Fouts v. Flythe
Fouts v. Flythe
Opinion of the Court
“The ordinary of the county of the domicile of a minor having no guardian shall have the power of appointing a guardian of the person and property, or either, of such child. If the ward shall be above the age of fourteen years before a guardian shall be appointed, he shall have the privilege of selecting a guardian, and if such selection shall be judicious, the ordinary shall appoint him.” Code, § 49-105. “An ordinary has no jurisdiction to appoint a guardian for an infant whose residence is out of his county.” Rives v. Sneed, 25 Ga. 612 (2). “A guardian whose residence is, or by removal or otherwise becomes, in a county other than that of his appointment, may remove the trust to the jurisdiction of the ordinary of his own county, by first giving bond and good security to such ordinary, as if first appointed by him, and filing a certificate of such fact with the ordinary by whom he was appointed. He shall also, obtain from such ordinary an exemplification of all the records concerning his guardianship, and of the order transferring the same to the county of his residence, which exemplification shall be filed with and recorded by the ordinary of said county, who shall then have the same jurisdiction over such guardian as if first appointed by him. Every case growing out of or affecting said trust shall be heard and tried only in the county to which said trust shall have been removed.” Code, § 49-239. “If the ordinary shall know, or shall be informed, that any guardian wastes or in any manner mismanages the property, or does not take due care of the maintenance and education of his ward according to his circumstances, or refuses to make returns as required by law, or for any cause is unfit for the trust, the ordinary shall cite such guardian to answer to such charge at some regular term of the court, when, upon investigation of his action, the ordinary may, in
“If the ward shall be above the age of fourteen years before a guardian shall be appointed, he shall have the privilege of selecting a guardian, and if such selection shall be judicious, the ordinary shall appoint him.” Code, § 49-105. Therefore, if this legal right of a ward is adversely affected by an order of an ordinary appointing a new guardian not selected by the ward, the ward has a right of appeal to the superior court. Accordingly, the contention, by supplemental brief, that the instant appeal of the ward by her mother as next friend was invalid, is without merit.
The foregoing rulings being decisive on the instant appeal of the ward to the superior court from an order appointing a new guardian by the ordinary who granted and revoked the original letters, the superior court erred in directing the jury to find against the appellant and in affirming the judgment of the ordinary appointing the new guardian.
Judgment reversed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.