Reed v. Carter

181 Okla. 241
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedOctober 19, 1937
DocketNo. 27243
StatusPublished

This text of 181 Okla. 241 (Reed v. Carter) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Reed v. Carter, 181 Okla. 241 (Okla. 1937).

Opinion

OSBORN, C. J.

This is an appeal from the district court of Okmulgee county by A. R. Reed, as ancillary administrator, plaintiff in error, against Zerleasie Loman Carter, Sadie Loman Roseborough, L. E. Stewart, and E. W. Thomson, guardian of Charles Loman, Jr., 'a minor, defendants in error. This controversy 1 grew out of the allowance and payment of certain claims by [242]*242tRe administrator, Reed, as disclosed by bis final account and wbicb was protested by tbe defendants in error. Tbe plaintiff in error was appointed ancillary administrator of tbe estate of Ella Loman, deceased, of Jackson county, Mo., in wbicb county the main administration proceedings were pending. J. J. Bruce filed a claim with the ancillary administrator for $1.240 wbicb be claimed was due him from tbe deceased, Ella Loman. Prior to tbe filing of the claim, Bruce bad filed suit, based on tbe same claim, in tbe district court of Okmulgee county wherein be sought to impress certain real estate be longing to tbe estate with a lien. Judgment bad been rendered against him, from wbicb h® bad 'appealed to tbe Supreme Court, and the appeal was pending in the Supreme Court at the time he filed bis claim with tbe administr'ator. See Bruce v. Calloway, 173 Okla. 151, 46 P. (2d) 446. Tbe administrator did not approve tbe claim, but made tbe following indorsement on the back of tbe same:

“Proof of Claim of J. J. Bruce. Piled this Nov. 9, 1931. Amt. claimed $1,340.00. Amt. allowed, none. Pending outcome of suit in Dist. Court, Okmulgee County. A. R. Reed, Ancillary Administrator.”

An itemized statement attached to the final account filed by tbe administrator shows that tbe claim was re.iected. The other claim in controversy was one filed by the Home Trust Company of Kansas City, Mo., for $850, and the itemized statement attached to tbe final account of the administrator shows it to have been re.iected. The record discloses that the following notation was made concerning the claim:

“Tbe above was presented to me on the 31 d'ay of July, 1931, for allowance, and on tbe 31 day of July, 1931, said claim was entered as claim against estate, to be adjusted in open court; this administrator having no funds on hand belonging to said estate, will allow same in amount as proof sustains and court approves at hearing thereof.”

These claims were filed in 1931 and within the time allowed by law for filing of claims against the estate. In- December, 1933, the claimants, together with their attorneys, and the ancillary administrator, Reed, entered into an agreement whereby the claims were to be allowed and paid in part, and application was made to the county court of Okmulgee county, to which the agreement was attached, and same was allowed and an order issued by the county court directing the ancillary administrator to pay out of certain funds then available to J. J. Bruce $500, and to the Home Trust Company $200, and it was further agreed that they should receive additional payments out of the common fund of the estate in the final closing up of the estate. Upon the filing of the final account of the administrator in 1935', the same was duly set for hearing, at which time the defendants in error, being heirs of Ella Loman, deceased, filed their protest, and, upon hearing of the same, the county court approved the final account of the administrator, except as to the two items heretofore referred to, which he disallowed and surcharged 'against the administrator, plaintiff in error. An appeal was taken from the order of the county court to the district court of Okmulgee county, and upon hearing of the same de novo the order of the county court was sustained, from which judgment of the district court of Okmulgee county this appeal is prosecuted.

Numerous specifications of error are assigned, but the only one necessary for consideration and which we regard as being decisive of the question raised on the appeal is whether a formal and absolute approval of a claim is necessary within the statutoiw time in order that it may be legally paid by the administrator.

Plaintiff in • error urges with some degree of merit that, the administrator should not be surcharged with these items because of the fact that he was acting in conformity with the agreement entered into by the parties and under the direction of an order of the county court directing him to pay the same, and cites numerous authorities in support of his contention. But we do not find the same to be in point, for the reason that the authorities cited deal with a different state of facts. It is a well-established rule in this jurisdiction that where claims are paid by 'an administrator or executor that are proper and which have been or thereafter in due time 'are allowed, the voluntary payment of the same by the administrator or executor is permitted. But in this case we think both the county and district courts properly held that no approval of either of these claims was ever had and that the attempted stipulation or agree[243]*243ment entered into more than two years after the time for filing claims had expired was wholly unauthorized and could not revive these claims as against the estate. Defendants in error call attention to the provisions of law governing such matters in this state.

Section 1237, O. S. 1931, provides:

“When a claim accompanied by the affidavit required in this article, is presented to the executor or administrator, he must indorse thereon his allowance or rejection, with the day and date thereof. If he allow the claim, it must be presented to the judge for his approval, who must, in the same manner, indorse upon it his allowance or rejection. If the executor or administrator, or the judge refuse or neglect to indorse such allowance or rejection for ten days after the claim has been presented to him, such refusal or neglect is equivalent to a rejection on the tenth day; and if the presentation he made by a notary, the certificate of such notary, under seal, is prima facie evidence of such presentation and rejection. If the claim be presented to the executor or administrator before the expiration of the time limited for the presentation of claims, the same is presented in time, though acted upon by the executor or administrator, and by the judge, after the expiration of such time.”

Section 1238, O. S. 1931, is, in part, as follows:

“Every claim allowed by the executor or administrator, and approved by the judge, or a copy thereof, as hereinafter provided, must, within thirty days thereafter, he filed in the county court. * * *”

The above sections very clearly point out the procedure and the manner of filing claims against an estate and the necessity of the approval by the administrator and by the county court and t.he filing of same within 30 days thereafter in the county court.

Section 1239, O. S. 1931, deals with rejected claims and is as follows:

“When a claim is rejected, either by the executor or administrator, or the judge of the county court, the holder must bring suit in the proper court, according to its amount, against the executor or administrator, within three months after the date of its rejection, if it be then due, or within two months after it becomes due, otherwise the claim is forever barred.”

In the case of Williams v. Jackson, 72 Okla. 141, 179 P. 603, this court, in construing the sections above quoted, determined the question here involved adversely to the contention of the plaintiff in error. Therein it held:

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Related

In Re Barnett's Estate
1915 OK 986 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1915)
Bruce v. Calloway
1935 OK 555 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1935)
Williams v. Jackson
1919 OK 75 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1919)

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Bluebook (online)
181 Okla. 241, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reed-v-carter-okla-1937.