Darnell v. Tate
Darnell v. Tate
Opinion of the Court
(After stating the foregoing facts.) The Supreme Court of Georgia, in dealing with a general demurrer in the present litigation (Darnell v. Tate, 206 Ga. 576, 586, 58 S. E. 2d, 160), said: “Under the provisions of Code §§ 113-1101 and 113-2306, the court of ordinary has jurisdiction to accept the resignation of an executor and to appoint a successor according to the manner provided for in the will. The selection of a successor executor does not involve a construction of the will, and the item of the will providing for the manner of appointing a successor is plain and unambiguous, and within the jurisdiction of the court of ordinary.” The court declined to render a declaratory judgment. Nevertheless, after proceedings to select a successor executor, the parties here express different views as to the proper interpretation of the testator’s declaration as to the selection of such a successor, in case of a vacancy, by “a majority of my legatees of age at that time.” Twelve of the fourteen person receiving benefits under the will cast votes for a successor executor. Did a “majority of my legatees,” who were of age at the time, vote? The plaintiffs in error contend that each of the recipients of property under the will is a “legatee”, and a tie having resulted it would be inequitable to permit the vote of the resigning executor to be counted, and, therefore, the bank should have been declared selected.
The defendants in error contend that since the three surviving children are the only ones who took personal property under the will they are the only legatees of the testator and the only persons entitled to vote for a successor executor. They also contend that if each recipient of property, whether personal or real, is to be considered a legatee, only the three surviving
Whether or not the contentions of the defendants in error as to the surviving children alone being entitled to a full vote each, the other beneficiaries voting per stirpes, might be upheld in another situation, such as in intestacy, it is unnecessary to decide, as we are here dealing with testacy and the express provisions of a will as to the manner in which a successor executor shall be selected. The testator has by his will made persons other than his children, his next of kin, beneficiaries in case of the death of child or children, and it is clear that at the time of the selection of a successor executor several such persons were entitled to take under the will. Since, therefore, the will provided that such successor should be named by a “majority of my legatees” of age when a vacancy should arise, it becomes necessary to determine who were such legatees.
In a narrow sense a legatee is one to whom personal property is given by a will, but in its popular or broader sense a legatee
The voting having resulted in a tie under the above-mentioned formula, the selection of a successor executor should not fail, but should be decided by the court as we shall now demonstrate. The Code, § 113-1101, provides: “All the provisions of this Code with reference to administrators of estates, prescribing . . the mode . . of resigning . . and in all other matters in their nature applicable to executors, shall be held and taken to apply to and include executors to the same extent as if they were named therein.” In Gormley v. Watson, 177 Ga. 763, 766 (171 S. E. 280), it was specifically ruled that the provisions of the Code, § 113-2306, relating to the resignation of administrators, were made applicable to executors by the Code, § 113-1101, above quoted in part. In paragraph 4 of § 113-1202, setting forth rules for granting letters of administration, their selection, and as to preferences in naming them, the applicant being of sound mind and laboring under no disability, about which no issue is raised in the present case, it is provided: “If no such preference shall be expressed, the ordinary may exercise his discretion in selecting the one best qualified for the office.” In Jackson v. Jackson, 101 Ga. 132 (1) (28 S. E. 608), it was held: “This being a contest between two brothers for letters of administration upon the estate of their deceased father, tried in the superior court upon
The contention of the plaintiffs in error that the resigning executor, a surviving child of the testator, was disqualified from voting is without merit. No authority is cited in support of the argument, and we apprehend none can be found. Although he was the executor under the will of his father, he was nevertheless a legatee, and there is nothing in the will which even remotely suggests that he should not be allowed to vote for a successor executor.
Judgment affirmed.
Concurring Opinion
concurring specially. I concur in the judgment and in the first division of the opinion. I do not concur in the reason given for affirming the judgment of the lower court. The judgment of the lower court, in my opinion, means that the court found that a majority of the “legatees”, as he defined the word, voted for Luke E. Tate as successor executor. If I am correct in this-, the court did not exercise discretion in the appointment and the appointment cannot be logically affirmed on that ground. However, since no point is made on the propriety of the appoint
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- DARNELL Et Al. v. TATE Et Al.
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