Pyles v. Bosler

22 Pa. D. & C. 10, 1934 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 405
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Cumberland County
DecidedOctober 31, 1934
Docketno. 129
StatusPublished

This text of 22 Pa. D. & C. 10 (Pyles v. Bosler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Cumberland County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pyles v. Bosler, 22 Pa. D. & C. 10, 1934 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 405 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1934).

Opinion

Reese, P. J.,

The plaintiff herein heretofore brought an action of assumpsit to recover the amount due the estate of her decedent from the estate of Frank C. Bosler, deceased. This action was brought under the provisions of the Fiduciaries Act of June 7,1917, P. L. 447, sec. 15 (a) and (6), against Hannah Elizabeth Bosler as executrix of Mr. Bosler’s estate and against her in her individual capacity as devisee and owner of all the real estate formerly belonging to her decedent. Judgment against her in both capacities was finally entered in favor of the plaintiff and affirmed by the Supreme Court in Pyles, Executrix, v. Bosler, Executrix, et al., 313 Pa. 548.

[11]*11In that action, the entire record of which is in the record of the present proceeding, it appears that Mr. Bosler died December 2, 1918. On November 10, 1919, the plaintiff duly filed a statement of her claim against his .estate, naming his executrix and devisee as defendants, in the office of the prothonotary, and it was properly indexed against them on the judgment index. On October 22,1923, plaintiff filed a revival of the entry of her claim against the same defendants in the same office, and it was duly indexed against them on the judgment index.

On March 1, 1927, Mr. Bosler’s liability to plaintiff became due and payable: Pyles, Executrix, v. Bosler, Executrix, et al., supra, p. 553. Within a year thereafter, on July 21, 1927, an action was brought against the executrix and devisee pursuant to section 15(6) of the Act of 1917, supra. On October 28, 1931, defendants appealed to the Supreme Court from one of the many interlocutory decisions of this court, and on July 18, 1932, the record was remitted from the Supreme Court to this court: Pyles v. Bosler et al., 308 Pa. 297. The case finally came to trial, and on September 27, 1932, a verdict was rendered for the plaintiff against the executrix and devisee. After a motion for judgment n. o. v. was disposed of, judgment was entered against the defendants on February 2,1933. On February 18,1933, the defendants appealed to the Supreme Court, which affirmed the judgment on January 30,1934: Pyles, Executrix, v. Bosler, Executrix, et al., 313 Pa. 548. That court held that the lien of the debt of Mr. Bosler on the land of which he died seized was kept alive in the way prescribed by section 15 (a.) and (6) of the Act of 1917, supra.

The present proceeding was instituted on June 10, 1933, by the filing by plaintiff of a precipe for a sci. fa. to revive and continue the lien of the judgments against the executrix and devisee entered in the action herein-above set forth et quare executionem non. The prsecipe and the sci. fa. issued thereon named as defendants the executrix and devisee against whom judgments had been entered and also certain alienees to whom the devisee had sold certain of the lands which she had acquired from the decedent, to wit, Eugene L. Martin and wife, whose deed from the devisee was dated and recorded June 14,1928, and Ralph Sehecter and wife, whose deed from the devisee was dated August 17, 1931, and recorded August 28, 1931. Service of the writ was duly made upon or accepted by all the defendants, who filed affidavits of defense.

On the trial of the present proceeding, a verdict was directed against the executrix and also against the devisee and her alienees de terris. The defendants submitted several written points. One asking for binding instructions was refused and ruling on the others was reserved. The present motion for judgment n. o. v. followed.

The principal contention of the defendants is that the writ of sci. fa. was not issued within the time prescribed by section 15 (a) of the Fiduciaries Act. As stated above, the decedent’s liability to the plaintiff became due and payable on March 1, 1927. Under section 15(a), supra, it was necessary to bring an action against the executrix for the recovery of the debt within 1 year thereafter. This was done, and the devisee was joined as a defendant. Section 15(a) then provides, inter alia: .'. and then to be a lien only for the period of five years, unless the same be revived by writ of scire facias against the decedent, his heirs, executors or administrators, and the devisee, alienee, or owner of the land sought to be charged, in the manner now provided in the case of the revival of judgments.”

In other words, the sci. fa. to revive the lien of the debt must be issued within 6 years from the time the cause of action accrued. Defendants con[12]*12tend that since the 6-year period herein expired on March 1, 1933, a sci. fa. issued on June 10, 1933, was too late and judgment must he entered for all the defendants.

But certainly the judgment against the executrix could be revived against the executrix for the purpose of reaching possible personal estate of the decedent without following the requirement set forth above. For this reason, judgment n. o. v. cannot be entered in favor of the executrix.

The portion of section 15(a), above quoted, requires the sci. fa. to issue against the devisee within 6 years after the accrual of the debt where the action to recover the debt was brought against the executor or administrator alone, but makes no such requirement where the devisee was joined as a defendant in that action. The purpose of bringing in the devisee at some stage of the proceeding is to give him the right to test the claim of the creditor on its merits, to show that it is not valid or has been partly or fully paid: Walthaur’s Heirs v. Gossar et ux., 32 Pa. 259. If the devisee, as here, is joined with the executor as a defendant, and judgment is entered against executor and devisee, the land acquired by the devisee is finally charged with the debt by a judgment de terris: Moore v. Skelton, 14 Pa. 359; Commonwealth v. Cochran et al., 146 Pa. 223. As to proceedings subsequent to a judgment de terris against a devisee sued with the executor, the Fiduciaries Act is silent, and properly so, for such a judgment should then be treated as any other judgment. If the devisee is sued with the executor and judgment de terris entered against the devisee, there is no necessity thereafter to bring in the devisee again by a sci. fa. issued within the 6-year period. That is necessary only when the devisee has not had his day in court and the creditor is still trying to charge the land with the debt. It follows, therefore, in the instant case that, since judgment de terris was entered against the devisee herein on February 2, 1933, it was not necessary to follow the requirement of section 15 (a) by issuing a sci. fa. against the devisee before March 1, 1933, when the 6-year period expired. So far as the devisee and lands then owned by her were concerned, the judgment de terris could be revived at any time within 5 years after the entry of the judgment. Hence it follows that the devisee is not entitled to judgment n. o. v.

We find nothing in the many cases cited by defendants’ counsel contrary to the foregoing views. In the case most strongly relied upon, Kirk v. Van Horn et al., 265 Pa. 549, the facts are. distinguishable from the present case. In that case, the action to recover the debt was brought within the proper time but against the administratrix alone, and the widow and heirs were not made parties within the statutory period of 7 years (now 6 years). In the same manner, all the other cases cited by counsel may be distinguished, for in all the original action was against the personal representative alone, and where that is true, of course the widow, heirs, and devisees must be made parties within 5 years after the period during which action against the personal representative must be brought.

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Related

Pyles, Exrx. v. Bosler, Exrx.
170 A. 897 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1934)
Pyles v. Bosler
162 A. 286 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1932)
Moore v. Skelton
14 Pa. 359 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1850)
Soles v. Hickman
29 Pa. 342 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1857)
Walthaur's Heirs v. Gossar
32 Pa. 259 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1858)
Kirk v. Van Horn
265 Pa. 549 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1920)
Brennan's Estate
121 A. 321 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1923)
Commonwealth v. Cochran
23 A. 203 (Butler County Court of Common Pleas, 1892)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
22 Pa. D. & C. 10, 1934 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 405, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pyles-v-bosler-pactcomplcumber-1934.