Smith v. Belding

224 S.W. 562, 1920 Tex. App. LEXIS 921
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 5, 1920
DocketNo. 591.
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 224 S.W. 562 (Smith v. Belding) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smith v. Belding, 224 S.W. 562, 1920 Tex. App. LEXIS 921 (Tex. Ct. App. 1920).

Opinion

HIGHTOWER, C. J.

Dwight Belding died intestate in Harris county, Tex., in July, 1911. He left surviving him, as his only heirs, Mrs. Abbie Belding, who was his mother, H. W. Belding, a brother, and two sisters, Mrs. J. D. Rogers and Mrs. Mary B. Finch, all of whom lived in other states. At the time of his death Dwight Belding was possessed of some property, consisting partly of real property and partly of personal property and certain choses in action, most of which was in Harris county, Tex., and Belding was a resident of that county at the time of his death. In September, 1911, James R. Masterson, a resident citizen of Harris county, Tex., was appointed by the probate court of that county as administrator of the estate of Dwight Belding, deceased, and promptly qualified as such, and executed a bond as such administrator in the sum of §30,000, and H. Masterson and W. A. Smith were the sureties on such bond. James R. Masterson, as administrator, promptly took charge of Dwight Belding’s estate, and administered upon the same under the orders of the probate court of Harris county until his death on the 4th day of March, 1914, on which date the said James R. Masterson met his death very suddenly in the city of Houston, in an automobile collision. At the time of his death James R. Masterson had not made his final report as such administrator, and had not been discharged as such administrator. Shortly after James R. Masterson’s death, H. Masterson, who, as we have shown, was one of said administrator’s bondsmen, was by the probate court of Harris county appointed administrator de bonis non of the estate of Dwight Belding and duly qualified as such, but no property of any kind or character ever came into the hands of said H. Masterson as administrator de bonis non, except $1,034.52 in money, which, at the date of the death of James R. Masterson, was on deposit in one of the banks in Houston in the name of James R. Masterson as administrator of said Belding estate.

This suit was filed in the district court of Harris county by the above-named heirs of Dwight Belding against the said W. A. Smith and H. Masterson, and in their petition said plaintiffs alleged, substantially, that James R. Masterson, while administrator of said Belding estate, received and collected money and property, real and personal, aggregating $16,917.13, and that said administrator paid out on claims against said estate $8,689.68, and that he paid to the said heirs of Dwight Belding $5,000. They further alleged that there was property consisting of real estate belonging to said estate of the value of $786, and that said administrator, James R. Master-son, was entitled to credits in the sum of $1,034.50, which after his death was paid to plaintiffs by defendant H. Masterson, in his capacity as administrator de bonis non, leaving a balance due plaintiffs in the sum of $6,406.93, and plaintiffs claimed that they were entitled to interest thereon at the rate of 6 per cent, per annum from March 4, 1914, the date of James R. Masterson’s death. The petition then set forth the property belonging to said Belding estate, which had come into the hands of said James R. Masterson as administrator thereof, and also purported to set forth the claims that had existed against said estate, and which plaintiffs claimed had been discharged by the said James R. Masterson as administrator of said estate, and then followed a statement of the amount of credits which plaintiffs alleged James R. Masters'on, as administrator, and H. Masterson and Smith, as his bondsmen, were entitled to, such statement showing in the aggregate $6,820.52. It was further alleged that James R. Masterson, at the time of his death, was not in possession of any property or estate of any character out of which the plaintiffs could recover the amount that was due them by him as such administrator.

*564 The defendants, W. A. Smith and H. Mas-térson, answered by general demurrer and general denial, and further specially alleged, substantially, that James R. Masterson, during the time he -was administrator of said estate, collected and paid out numerous sums of money for said estate; that he met his death very suddenly in an automobile accident, and had no opportunity to file his final account, nor to make a formal showing of disbursements of money which he had paid out in the administration of said estate; that, by reason of the fact that he was so prevented from filing a final account, it was difficult to check up the many items and numerous sums of money received and paid out by the said James R. Masterson while such administrator, but that all sums due and owing plaintiffs as heirs of Dwight Beld-ing were paid out by the said James R. Mas-terson as such administrator. Defendants further alleged, substantially, that all matters in controversy in this suit were adjusted and settled between the plaintiffs and the defendant H. Masterson, and that in such settlement plaintiffs received from H. Masterson the sum of $952.75, which was in full settlement and satisfaction of any and all claims by plaintiffs against said estate, as well as against said defendants, and that plaintiffs, by such agreement and settlement, released and discharged defendants in this suit from any and all liability to plaintiffs or to said estate, and that plaintiffs accepted said sum of $952.75 in payment of all sums due and owing to them out of the estate of Dwight Belding, deceased.

To this answer plaintiffs replied by supplemental petition, alleging, substantially, that if they received from H. Masterson any sum in full settlement and satisfaction of their claims against defendants, said sum was paid to plaintiffs’ attorney by H. Masterson, as administrator de bonis non of the estate of Dwight Belding, deceased, and that it was not intended that said release should cover anything except the amount of money in said H. Masterson’s hands as administrator de bonis non, and that their attorney had no power or authority to execute a release discharging defendants from liability as bondsmen upon the bond of the administrator, James R. Masterson; that such claimed settlement and adjustment had reference only to the money which was paid plaintiffs’ attorney by said administrator de bonis non, and that it was understood by plaintiffs’ attorney and said H. Masterson at the time that such agreement had reference only to the amount of money in the said H. Masterson’s hands as administrator de bonis non, and that it was not intended by any of the parties to such agreement and settlement to release the said H. Masterson or the said W. A. Smith from) any liability as bondsmen on the official bond of the said James R. Masterson; that if the wording of said instrument reflected other than as a receipt for the amount from defendant, as administrator de bonis non, then such was because of a mutual mistake; and further that there was no consideration for the execution of the release of defendants as sureties on said administrator’s bond, if such release was in fact susceptible of any such construction.

The trial was had with a jury, and the cause submitted upon certain special issues, and upon the verdict judgment was rendered in favor of the plaintiffs against defendants for the aggregate amount of $6,S76.10, with interest- on that amount from the date of judgment at the rate of 6 per cent, per annum. From this judgment a writ of error was prosecuted by the defendants Smith and Master-son, who for brevity will be referred to as “appellants,” and defendants in error as “ap-pellees.”

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Bluebook (online)
224 S.W. 562, 1920 Tex. App. LEXIS 921, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-belding-texapp-1920.