Mangold v. Grace

193 N.W. 338, 110 Neb. 216, 1923 Neb. LEXIS 189
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedApril 21, 1923
DocketNo. 22343
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 193 N.W. 338 (Mangold v. Grace) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mangold v. Grace, 193 N.W. 338, 110 Neb. 216, 1923 Neb. LEXIS 189 (Neb. 1923).

Opinion

Good, J.

This action involves the validity of a sale of real estate for payment of debts and costs of administration by a foreign administrator.

In 1903 Henry Schroeder, a citizen and resident of Wyoming, died intestate, leaving him surviving a widow and four children, whose ages ranged from two to eight years. At the time of his death he was possessed of real and personal property in Wyoming and also 160 acres of land in Douglas county, Nebraska, which is the subject of this controversy. Such proceedings were haO in Wyoming that all of decedent’s property in that state was applied toward the payment of the debts against his estate, and there still remained unpaid debts to the amount of $4,834.52 and some costs of administration. The land in controversy was subject to a mortgage of about $1,500, and the debt which it secured had been filed and allowed as a claim against decedent’s estate in Wyoming. In 1905, on the petition of the administrator, license was granted 'by the district court for Douglas county to sell the land in controversy for the payment of the unpaid debts and costs. The land was advertised for sale and not sold for want of bidders; on readvertising bids were received, but, not being for a satisfactory sum, the sale was adjourned and abandoned. This attempted sale was not reported to the district court. The land was again advertised for sale and was purchased by the plaintiff for the sum of $12,080. The sale was reported and confirmed' and deed issued to the plaintiff. Plaintiff brought this action to quiet title on the ground ■ of adverse possession. The defendants are the heirs of Henry Schroeder, deceased. They filed an answer and cross-petition in which they assault the administrator’s sale [219]*219upon various grounds, and ask to have the sale set aside and title to the land quieted in themselves. The trial resulted in a decree quieting title in plaintiff upon condition that he pay into court for the defendants the sum of $1,008.07, with interest thereon from the date of the administrator’s sale. The defendants have appealed.

The widow of Schroeder consented to the sale of the real estate by the administrator, waiving her dower right in the land, but reserving to herself her right to dower in the proceeds of the sale. Subsequent to the •sale she executed a quitclaim deed to the premises. The administrator, previous to granting of license, filed certified copies of his appointment and of his bond, as administrator, but did not file authenticated copies, as required by the statute. Although the administrator was licensed to sell more real estate than was necessary for the payment of debts, the district court for Douglas county did not require, nor did the administrator give, a bond to the district court-, as required by section 1126, Comp. St. 1922. The notice of sale given by the administi'ator was for one day less than the period required by statute; nor did the district court require the purchaser to give a bond for the payment of the debt allowed against the decedent’s estate, and which was secured by a mortgage on the land, as required by the statute; nor ■did the purchaser pay or satisfy the mortgage, and the debt which it secured was afterwards paid by the administrator out of the proceeds of the sale of the land.

Defendants urge that the sale should be set aside for the iiTegularities mentioned, and also for the reason that, as they allege, the bids were chilled because of the irregularities in the proceedings, and that the land did not bring an adequate and fair price, and that the administrator did not pay in the full purchase price of the land, in that he did not pay or discharge the mortgage upon the land in addition to the price bid.

1. Before entering upon a discussion of any of the questions involved in this case, it may be well to ob[220]*220serve that this is a collateral attack on an administrator’s sale. This court has heretofore held that an administrator^ sale of real estate of his decedent, pursuant to the order of a district court, is a judicial sale and is. not subject to collateral attack for irregularities. Maul v. Heilman, 39 Neb. 322; Seymour v. Ricketts, 21 Neb. 240; Haight v. Hayes, 3 Neb. (Unof.) 587. Nearly if not all of the questions raised by the defendants have previously been settled by this court and been held to be irregularities and not to avoid the sale.

2. That the failure of a foreign administrator to file an authenticated copy of his appointment in the district court, as required by section 1423, Comp. St. 1922, is but an irregularity, is evident from the holding of this court in Myers v. McGavock, 39 Neb. 843. In that case a guardian’s sale was attacked for failure of the guardian to file an authenticated copy of his appointment. The statutory requirement as to filing by- a foreign guardian of an authenticated copy of appointment is the same as for a foreign administrator. In that case a certified copy instead of an authenticated copy was filed, as was done in the instant case.

3. That the failure to file in the district court an authenticated copy ' of the administrator’s bond, given in the Wyoming court, and that no bond was given by the administrator to the district court for Douglas county are mere irregularities, has 'been determined by this court in Pohlenz v. Panko, 106 Neb. 156. The failure to publish notice for three full weeks prior to the date of the sale, as required by the statute, has likewise been held an irregularity, cured by confirmation, in Pohlens r. Panho, supra, and cases there cited.

4. Complaint is made because the administrator failed to report to the district court the second attempted sale. Had the facts been reported, it could not have availed the. defendants, for no bid was accepted and no sale was made, and the court could have done nothing more than to have ordered a readvertisement of the land [221]*221for sale. The failure to report the fact was, at most, an irregularity and could not have the effect of invalidating a sale subsequently made pursuant to a new notice.

5. Defendants assign as error that bids were chilled and a fair price could not be obtained by reason of the irregularities in the proceedings previous to the sale. Mere inadequacy of price cannot be urged after confirmation in a collateral attack. Besides, the district court in this proceeding found that the land sold for a fair price, and the finding is supported by the evidence.

6. Defendants urge that the sale was confirmed without payment of the full purchase price. The record shows that the bid Avas $12,080, and this amount Avas paid in by the purchaser. The defendants evidently, by this assignment, have reference to the fact that plaintiff did not pay and discharge the mortgage debt upon the land. This Avas no part of the bid. It is true that, under the statute, the purchaser should have been required to give a bond to pay the debt secured by the mortgage, because it was a claim that had been alloAved against the estate of the decedent, but there is no merit in the assignment that he did. not pay the full purchase price; and in In re Estate of Vasek, 97 Neb. 617, it is held that the failure of the purchaser to give the bond is an irregularity that cannot be inquired into on a collateral attack upon the ■ sale.

7.

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Bluebook (online)
193 N.W. 338, 110 Neb. 216, 1923 Neb. LEXIS 189, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mangold-v-grace-neb-1923.