Harper v. Smith
Harper v. Smith
Opinion of the Court
By the Court.
delivering the opinion.
It is scarcely questionable, that letters of administration, generally, and with the will annexed, may be granted to the same person, since, by our Statute, he who is entitled to the administration in the one case, is entitled in the other, to wit: the next of kin. Prince, 227.
This could not be done, however, upon application for letters with the will annexed alone. Notice for letters general upon the undevised portion of the estate, ought to be givenj as in any other case of intestacy. Two points, then, seem to be made in this case. First, did the Court of Ordinary intend to grant letters to the plaintiff, upon the estate of the deceased, undevised, to wit: the land ? Second, if there is no evidence of such intention, is it legally true,, that-where letters are granted with the will annexed, the grantee is thereby also, clothed with the powers of a general administrator ? It is not apparent, from the record of tire action of the Ordinary, that they intended, to do more than to appoint the plaintiff administrator with the will. It will not answer to infer a general' grant. An administrator who is limited by tire legal character of his trust, cannot be clothed with general powers, by implication. To make him a general, as well as a special representative of the estate, he must be clearly and expressly appointed to both trusts. They are, as we shall see, altogether different. The inference as to the mind of the Ordinary is, that when they appointed him to administer the estate according to the will, they did not intend to appoint him to administer other portions of the estate according to the gene
The second point, to wit: that by law the appointment of an administrator, with the will annexed, clothes him also with the powers of a general administrator, is plainly against the plaintiff. In England and here, by Statute, administration with the will annexed, is a limited administration. It is limited by the will. That is the law of the trust. The argument for the plaintiff is, that when an administrator is appointed, he is the representative of the estate, by virtue of Ms being the administrator, and that he is not the less the representative of the whole estate, because he must administer a part of it according to the will, and a part according to the general law of distribution. This is simply begging the question. It really amounts to an assumption that there is no such thing as a limited administration, which we very well know is an error. Both the general and limited administration, that is, with and without the will, are trusts created by law. The latter by the general law, and the former by the Act of 1792. Prince, 227. They are distinct — the powers of the trustee are different — the law of their action is different, and their fidelity is secured by different oaths, and their responsibility by a different bond. There are two, and only two contingencies upon which an administrator, with the will annexed, can be appointed. One, where the testator, leaving a will, fails to appoint an executor or administrator, (this case) — the other, where the executors refuse to qualify. Prince, 227. T-his is also the Common Law. Our Statute authorizes the appointment, if the
The object-of the law is, where one dies leaving an imperfect will, to secure the enforcement of that will; and the administration, with the will annexed, comes in in lieu of an executor, with his powers, and his obligations, and his limitations. The rule of the executor’s action is the will — so of the administrator with the will annexed. His office differs little from that of an executor. 1 Williams’ Exrs. 309, 310. 2 Black. Com. 505. Can an executor administer upon any estate not bequeathed in the will ? In Massachusetts he can by Statute; and even under that Statute, it became a doubt whether it was not necessary for him to take out special letters to administer the estate undevised. 6 Mass. 151,152: At Common Law he could not, and his powers in this regard are not enlarged by any Statute in Georgia. If he cannot, the administrator with the will annexed cannot, for his powers are those of the executor. In the case before me, the will is good as to the personalty, but void as to the realty. As to the realty, Samuel Harper died intestate. As to that, there is no will. How could an executor touch that real estate, deriving his powers from the will; and how can an administrator, deriving his powers from the will, touch it any more than the executor ? As to the realty, our judgment is, that administration can be taken out only in the regular way — that is, as in any other case of intestacy. Our Legislature intended no such thing as that the administrator with the will annexed, should have general powers. This is manifest in the oath which they have prescribed — that is, an oath well and truly to execute the will. Prince, 227. If the administrator, with the will annexed, is also the general administrator, then is he so without any oath in this latter character, because the oath to execute the will is all the oath which the law requires of him. So his bond is to administer the goods and chattels of the testator, according to law, and pay and deliver all the legacies contained and specified in the will. As general administrator, he would give no bond, for the
Let the judgment be affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- James M. Harper, administrator, &c. in error v. Lemuel Smith, in error
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- 1 case
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- Published