Dean v. Biggers
Dean v. Biggers
Opinion of the Court
By the Court.
delivering the opinion.
In opposition to the application of the'plain tiff in error for administration on the estate of Mrs. Holcombe, a will was produced and admitted to probate by the Ordinary, who nevertheless granted administration to Dean on a part of the estate, which did not pass by Mrs. Holcombe’s will. G. W. Eppes was named as executor in the will. He does not appear to have been a party in the Court of Ordinary, either in the proceeding to prove the will or to resist the grant of administration to Dean, but Lorenzo M. Biggers alone appeared to contest the grant. He appealed from the decision of the Ordinary making the grant, and on the appeal moved to dismiss the application of the plaintiff for letters of administration. The Court sustained the motion, and to that decision exception was taken.
For the plaintiff in error, it is contended that Biggers is an interloper in the case, without an interest of any kind, and that he ought not to be heard. It seems that his right to appear before the Ordinary was not disputed. He may be a creditor, or he may have shown, if he had been called on at the proper time, a legal right to appear. He ought to have shown his right in the first instance, but as his appearance and opposition was not then objected to, but acquiesced in, it is too late now to question it in the manner that it is met here — by a simple objection that his interest does not appear n the record.
The will in this case has been caveated. If the executor propounded the will and it should be finally established on his qualification, the letters granted to Dean should be superseded, and the executor should administer the entire estate, otherwise the grant should stand.
The Court erred in dismissing the application of plaintiff in error for the administration.
Judgment reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Seaborn L. Dean, in error v. Lorenzo M. Biggers, in error
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published