In re Lux
In re Lux
Opinion of the Court
The superior court made an order settling certain accounts rendered by the executors of the estate of Charles Lux, deceased, to which accounts exceptions had theretofore been filed by certain devisees named in the will of the deceased. This appeal is taken by said devisees, and is from so much of the order as fails to charge the executors interest upon money which the court found was improperly paid by them to the widow as a family allowance, and in so far as it fails to require a full accounting of the partnership affairs of the firm of Miller & Lux, of which firm the deceased was a member at the time of his death.
The transcript on appeal as amended contains the accounts of the executors and reports accompanying them, the objections or exceptions to the accounts, the findings of the court thereon, and the judgment or order settling the accounts. There is no bill of exceptions in the record, but the papers just referred to are certified by the clerk of the court from which the appeal is taken, to be copies of the originals on file in the matter of the estate of Charles Lux, deceased.
The respondents have made a preliminary motion to dismiss the appeal upon the ground that the papers contained in the transcript are not authenticated by a bill of exceptions as required by rule 32 of this court.
Section 951 of the Code of Civil Procedure makes it the duty of a person appealing from an order to furnish this court with a copy of the order appealed from, and copies “of papers used on the hearing in the court below,” and rule 32 of this court provides that such papers or evidence must be authenticated by a bill of exceptions, when no other mode of authentication is provided by law. This rule was only intended to apply to those appeals in which the order is sought to be re
The record here being sufficient to present the questions raised by the appellants upon this appeal, the motion to dismiss the appeal must be denied.
2. The court did not err in settling the accounts of
3. The findings of the court show that Miranda W. Lux is the widow of the deceased, and also one of the executors of his will, and on May 14, 1887, the superior court made a family allowance to her of $2,500 per month, to continue until the return of the inventory, or the future order of the court; and that the inventory was returned on August 30,1888, but the executors con-
The court, in its order settling their accounts, refused to allow the executors credit for any part of the ninety-seven thousand five hundred dollars, so paid out by them during the period of time covered by the second order for a family allowance, and also refused to charge them interest thereon. The contention of the appellants here is, that the court erred in holding that the executors ought not to be charged with interest upon this sum so advanced by them to the widow. We think the findings, when read in connection with the accounts filed, show that these payments were made to the widow, who was also one of the executors, to be used by her for her own personal benefit and advantage. Upon these facts the executors are chargeable with legal interest, computed with annual rests, upon so much of the sum so paid as appears to have been improperly advanced by them for the private use of one of their number. When an executor uses the funds of an estate in his own business, or for any purpose of his own, the rule in this state is to charge him with legal interest, compounded with annual rests. (Estate of Clark, 53 Cal. 355; Estate of Stott, 52 Cal. 403; In re Hilliard, 83 Cal. 427.)
It is true that in this case there was no actual bad faith or intentional wrongdoing upon the part of the executors, and they, doubtless, supposed that such expenditure or use of the funds of the estate would be approved by the court. The payments, however, not being authorized by a present order of the court, were made at their peril, and, to the extent that they were not ap
The court, in settling the accounts in this case upon the findings which appear in this record, should have allowed the executors credit for the sum named in the second order as a family allow'ance during the period covered by the accounts, and then have charged them legal interest, computed with annual rests, upon the excess paid by them as a family allowance to the widow for the same period.
Order reversed.
Fitzgerald, J., and McFarland, J., concurred.
A petition for a hearing in Bank having been filed, the following opinion was rendered thereon on the 29th of January, 1894.
070rehearing
The order of May 13, 1892, directing the executors to pay to the widow an allowance of one thousand dollars per month for her support, during the period named therein, has been reversed; and there is
Rehearing denied.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- HENRY MILLER, Executors, In Account with the Estate of CHARLES LUX
- Cited By
- 36 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Appeal From Order—Authentication of Papers—Bill of Exceptions —Construction of Rule 32.—Rule 32 of the Supreme Court, providing that upon an appeal from an order the papers or evidence used on the hearing in the trial court must be authenticated hy a bill of exceptions when no other mode of authentication is provided by law, was only intended to apply to those appeals in which the order is sought to be reversed because of matters alleged to he shown by affidavits or evidence taken upon the hearing in the trial court, and does not apply when the order appealed from is attacked for matters appearing upon its face, or upon the face of the record of which it forms a part. Id.—Judgment-Roll—Settlement of Accounts of Executor—Authentication.—The settlement of the accounts of an executor or administrator, although sometimes called an order, is in effect a judgment, and upon appeal therefrom the accounts of the executor or administrator and reports accompanying them, the objections or exceptions to the accounts, the findings of the court thereon, and the judgment or order settling the accounts, constitute the judgment-roll, and need not be authenticated by a bill of exceptions. Estates of Deceased Persons—Settlement of Executor’s Annual Account—Failure to Require Surviving Partner to Account.— An executor’s annual account is only intended to show what property has been received by him, and what he has done with it, and the failure of the executor to apply for an order requiring the surviving partner to account is no reason why the court should refuse to settle the account. Id.—Executor as Surviving Partner—Settlement of Accounts— Statement of Partnership Affairs.—Where the surviving partner of a decedent is also one of the executors of the estate, the court cannot refuse to settle his annual account as an executor because of the absence of a statement showing the condition of the partnership affairs. Id.—Unauthorized Payment by Executor—Legal Interest, With Annual Rests.—Where the executors of an estate of a decedent, without any order of court therefor, paid a sum of money as a family allowance to the widow, who was also one of the executors, they are chargeable with legal interest, computed with annual rests, upon so much of the sum so paid as was not subsequently approved by order of court. Id.—Liability of Executor.—Where an executor uses the funds of an estate in his own business, or for any purpose of his own, he is chargeable with legal interest, computed with annual rests. ■ Id.—Trustee Can Make No Profit—Compound Interest.—The rule which makes an executor or other trustee chargeable with compound interest upon trust funds used by him in his business is not adopted for the purpose of punishing him for any intentional wrongdoing in the use of the fund, but rather to carry into effect the principle enforced by courts of equity that the trustee shall not he permitted to make any profit from the unauthorized use of such funds. The rule is intended to secure fidelity in the management of trust estates, and where, as in this state, the conventional rate of interest exceeds the statutory rate, the executor should he charged with legal interest, compounded annually, in order to fully reach the profit realized by him from the use of the trust fund.