Anderson v. Cameron
Anderson v. Cameron
Opinion of the Court
The bond which is the foundation of the aclion in this case, was an administration bond, given by James Anderson, Jr., as principal, and the defendants as securities, the said James Anderson, Jr., having been appointed administrator of the estate of James Anderson, Sr. The bond was given under the statute of Michigan, which at the date of the bond was in force in the territory of Wisconsin, and is dated in May, 1838. (See Revised Statutes of Michigan, 1833, page 310.) The bond is in strict conformity with that statute. The statute of Michigan entitled, “ An act for regulating the proceedings on probate bonds in the courts of common law, and directing their form in the
“ Section 4. The repeal of any statutory provision shall not effect any act done, or rght accrued or established, or any proceedings, suit or prosecution had or commenced previous.to the time when such repeal shall take effect, but every such right, act and proceeding shall remain as valid and effectual as if the provision so repealed had remained in full force.”
On the 25th of January, 1839, (he legislature, by an act entillecf, “ An act concerning minors, orphans and guardians,” section nine enacts that “ guardians shall have power to demand, sue for and recover all moneys belonging to their wards, from executors and administrators, as soon as the same may be collected, or of any other person in whose hands or possession the same may be, &c.” This is the statute relied upon by the plaintiff in error, as authority for bringing this suit in its present shape. The following questions are presented in this case : first, whether the act last referred to is to be construed as authorizing tha
We have no doubt of the power of the legislature to pass a law of this character wherever their intention to do so is clear and explicit. But such is not the case in the present instance. The statute cited by the plaintiff in error, as having such an effect, merely gives guardians the right to demand, sue for and recover all monies belonging to their wards, from executors and administrators, as soon as the same may be collected. Now this is not strictly a suit brought to recover monies collected by the administrator, for there is no allegation that any such monies have come into his hands. It is a suit brought upon the bond for a failure to perform one of the orders of the judge of probate. If the statute had declared that fora breach of the administrator’s bond, resulting in injury to his ward, the guardian should have power tosue in his own name, this suit would have been properly brought. But by no reasonable construction can the present statute receive such an interpretation.
Judgment below affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Robert G. Anderson, guardian of William P. Anderson, a minor, in error v. James Cameron, Henry M. Vance and Robert Ralston, impleaded with, and survivors of James Anderson, in error
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published