Woodworth v. Woodworth

67 P.2d 553, 145 Kan. 870, 1937 Kan. LEXIS 236
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedMay 8, 1937
DocketNo. 33,352; No. 33,353
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 67 P.2d 553 (Woodworth v. Woodworth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Woodworth v. Woodworth, 67 P.2d 553, 145 Kan. 870, 1937 Kan. LEXIS 236 (kan 1937).

Opinions

[871]*871The opinion of the court was delivered by

Smith, J.:

These are two proceedings that were instituted in probate court and appealed to the district court. Judgment was rendered.in one proceeding in favor of the executor of a will and in the other against the executor. The losing party in each case appeals.

The facts will be stated in case No. 33,353 first. That is the case where the executor is appealing to this court. The pertinent facts in the other case will appear as the facts in this case are related.

Brother Woodworth was appointed executor of his father’s estate on February 25, 1932. Among the other heirs was one C. E. Wood-worth'. The executor did not file any inventory of the estate as he was required to do pursuant to the provisions of G. S. 1935, 22-501. Pursuant to the provisions of G. S. 1935, 22-518, the executor was cited by the court and ordered to return an inventory, which he did return on February 13, 1933, but without appraisement, as provided by G. S. 1935, 22-504. Following this the executor failed to file any report of his administration or to make final settlement of the estate until the heirs procured a citation on October 17, 1933, requiring him to do so pursuant to G. S. 1935, 22-903. The final report was not filed until February 22, 1934. On April 20, 1934, certain of the heirs filed their objections and exceptions to this report. The probate court heard and overruled the objections and made an order approving the report and ordering distribution. C. E. Woodworth appealed to the district court from this order. The district court made an extensive journal entry. Among other things the court found as follows:

“That the account rendered by the executor, Brother Woodworth, and the order of the probate court accepting the same are not satisfactory to this court, which feels that the appellant had good grounds to object thereto and entitled to be heard in some proceeding where the' real facts can be investigated and his rights determined and protected.”

The court then referred to an order that had previously been made by the district court in the case directing the executor to make a further and more specific accounting. With reference to this accounting, the court found—

“But the report of the said executor later made in pursuance of this order gave very little more information than was contained .in the final report in the probate court. About the only information given is in general terms and to the effect that he was not indebted to his father in any sum.”

[872]*872The trial court then made extensive findings with reference to the funds of deceased and the manner in which they were kept and that the executor and deceased had certificates of deposit sometimes in the name of the father and sometimes in the name of the executor. The court then made the following findings:

“This court believes, and finds the fact to be, that the payment of $714 upon the note of Brother Woodworth, at the Sedan bank, July 10, 1928, was with funds derived from the cashing, on that date, of the certificates of deposit of D. M. Woodworth, same being the difference in what was received as payment of said certificates and the $7,000 on that day invested by the said D. M. Woodworth in the government coupon bonds.
“This court believes, from all the evidence in this case, the attitude of the’ executor, and from all reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom, and finds the fact to be, that at the time of the death of D. M. Woodworth he owned and had in the safety box in the bank at Sedan, used jointly by himself and Brother Woodworth, these bonds, unless the $2,000 which the executor says he loaned to his son, of the funds of his father, were from proceeds derived from said bonds and unless the balance had been used in some manner or for some purpose, all within the knowledge of the executor.
“So this court, in view of the foregoing, holds that the final report filed by the executor in the probate court of this county, should not have been received; that Brother Woodworth, by reason of his personal interest in the matters brought into controversy, was not, and is not, a suitable and proper person to administer the said estate; that he should be removed and some other suitable person appointed, and qualified, who should be instructed to bring an action in a court of proper jurisdiction against the said Brother Woodworth for the purpose of requiring him to account to said estate for the amount represented by the surrender and collection of the bank certificates on July 10, 1928, subject, of course, to any defense he may have against the claim to be made in such an action.
“This court further finds that under the situations as presented in this appeal and in appeal No. 5,600 filed in this court that certain errors and abuses have been committed in the probate court of this county in approving the report of Brother Woodworth as executor of the estate of D. M. Wood-worth, deceased, and in refusing to remove said Brother Woodworth and in order to 'prevent and correct these errors and abuses, it is necessary for this court to make such an order, and for these reasons this court has jurisdiction to make such an order.”

Following these findings the court gave judgment reversing the order of the probate court approving the accounting and ordering that the executor be removed by the probate court and some suitable person be appointed executor de bonis non with instructions to bring an action against the executor in some court of proper jurisdiction for the purpose of recovering from the executor the proceeds [873]*873of the certificate referred to or any indebtedness which the executor owed deceased at the time of his death.

For the sake of- clarity a statement must be made here as to what the court referred when it spoke of appeal No. 5,600 in the above findings. Some time subsequent to the institution of the proceedings of which we have just given the facts an application had been filed by C. E. Woodworth, an heir, in the probate court to remove this executor. This relief had been denied in the probate court and C. E. Woodworth had appealed to the district court. Both these appeals were pending in that court and were decided by that court on the same day. In the appeal from the order refusing to remove the executor, the executor had moved in district court to dismiss the appeal on the ground that the statute did not provide for a right of appeal from an order of the probate court refusing to remove an executor. This motion was based on the holding of this court in Graves v. Bond, 70 Kan. 464, 178 Pac. 851. That was a case where certain legatees under a will had filed their petition asking that an executor be removed. The application was denied and the petitioner appealed from that order. A motion to dismiss the appeal in district court was filed on the ground that the statute made no provision for an appeal from an order refusing to discharge an executor or administrator. The district court adopted that view and dismissed the appeal.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
67 P.2d 553, 145 Kan. 870, 1937 Kan. LEXIS 236, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/woodworth-v-woodworth-kan-1937.