Stevens v. D. R. Dunlap Mercantile Co.

67 So. 160, 108 Miss. 690
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 15, 1914
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 67 So. 160 (Stevens v. D. R. Dunlap Mercantile Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stevens v. D. R. Dunlap Mercantile Co., 67 So. 160, 108 Miss. 690 (Mich. 1914).

Opinion

Eeed, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

Appellant, administrator with the will annexed of the estate of J. B. Stevens, filed his petition in the chancery court, averring that the claim of appellee [699]*699-against the estate of deceased had not been probated in the manner required by law, and that the presentation of the claim to him as administrator is not ■sufficient in law to authorize him to pay it out of the funds of the estate. He prayed that the claim be dis•allowed. The chancellor sustained a demurrer filed by appellee and dismissed the petition, and appellant Thereupon prosecuted his appeal to this court.

It is contended that the notice to the creditors, published by appellant, is insufficient in form. The following is the notice:

“Administrators’ Notice to Creditors.
“ Letters of administration having been granted on the 21st day of May, 1910, by the chancery court of George county, Miss., to the undersigned upon the estate of J. B. Stevens, deceased, of Evanston, Miss., notice is hereby given to all persons having claims ■against s’aid estate to present the same to the clerk of said court for probate and. registration according to law, within one year from this date, or they will be ■forever barred. This the 26th day of May, 1910.
“[Signed] J. C. Stevens,
‘£ Administrator. ’ ’

„ Appellee claims that the notice does not contain the ■statement that a failure to probate and register claims against the estate within one year would have the effect of barring them.

The statue (section 2103, Code of 1906) makes it the ■duty of an administrator to publish in a newspaper a notice requiring all persons holding claims against the ■estate to have the same probated and registered by the clerk within one year. Such notice should 'state that a failure to probate and register for .one year will bar the claim. The time when the letters are granted must also be stated, and the notice should be published for three consecutive weeks; proof of publication thereof to be filed with the clerk. The notice in this adminis[700]*700tration shows the date when the letters were granted, and tells the creditors of the estate to have their claims, probated and registered by the ’ clerk within one year and plainly conveys the information that the failure to do so probate and register claims will bar them. This, is the simple reading of the notice, and certainly the requirements of the statute have been met.

Appellant relies upon the decision of the court in the case of Marshall v. John Deere Plow Co., 99 Miss., 284, 54 So. 948, to sustain his position. We find the notice-in that case is unlike the notice in the case at bar in that it fails to state that claims must be probated and registered according to law within one year, but uses, the following words to convey, information relative to-the requirement:

“Now all persons having claims against the estate of said decedent are hereby notified to probate the same-within the time limited by law, or the same will be forever barred.”

It will be noted that in the present case creditors were given notice to present their claims to be probated and registered according to law within one year, and in the Marshall Case they were notified to probate their claims within the time limited by law, without stating, as required by the statute, that this time was one year.

It is further contended that the - administrator’s-notice to creditors was not published for a sufficient, length of time. The statute requires the notice to be published for three consecutive weeks. The proof of publication shows that the notice was published in three weekly issues of a county paper on the dates June 3,, .June 10, and June 17, 1919. This is sufficient publication of the notice. Section 1607 of the Code of 1906,. which provides the rule governing publications in newspapers when a number of weeks is prescribed, reads as follows:

[701]*701“When publication shall be required' to he made in some newspaper ‘for three weeks,’ it shall’be sufficient to publish once each week for three weeks, even though there be not three weeks between the first and last publication; but there must.be three weeks between the first publication and the day for the appearance of the party or other thing for which, the publication shall be made; and this rule shall furnish a guide for any similar case, whether the time required be more' or .less than three weeks. ”

It is claimed that the will of John B. Stevens, deceased, created an express trust for the payment of the-debts, rendering it unnecessary to have" claims against h’is estate probated and registered as required by law. We quote the. parts of the will which appellee argues create the express trust:

The first paragraph in the will reads:

“It is my will and I do hereby direct that all my funeral expenses and just debts shall be paid by executor hereinafter named, as soon after my decease as may be found convenient out of any moneys it may receive as such executor..”

In the sixth paragraph the testator appointed the Central Trust Company of Mobile as executor of the will, and directed that a certain amount should be paid it as compensation, and, continuing, said:

‘ ‘ The said executor shall have power, and it is hereby authorized, after the payment of all debts due by my estate to divide among the beneficiaries under this will any property which may be left on hand, giving to each beneficiary as nearly as may be property of equal value, and it may in its discretion, in making divisions under this will, sell a portion of the property for the purpose of equalizing the interests of the said beneficiaries, and said executor is hereby authorized and empowered to sell any of my real estate for the purpose of division or otherwise, without any order of court, and said [702]*702sale or sales may be made by public auction or privately, and may make deeds, as sncli executor, to the purchasers at any of such sales; and may make deeds to any of the beneficiaries under this will to any property, real or personal, which said beneficiaries may receive-in a division of my said estate.”

This will does not create an express trust for the-payment of debts. The provisions in this will are sim-. ilar to those in the case of Packing Co. v. Miller’s Estate, 103 Miss. 435, 60 So. 574, and Cohn v. McClintock, 66 So. 217. In the opinions in those cases we have fully expressed our views on this subject, and we now refer-thereto for the reasons for our holding here.

Appellant maintains that the claim of appellee should b;e disallowed 'because there was a failure on the part of the clerk to enter an indorsement upon the claim-showing’ that it had been probated, allowed, and registered. The statute (section 2106, Code of 1906), after-providing that one who desires, to probate his claim against the estate of a deceased person shall present it.' to the clerk and make affidavit thereto, then continues as follows:

“Thereupon, if the clerk shall approve, he shall indorse upon the claim the words following: ‘Probated and allowed for $ — —, and registered this-day of' -, A. D. -’ —and shall sign his name officially' thereto.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Maxwell v. Yuncker
419 So. 2d 580 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1982)
Ethridge v. Estate of Paul
196 So. 2d 530 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1967)
Bigleben v. Henry
17 So. 2d 602 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1944)
Fidelity & Deposit Co. v. Doughtry
179 So. 846 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1938)
Deposit Guaranty Bank & Trust Co. v. Jordan's Estate
157 So. 876 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1934)
Lintonia Building & Loan Ass'n v. McRaven
150 So. 213 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1933)
Jennings v. Lowery Berry
112 So. 692 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1927)
Rogers v. Rosenstock
77 So. 958 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1918)
Stevens v. D. R. Dunlap Mercantile Co.
73 So. 570 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1916)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
67 So. 160, 108 Miss. 690, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stevens-v-d-r-dunlap-mercantile-co-miss-1914.