Mobley v. Phinizy

157 S.E. 182, 172 Ga. 339, 1931 Ga. LEXIS 90
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedFebruary 23, 1931
DocketNo. 7628
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 157 S.E. 182 (Mobley v. Phinizy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mobley v. Phinizy, 157 S.E. 182, 172 Ga. 339, 1931 Ga. LEXIS 90 (Ga. 1931).

Opinion

Russell, C. J.,

being disqualified, Judge John B. Hutcheson, of the Stone Mountain Circuit, was designated for this case.

Hutcheson, J.

Jacob Phinizy died testate on March 30, 1934. His executors filed a bill in Richmond superior court, to marshal the assets of his estate. This proceeding was long, involved, and complicated. A decree therein was rendered on January 13, 1936. Before his death Jacob Phinizy owned 33 shares of the stock of the Washington Exchange Bank, which stood in-his name. At the time of his death these shares were pledged to the Georgia Railroad Bank. This pledgee, with the concurrence of his executors, sold these 33 shares to one Golsan, who in turn sold them to M. T. Gresham. A transfer thereof was made on the books of the bank from Jacob Phinizy to M. T. Gresham on July 14, 1935, which date was prior to but within six months of the date of the failure of said bank on October 7, 1935. Bennett as superintendent of banks was made a party to the proceeding mentioned above. By said final decree, the remaining assets of the estate of Jacob Phinizy were turned over to Billups Phinizy as trustee for Marion Daniel Phinizy, in settlement of a claim to which the court held that Marion Daniel Phinizy was entitled; said assets to be held by the trustee and his successors in office. The decree further provided for the payment of the debts of Jacob Phinizy ratably and proportionately as set out therein. Said decree further provided for “any valid claims which may be established in favor of T. R. Ben[341]*341nett as superintendent of banks of the State of Georgia, in charge of liquidating the affairs of Washington Exchange Bank, of Washington, Georgia, on a stock assessment of $3,300, predicated on the ownership of 33 shares of the capital stock of said bank by said Jacob Phinizy at the time of his death; provided that it is adjudged and decreed in this proceeding that said superintendent of banks has a valid claim for said sum of thirty-three hundred dollars, or any portion thereof.”

The original intervention by the superintendent of banks was filed with the end in view of establishing such legal liability on the part of the estate of Jacob Phinizy, and hence under the terms of said decree on the part of Charles H. Phinizy as trustee and ex-officio administrator for Marion Daniel Phinizy, Billups Phinizy having died and having been succeeded by said Charles H. Phinizy as trustee for Marion Daniel Phinizy, and Marion Daniel Phinizy having also died. To this intervention, based on the 33 shares owned by Jacob Phinizy individually, a demurrer was filed by said trustee and ex-officio administrator of Marion Daniel Phinizy; and a response of Sallie D. Phinizy and Coles Phinizy, executors of Jacob Phinizy, was filed on August 7, 1929. In this demurrer it was set up that the intervention set forth no cause of action against said trustee; that it failed to show under what provision of law it is claimed that said trustee is liable; and that it failed to show what debts, if any, due by Washington Exchange Bank on July 14, 1924, the date on which the stock was transferred on the books of said bank to M. T. Gresham, were unpaid. The demurrer contained other grounds which it is unnecessary to set forth in order to reach a decision in this ease. The grounds of demurrer just stated were sustained by the trial judge. To this order the superintendent excepted.

On July 20, 1929, the superintendent of banks filed an intervention termed by him as an amendment to the pending intervention as to the 33 shares, in which he for the first time attempted to enforce certain alleged rights growing out of the ownership, as hereinafter described, of 146 shares in Washington Exchange Bank. This so-called amendment was not tendered tó the court for allowance until December 11, 1929. Both dates were more than five years after the date of the death of Jacob Phinizy, and over three years after the superintendent of banks had been made a party, to the [342]*342bill to marshal the assets, and more than three years after the date of the final decree on January 13, 1926. During his lifetime and for many years prior to his death, Jacob Phinizy had acted as the sole trustee of Marion Daniel Phinizy (his brother), a person non compos mentis, under the terms of the will of their father. Among the assets of this trust estate were 146 shares of the stock of Washington Exchange Bank. Upon the death of Jacob Phinizy, Billups Phinizy became the sole trustee of said Marion Daniel Phinizy. Under the terms of the will these 146 shares of stock were transferred by the executors of Jacob Phinizy to Billups Phinizy as trustee for said Marion Daniel Phinizy, and this transfer was entered on the books of said bank on June 24, 1924, more than six months prior to the date of the failure of said bank. Billups Phinizy as trustee subsequently sold these 146 shares, and they were transferred on the books of the bank to M. T. Gresham on July 14, 1925, which was prior to but within six months of the date of the failure of said bank. The superintendent of banks on behalf of the Washington Exchange Bank filed a proceeding in the superior court of Clarke County against Billups Phinizy, as trustee, on an alleged liability growing out of the ownership of the identical 146 shares. Before this proceeding was heard, Billups Phinizy died, and Charles H. Phinizy succeeded him as sole trustee for Marion Daniel Phinizy. A demurrer to said petition was filed by said trustee, which was sustained, and an appeal from that decison is now being prosecuted by the superintendent of banks in this court.

Although full knowledge was had by the superintendent of banks and his attorneys of the proceedings in Richmond superior court with reference to the estate of Jacob Phinizy, no action of any kind With reference to the 146 shares was taken until the tendering of said amendment, and no claim, formal or informal, had ever been made prior to a very few days before July 20, 1929, other than as involved in the Clarke county litigation. The superior court of Richmond county refused to allow the amendment to the intervention based on the 146 shares of stock, and on December 16, 1929, passed its order disallowing the same upon the grounds, among others, that “said proposed amendment seeks to set aside a final judgment and decree of this court, which was rendered more than three years prior to the presentation, urging, or filing of such [343]*343proposed amendment,” and that the same “sets forth an entirely new, separate, and distinct cause of action entirely unconnected with the alleged cause of action based on the thirty-three share issue.” To this judgment the superintendent of banks excepted. Thus two separate and distinct questions are presented for decision by this court, namely: (1) Was the court correct in sustaining the portions of the demurrer which it did sustain to the intervention filed by the superintendent of banks based on the thirty-three share issue? (2) Was the court correct in refusing to allow the filing of the amendment to the intervention, based on the one hundred and forty-six share issue ?

We deal first with the demurrer to the intervention filed by the superintendent as to the 33 shares. The record shows that the 33 shares owned by Jacob Phinizy were transferred out of his estate to M. T. G-resham on July 14, 1925, which was prior to but within six months of the date of the failure of the Washington Exchange Bank, namely October 7, 1925.

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Related

Gormley v. Searcy
186 S.E. 737 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1936)
Kennedy v. Brooke
168 S.E. 294 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1933)
Gormley v. Phinizy
167 S.E. 757 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1933)
Cozart v. Mobley
159 S.E. 749 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1931)
Dillard v. Mobley
158 S.E. 534 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1931)

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Bluebook (online)
157 S.E. 182, 172 Ga. 339, 1931 Ga. LEXIS 90, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mobley-v-phinizy-ga-1931.