State ex rel. Patterson v. Tittman

54 Mo. App. 490, 1893 Mo. App. LEXIS 210
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 9, 1893
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 54 Mo. App. 490 (State ex rel. Patterson v. Tittman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Patterson v. Tittman, 54 Mo. App. 490, 1893 Mo. App. LEXIS 210 (Mo. Ct. App. 1893).

Opinions

Biggs, J.

— Action on a guardian’s bond. The facts 'are undisputed. In December, 1874, John B. Johnson, curator of the estate of the relator (who was then a minor of about ten years of age), resigned his trust, and W. H. Horner, now deceased, was appointed in his stead by the probate court of the county of St. Louis. Horner accepted the trust, and he as principal, [493]*493with the appellants, J. B. C. Lncas and William Lncas as his sureties, executed a bond conditioned that he would, “truly and faithfully discharge the duties of his office of curator according to law.”

A principal note of Phebe Hunt for $5,000, dated January 27, 1871, payable three years after date, and one semi-annual interest note for $200 of the same date, were among the property turned overby Johnson to Horner, and to secure them Phebe Hunt had given a deed of trust on certain real estate in the city of St. Louis. There was also another note of Phebe Hunt for $6,385.34, dated October 26, 1874, payable three years after date, and three annual interest notes for $638.33 each, to secure which another deed of trust was given on the same property and certain other real estate in said city.

The trustee in the first deed of trust having refused to act, Horner as curator on May 20, 1881, applied to the circuit court of the city of St. Louis for the appointment of another trustee, which was done, the court appointing R. D. Lancaster.

Default having been made in the payment of all the notes, the property was advertised for sale under both deeds of trust, the sale to take place June 20, 1881.

On June 17, 1881, Horner represented to the probate court that the property was advertised for sale, that the total indebtedness amounted to about $12,000, and that, unless he would bid on the property, he believed that it would be sold at a sacrifice. Thereupon the court by an order entered of record authorized Horner to buy the property for his ward at the sale, provided it did not sell in excess of $10,000. Horner bought under both deeds of trust for $2,500. He received deeds from both trustees conveying to him individually the entire property; in one of the deeds, however, was embodied the order of the circuit court reciting the fact [494]*494that Lancaster had been appointed trustee at the instance of Horner as curator of the estate of Charles L. Patterson. The deeds of the trustees also recited the fact that J. B. Johnson, curator of •Charles L. Patterson, was the original beneficiary in both deeds of trust.

On June 25, 1881, Horner executed a deed of trust to R. D. Lancaster as trustee for the State Savings Association of St. Louis, whereby he conveyed the property so purchased by him to secure the payment of his individual debt, amounting at the time to $2,500.

On June 17, 1882, Horner executed and placed on record a quitclaim deed conveying the property to the relator; no reference, however, was made in this deed to the deed of trust previously given to secure the note held by the State Savings Association.

On June 21, 1882, Horner filed in the probate •court his seventh annual settlement as curator, in which he set forth the purchase of the land for his ward for the sum of $2,500, and the subsequent conveyance by him of the property to the relator. The statement contained no reference to the incumbrance which •the curator had placed on the property.

On August 16, 1885, the relator reached his majority, and on October 23, 1886, Horner died without having made a final settlement of his curatorship.

On November 9, 1886, letters of administration on the estate of Horner were granted to the defendant, Eugene O. Tittman, notice of which was afterwards published as required by law.

On January 10,, 1887, Tittman, as administrator of Horner, made a final settlement of the curatorship. At the time this settlement was made, neither the relator nor Tittman had notice of the incumbrance on the property, and therefore the relator made no objection to the approval of the settlement.

[495]*495In April, 1887, Lancaster advertised the land for sale under the deed of trust given by Horner, and by that advertisement the relator learned for the first time of the fraud that had been practiced by Hoiner. At this juncture the relator brought a suit in equity in the circuit court of the city of St. Louis to enjoin the sale and to cancel the deed of trust, and also to set aside the final settlement of the curatorship. The circuit court by its decree set aside the settlement, and also decreed a cancellation of the deed of trust. The holders of the note secured by the deed of trust appealed to the supreme court, where, on February 23, 1891, the judgment of the circuit court was affirmed. Patterson v. Booth, 103 Mo. 402.

It also appears from the evidence that, either before or just after the relator filed the suit-in equity, he notified the appellant of the institution of the suit, and he required him to appear and conduct the suit. It is conceded that the appellant’s attorney assisted in the conduct of the case, but left the burden of the work to the relator’s attorney. In the prosecution of the suit the relator paid $500 counsel fees, and incurred -other necessary expense amounting to $103.65.

The relator claimed that the foregoing facts, which were stated in the petition, constituted a breach of the conditions of the bond, in that Horner had impaired the title to the trust property in his attempt to charge it with the payment of his individual debt, and that the defendants were answerable to the relator for all proximate damages resulting from this breach of trust, including counsel fees and other necessary non-iaxable costs paid by him in the prosecution of the equity suit.

The defendants denied the alleged breach of the bond, and that they were liable for counsel fees and ■other non-taxable costs as alleged; .'and they pleaded [496]*496in bar of tbe action the failure to present the alleged claim for allowance against the estate of Horner within two years after the grant of letters. The replication put in issue the new matter set forth in the answers.

The court sitting as a jury rendered judgment against both defendants for the penalty of the bond, to be satisfied by the payment of $644.37, which was the amount of the attorney’s fees and non-taxable costs paid by relator, with six per cent, interest thereon from the date of payment. The defendant Lucas only has appealed.

The execution by Horner of the deed of trust, in which he attempted to charge the real estate of his ward with the payment of his individual debt, was a breach of the conditions of his bond. By this wrongful and unlawful act he committed waste. Any act of his which tended to decrease the value of the real estate held by him for his-ward, or which impaired the evidence of title thereto, was waste for which his estate and the sureties on his bond are liable. Bond v. Lockwood, 33 Ill. 212; Eield’s Law of Gruardians, sec. 98, and authorities cited.

Did the court err in the assessment of the damages is the next question.

The recovery for the violation of contracts of indemnity includes all damage which is the natural or proximate result of the breach. The supreme court in the case of Kansas City Hotel Co. v. Sauer, 65 Mo.

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Related

State ex rel. Mount v. Smith
120 S.W. 614 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1909)
State ex rel. Patterson v. Tittmann
35 S.W. 579 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1896)

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Bluebook (online)
54 Mo. App. 490, 1893 Mo. App. LEXIS 210, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-patterson-v-tittman-moctapp-1893.