Tankersly v. Pettis

61 Ala. 354
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedDecember 15, 1878
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 61 Ala. 354 (Tankersly v. Pettis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tankersly v. Pettis, 61 Ala. 354 (Ala. 1878).

Opinion

STONE, J.

The present case is a bill of review, filed to review and reverse a final decree rendered between the same parties, and to obtain the relief prayed in the original bill, on the alleged ground of error apparent. There was a demurrer filed to the bill of review, which the special chancellor overruled, and then granted the relief prayed for. The chief inquiry is, do the pleadings make a case of error apparent, under the rule settled in this State. To maintain a bill of review, there must be an error in point of law; that is, an erroneous result drawn by the court from the facts apparent on the record. It is not of a misjudging of the facts that a party can complain, but for an improper determination of the law. It is not permissible to look at the testimony, with a view of determining whether the chancellor scanned it properly, allowed it proper weight, or drew correct inferences from it. These are questions which arise on appeal, [357]*357but not on bill of review. In the latter, the chancellor deals with record facts, not the evidence which goes to prove them. McDougald v. Dougherty, 39 Ala. 409. The court will, on such a bill, reverse or revise its own decree, for an erroneous application of the law to the facts found. — Evans v. Clement, 14 Ill. 209. To justify relief under such bill, the record of the former suit, independent of the testimony, must make it distinctly and satisfactorily appear, that the court, in the decree reviewed, committed an error of law, made an erroneous application of the law to the facts found, or mistook one name or thing for another name or thing. These constitute the error apparent, for which a bill of review will lie.

In the case of Noble v. Hallonquist, 53 Ala. 229, this court approved and adopted the doctrine laid down by the lord chancellor in the case of Trulock v. Robey, 15 Sim. 265. In each of those cases it was held that when a bill, in its averments, authorized larger relief than the chancellor granted, and the special prayer was for only the relief obtained, although there was a general prayer under which the larger relief might have been decreed, this might be the subject of an appeal, but would not support a bill of review. This court placed the complainant in a dilemma as follows: “ The complainant on the original hearing, either asked this specific relief, and it was refused her, or she did not ask it, but accepted and was satisfied with the relief granted her by the decree pronounced. If she then asked it, and it was refused, her remedy for the error, if it be error, was by appeal. The error then would be merely in the judgment, and would not be the error apparent on the face of the decree, which supports a bill of review. If she did not then ask this relief, but accepted and was satisfied with the relief granted, it is too late for her now to complain.”

The appellant, Tankersly, was, at one and the same time, administrator of the estate of George Pettis, the elder, of Theopilus Pettis and George Pettis, jr., distributees of the elder Pettis, jvho died after the death of their father, and was guardian of James and Mary Pettis, complainants in this suit. When George, the elder, died, his four children, named above, became his distributees, all being minors. Theopilus and George, jr., each died in their minority, and James and Mary became, in legal effect, sole distributees of the three estates; but, according to the forms of law, it was necessary first to settle the administration of the elder Pettis, to ascertain the amount that would pass in distribution to each of the .living children, and to the personal representative of the [358]*358deceased ones; and then to settle the administration of the two deceased children’s estates, in order to know what sums would pass to the guardian of the living children. Tankersly being administrator of each estate, and guardian of the survivors, who were minors, must, of necessity, settle each administration, in one representative capacity, with himself in other representative capacities. And he must settle each administration, before the guardianship of the minors could be settled.

On the 31'st of October, 1865, Tankersly, the administrator, filed his three several accounts current in the Probate Court, for final settlement of his administrations of George Pettis the elder, Theopilus Pettis, and George Pettis, jr. When these settlements took place is not shown or averred. On the 28th of November, 1865, he filed his accounts current for final settlement of his guardianship of the complainants, and at the same time tendered his resignation of his said guardianships. When this settlement took place is not averred, nor is it averred when he ceased to be guardian. There is nothing in the record from which we can learn what were the decrees in the final settlement of the said several administrations. It is averred in the bill that on the settlement of the guardianship, there was decreed to complainant, Mary Pettis, $125.92, and to complainant James Pettis, $51.74— and to each $l50 in Confederate treasury-notes, and $900 in Confederate eight per cent, bonds. These sums, it seems, were paid by Tankersly into the Probate Court for the benefit of the wards, and were subsequently received by the succeeding guardian of complainants, who were then infants of' tender years. The aggregate of the sums thus paid, including the Confederate treasury-notes and bonds, was near $2,300. This, besides costs of administration and of settlements.

In 1866, the complainants in this suit filed their original bill against Tankersly, as administrator of each of the said estates, and as guardian of complainants, and against his sureties on each of the four said bonds, who were, in each case, to some extent, different. Mosely was surety on all the four bonds. Norman was surety on three of the bonds, not being on the bond for the younger George Pettis’ estate. Carter was surety on the bond for Theopilus Pettis’ estate, and on the bond for the guardianship of complainants. Pool was surety on the administration of the elder Pettis’ estate,, and Stewart was surety for the administration of the estate of George Pettis, jr. In the original bill it is charged that [359]*359Tankersly, in his final settlement of the estate of Theopilus Pettis, “charged himself with balance due in good money, $1,169.92,” and in his settlement of George Pettis, jr.’s estate, with “balance due in good money, $432.77.” The original bill further charges “that previous to the 16th day of May, .1860, the said Tankersly had in his hands from the sale of the property already mentioned, and from other assets of the estate of their father, after payment of all the debts of said estate, the sum of four thousand nine hundred and nineteen 32-100 dollars, in specie, or funds equivalent thereto, which he used for his own benefit, lending the whole, or a large portion thereof, at usurious interest, without ever accounting for the usurious profits — or otherwise using it for his own benefit.” The bill then charges that Tankersly, during the war, received other large sums of assets in Confederate money, with which he paid the expenses of his wards, and the costs and expenses of the settlement of the several estates — the whole not exceeding $700; and with which Tankersly pretended to have purchased the $1,800 Confederate bonds, as an investment for complainants.

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

Related

Lane v. Lane
199 So. 870 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1940)
Pfister v. Johnson
13 F. Supp. 662 (N.D. Oklahoma, 1936)
Jones v. Henderson
153 So. 214 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1934)
Regents of the University v. Turner
114 P. 842 (California Supreme Court, 1911)
Vary v. Thompson
52 So. 951 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1910)
Birmingham Realty Co. v. Barron
43 So. 346 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1907)
Martin v. Atkinson
108 Ala. 314 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1895)
State ex rel. Hospes v. Branch
20 S.W. 693 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1892)
Cook v. Bolling & Son
99 Ala. 455 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1892)
Cleere v. Cleere
82 Ala. 581 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1886)
Vaughan v. Suggs
82 Ala. 357 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1886)
Vincent v. Martin
79 Ala. 540 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1885)
Modawell v. Hudson
80 Ala. 265 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1885)
McCall v. McCurdy
69 Ala. 65 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1881)
Clark v. Hughes
71 Ala. 163 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1881)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
61 Ala. 354, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tankersly-v-pettis-ala-1878.