in accordance with the surrogate’s decree.

[184]*184Section 2472a of the Code to which my attention is called has no application. The debt there referred to which may be set off against a legacy is a debt in favor of the estate against a legatee and not a debt or judgment in favor of one legatee against another legatee.

It was the duty of said judgment creditor of Ada Morgan to take such proceedings as might be necessary to establish her lien, or protect her rights. A receiver in supplementary proceedings is one of the remedies which suggests itself. The administrator not having been restrained in any way, it was his duty to pay the legacy as directed by the will to Ada Morgan, or to bring the fund into court to be distributed as provided by the surrogate’s decree.

His contention that it was necessary for him to pay said judgment in order to give good title to the real' estate sold under the power of sale in the will is not tenable and his account is hereby surcharged with $513.52, the amount paid him, with interest thereon from July 3, 1911, the date of said payment. Sayles v. Best, 140 N. Y. 368.

The second objection deals with the expenses incurred in the burial of the widow of the decedent, which was paid out of his estate. Had the husband been living at the time of her death he would have been bound in law to provide a funeral for her at a reasonable expense (Patterson v. Patterson, 59 N. Y. 583) ; and if she left a sufficient estate he would have been entitled to reimbursement out of that estate. McCue v. Garvey, 14 Hun, 562; Matter of Very, 24 Misc. Rep. 139; Matter of Pearce, 53 id. 216.

The law requires the burial of the dead, and that duty falls upon the husband or wife or nther relative of the decedent, or may rest upon a stranger under whose roof the death occurred. Matter of Beekman Street, 4 Bradf. 503; Snyder v. Snyder, 60 How. Pr. 368.

[185]*185The account filed shows a balance of $2,180.82, subject to commissions and expenses of accounting.

It does not appear that the widow left any estate.

No statutory duty is imposed upon children as regards the burial of parents. The legal, though unnatural, objection herein by two of the children is based on the claim that the will does not provide for the burial expenses of the widow.

The testator made his will December 26, 1885, and died March 19, 1886, and letters testamentary were issued May 17, 1886, to the widow and Thomas E. Waters. The testator lived less than a year after his will was made. He knew his wife’s financial condition. She was trusted by him as he made her one of his executors. He intended that the companion of his bosom, and the one who had helped to tote the weary load of life in double harness, should not want, for he provided that she might use their entire joint accumulations if necessary “ for her support.” Frugal, she transmitted the corpus of the estate, about $3,000, to children, two of whom have such a monetary thirst that they ask this court to direct that the administrator, etc., also a son and legatee, bear the expense of his mother’s burial, personally, as will be the case if this item of his account is .not allowed.

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Bluebook (online)
10 Mills Surr. 180, 79 Misc. 661, 141 N.Y.S. 325, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-estate-of-van-de-walker-nysurct-1913.