Mullen v. Durrie

33 P.2d 270, 97 Mont. 144
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedMay 26, 1934
DocketNo. 7,215
StatusPublished

This text of 33 P.2d 270 (Mullen v. Durrie) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mullen v. Durrie, 33 P.2d 270, 97 Mont. 144 (Mo. 1934).

Opinions

MR. JUSTICE ANDERSON

delivered the opinion of the court.

Thomas Mullen died testate on January 21, 1931. His wife was named as executrix in the will. She declined to act- and requested the appointment of F. B. Durrie as administrator with the will annexed, and he was appointed and qualified as such administrator on February 23, 1932. The legatees and devisees named in the will, appellants here, are the surviving wife and the sons and daughters of the deceased, all of whom reside without the state of Montana.

On October 14, 1932, Durrie, as administrator, made and filed his final account of his administration of the estate. The appellants filed objections to the account, contesting the allowance of an item in the sum of $6,208.88, being a savings account in the United States National Bank at Deer Lodge, and to an item of $620 withdrawn from the same bank account and converted into a cashier’s cheek which was forwarded to Dr. E. S. Morrow, in Los Angeles, California, for medical services rendered to the deceased during his last illness, and to a like item of $200, withdrawn from the account in the same manner and for which a cashier’s cheek was forwarded to the widow in Los Angeles in payment of a family allowance.

The United States National Bank suspended business on October 22, 1932. Durrie, at the time of his appointment as administrator and until the bank closed, was its cashier and [149]*149in full charge of the affairs of the bank under the control of the board of directors. He was a stockholder, but not a director, in the bank. Appellants contend that Dürrie was negligent in failing to withdraw the amount of the savings account in the bank. The court by a general order overruled the objections of the appellants and sustained the account of the administrator as filed. The appeal is from this order.

The funds in the savings account were on deposit in the bank in question for many years prior to the death of the deceased. Subsequent to the appointment of Durrie as administrator, the account was changed to his name as administrator of the estate of the deceased. No additional funds were credited to the account after his appointment, other than items of interest accruing thereon. The pass-book for the account, it appears, remained in the possession of the widow. She was present in Deer Lodge at the time of the appointment of the administrator. Other funds belonging to the estate were on deposit in other banks in Deer Lodge. The widow by letter requested the administrator to leave the funds in the several banks as they existed at the time of Mullen’s death. This request was followed by the administrator.

The only witnesses called by the objectors were the administrator, one of the members of the board of directors, and the receiver of the bank. There is no conflict in the testimony as between the several witnesses. Under this state of the record this court is called upon, as was the trial court, to say whether the undisputed testimony justifies the findings made. (Fleming v. Consolidated Motor Sales Co., 74 Mont. 245, 240 Pac. 376; Weiss v. Hamilton, 40 Mont. 99, 105 Pac. 74.)

This being a proceeding equitable in its nature, this court will, it being a proper case, review all questions of fact arising from the evidence presented by the record and determine the same, as well as questions of law. (In re Connolly’s Estate, 79 Mont. 445, 257 Pac. 418.) This necessitates an examination of the evidence.

[150]*150The administrator, Durrie, as the managing officer of the bank, was thoroughly familiar with the affairs and condition of the bank at all times. It appears that in the fall of 1931 various directors of the bank were indebted to it. At the suggestion of Mr. Durrie these directors secured a loan on their individual notes from a banking institution in Helena in the sum of $48,000, which sum was paid into the bank and for which notes of like amounts were indorsed to them without recourse. Many of the notes so indorsed and delivered were those of the directors, although not all. The bank was in nowise obligated as a result of this transaction and thereby liquidated its notes in the amounts stated. The bank in the spring of 1932 obtained two loans from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation aggregating the sum of $88,000, and to secure the payment of the same pledged collateral of the face value in double the amount of the loans.

The bank, by notice printed on its pass-books, reserved the right to require a ninety-day notice of withdrawals of savings accounts. Such a notice appeared on the pass-book of the savings account in question. In the latter part of July or the first of August the bank for the first time exercised this reserved right as to the withdrawal of a particular savings account, and from that time on, until the bank closed in October, it exercised the right of notice as to withdrawals of large amounts. Durrie testified: “Any one who desired to make a withdrawal of anything of a normal amount for necessary purposes, they were paid right off, * * * even up to $500.” When inquired of as to the purpose of invoking the rule of notice, he stated: “I would say that the requiring of notice was a precautionary measure at the time it was first put into effect. We had funds to pay the withdrawal at the time we first started requiring notice. But we felt it was a matter of good business and we had been told by the Banking Department and other good banks that it was customary nowadays to require notices on large withdrawals.” He further testified: “The withdrawals came with no particular I will say rush, but there was a steady withdrawal, [151]*151and when it was learned that we were requiring notice, other people who had not thought of withdrawing thought possibly then it was necessary and they started filing their notices as a means of being able to get their funds in ease they wanted them. It proved to be a bad move to take to require a notice because we got some very unfavorable advertising on account of it, but we did not anticipate it at the time.”

It appears that at the time the bank closed it had failed to secure a further loan from the Eeconstruction Finance Corporation. Mr. Durrie testified as to the cause of the closing, as follows: “We closed that time because we had failed to get certain relief measures that we felt we were going to get without any question, and we felt that the interests of depositors would be jeopardized by remaining open, and that we would be preferring creditors to pay some depositors and not able to pay others.” He further testified that in the forepart of October he informed the board of directors that, if they failed to get certain assistance which they had every reason to expect, the bank might be put in a dangerous position, and that he only had actual knowledge that the bank would close on the day preceding its failing to open for business.

John Mclnerney, who was the vice-president of the bank and somewhat active in its affairs, testified that the bank did become short of cash on account of the depression, and because they could not collect their loans in the latter part of September or early in October.

J. H. Morrow, the receiver, testified that the liabilities of the bank amounted to $550,000; that the face value of the assets, excluding the stockholders’ liability, was $780,000, and that the stockholders’ liability was $100,000 additional, of which he estimated $30,000 would be ultimately collected; and he gave as an approximation that the bank would ultimately pay its creditors 50 cents on the dollar.

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Bluebook (online)
33 P.2d 270, 97 Mont. 144, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mullen-v-durrie-mont-1934.