In re the Judicial Settlement of the Accounts of Egan

197 A.D. 139, 188 N.Y.S. 1, 1921 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 7416
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York·Decided May 4, 1921·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

Hubbs, J.:

On March 25, 1918, Hannah Egan Murphy died leaving a last will and testament which was admitted to probate in the Surrogate’s Court of Onondaga county. Within eighteen months after her death an action to partition the real property of which she died seized was commenced by her husband, John Murphy. An interlocutory judgment in such partition action was entered which directed a sale by a referee of the real estate free and clear of all liens and incumbrances. Thereafter a report of sale was made and a final judgment was duly entered. After providing for the payment of hens, taxes, costs and expenses, the final judgment provided as follows:

“5. That said referee, after making the payments aforesaid divide and apportion the residue among the parties entitled thereto, according to their respective interests therein, as adjudged in said interlocutory judgment herein, and as hereinafter provided. That said referee pay into Surrogate’s Court the proceeds of the sale of said real property and the moneys received by him as referee herein, after deducting the fees and disbursements as hereinabove provided, by paying the same to the county treasurer of the County of Onondaga to the credit of the several parties to this action according to their respective shares in pursuance of and in compliance with the provisions of the interlocutory judgment herein, to wit:

“ (a) That he pay to the plaintiff, John Murphy, in the manner above provided, an one-third thereof, being the sum of $1,825.37.”

The final judgment then provided for the distribution of the balance of said fund to the other parties in interest.

In accordance with said final judgment there was deposited with the county treasurer of Onondaga county the sum of $5,476.05, the net proceeds of the sale of the real property.

After entry of the interlocutory judgment in said partition action, and within eighteen months after the probate of the will in question, James W. Egan, the executor thereof, commenced a proceeding in the Surrogate’s Court of Onondaga county under chapter 18, title 4, article 3, of the Code of Civil Procedure to sell said real property to pay debts and funeral expenses. As a result of such proceeding debts and [141] expenses to the amount of $617.44 were allowed by the surrogate in the order here appealed from, which order also provided that the amount of costs and expenses of administration be reserved until the further hearing herein,” and that, for the purpose of paying said claims and “ the reasonable expenses of administration ” the funds deposited with the county treasurer be brought into the account on the judicial settlement, to be disposed of by the decree. The county treasurer was directed to pay to the executor said fund of $5,476.05 and interest upon the filing of a bond for $6,000, by the executor, to be approved by the surrogate.

John Murphy, the surviving husband, has appealed from said order to this court, and urges that the surrogate had no authority to direct the county treasurer to pay over to the executor the fund of $5,476.05 deposited with said county treasurer under the final judgment in the partition action.

Section 1538 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides as follows: When the action is brought before eighteen months have elapsed from the granting of such letters of administration or letters testamentary, as the case may be, upon the estate of a decedent from whom the plaintiff derived his title, and the interlocutory judgment directs, as above provided, that the premises shall be sold, free from the hen of debts, the final judgment shall direct that the proceeds of the sale remaining after the payment of the costs * * * be forthwith paid into court by the referee making such sale by depositing the same with the county treasurer of the county, in which the trial of the action is placed, to the credit of the parties entitled thereto, to await the further order in the premises.”

The final judgment in the partition action directed that the net proceeds of the sale be paid into the Surrogate's Court. In a partition action there seems to be no authority for the direction to pay said money into the Surrogate’s Court, although such authority did exist prior to 1896 under said section 1538 as it then read. (See Laws of 1890, chap. 509; Laws of 1896, chap. 277; Laws of 1918, chap. 305.) The final judgment herein so provided, however, apparently upon consent of all the parties.

The final judgment in the partition action fixed the rights of the appellant and of all other parties in interest. It estab[142] lished the amount which the appellant was entitled to receive at $1,825.37. The manner in which he could withdraw that sum from the hands of the county treasurer was fixed by section 1538 of the Code of Civil Procedure. He might withdraw such money at any time by filing a bond and procuring an order as provided in'said section; or, upon a certificate of the surrogate showing that eighteen months had elapsed since the issuing of letters upon the estate of the decedent and that no proceeding for the mortgage, lease or sale of the real property of said decedent was pending, and upon the certificate of the county clerk as provided in said section, he might apply to the court wherein the final judgment was rendered for an order directing the county treasurer to pay over the sum to which he was entitled under said final judgment.

Where a proceeding to sell, lease or mortgage real property for the payment of debts and funeral expenses, commenced within eighteen months after letters were issued, is pending in Surrogate’s Court, the fund deposited under a final judgment in a partition action cannot be paid out until the determination of such proceeding, as such fund stands in place of the real property sold in the partition action and is subject to the lien of the decedent’s debts. (Matter of Dusenbury, 34 Misc. Rep. 666.)

The appellant concedes that his share of such fund established by the final judgment in the partition action is subject to its proportionate share of the debts of decedent established in the proceeding in Surrogate’s Court. It is urged by the appellant, however, that the total amount which is a legal charge against said fund under section 2703 of the Code of Civil Procedure should be fixed and determined by the surrogate and deducted from the amount on deposit with the county treasurer, and that the balance should be paid over to the appellant and to the other parties entitled thereto. It is insisted that the surrogate had no authority, when the debts were established at $617.44, to order the payment of the whole sum of $5,476.05 to the executor, thereby depriving the appellant of his right, under section 1538 of the Code of Civil Procedure, to apply to the court for an order permitting him to withdraw his share upon furnishing a bond as required [143] by said section, and making his share subject to a reduction for executor’s commissions.

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In re the Judicial Settlement of the Accounts of Egan, 197 A.D. 139, 188 N.Y.S. 1, 1921 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 7416 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1921).

197 A.D. 139 (In re the Judicial Settlement of the Accounts of Egan) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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