Loyless & Griffin v. Collins
Loyless & Griffin v. Collins
Opinion of the Court
This was a contest between a judgment creditor of Collins and Collins himself, as to the appropriation of the sum of $120 00, which had been brought into court under a summons of garnishment, at the instance of Collins, the latter claiming the money as a homestead exemption. The court, by , its judgment, awarded the money to Collins, whereupon the judgment creditor excepted.
Let the judgment of the court below be reversed.
Concurring Opinion
concurring:
I desire to say that I concur in the judgment of the court in this case, but not in the entire opinion. I hold that the homestead is one — granted to the party by one act — that of the ordinary. In like manner the exemption of personalty is one act. The two together constitute one estate, set apart to the head of the family in trust for the family. It is made exempt by the constitution from all debts except taxes, pur
I analogize it very mucli to the old insolvent acts in regard to the discharge of the debtor from prison. No fraud of any sort will be tolerated. I think it would be a great- fraud, a heinous wrong, for a party to cause to be exempted one hundred bushels of corn, or one thousand pounds of bacon, for which he had not paid at the time of the exemption, and then to consume this bacon and corn, and leave the seller remediless. Or, in the case at bar, I think it would be an equal fraud for him to use the gin until it became worthless, or to sell it and pocket the money, and the seller of the gin have no remedy, though it should appear that it was worn out in ginning the very cotton in dispute, or sold for another gin, or for money and the money consumed by the family. Thus I think I show that cases may arise where it would work great wrong to lay down the principle approved by a majority of the court, that “inasmuch as the cotton gin had not been paid for, it was subject to the plaintiff’s judgment for the purchase money due therefor, but not the other property eontained in the homestead exemption.” I hold that all the exempted property is liable for the purchase money of any part, just as all is liable for taxes, or money borrowed for improvements. The entire estate is exempted on the condition that all is paid for, and if any part be not paid for, the whole is not exempted according to law until such part be paid for.
The constitution admits of this interpretation. It exempts “realty to the value of $2,000 00 in specie, and personal property to the value of $1,000 00 in specie.” It exempts this whole property, or as much as the debtor has, to be set apart, free from all debts, “ except for taxes, money borrowed and expended in the improvement of the homestead, or for the
Neither the constitution, nor the act passed to carry it into effect, cuts up. the homestead and exemption into separate parcels, making one parcel liable for one' debt and another for another debt, but they both treat the whole as one trust estate, exempt from all the liabilities of the head of the family, except a particular class of debts, and for this class of debts I think the whole trust estate is liable. It may be, that in the case at bar, no particular harm would be done, even if the case were not decided with the creditor upon other grounds. It may be that the gin is still in possession of the debtor, and not worn out or put out of the way. The record is silent as to these points in this case; but the principle decided is of great practical importance, and I cannot give my assent to it,
I need not say in what high esteem I hold the legal opinions of my associates on the bench; nor need I say how readily I yield to their judgments when I can conscientiously do so. But in this matter my own convictions, however erroneous they may be, are clear and strong, and I feel it a
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Loyless & Griffin, agents, in error v. William A. Collins, in error
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published