Calvert v. Holland
Calvert v. Holland
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
The original bill in this case was filed by Jackson and wife and Nancy Constant, against Benjamin Holland, as administrator of John Constant, deceased, and guardian of the female complainants and other heirs of said ■Constant, who were made defendants. The bill seeks •an account, settlement and distribution of the estate, and also a conveyance to the heirs of Constant of a tract of land formerly owned by him, and of which the administrator is alleged to have improperly obtained the
In March, 1846, Holland having paid $40 of the sum decreed to Calvert, and replevied the balance, filed his bill to enjoin the collection of said replevy bond,'and to reverse the former decree and settlement, on the ground, 1st, that the credit for $125 had been improperly disallowed, and that he had actually paid that sum for the widow’s dower; and, 2d, that John Constant had left seven children, as alleged in said original bill; that the allegation therein, that two of them were since dead, though put in issue by his answer, was wholly unsustained by proof, and yet the decree had been made on the assumption that there were but five distributees, and he had been decreed to pay one fifth of the entire sum to Calvert.
Calvert, in his answer, denies that Holland had paid any thing for the dower of Mrs. Constant; and states that two of the seven heirs of Constant, viz: William and Garland, were in Maysville when the cholera raged there in 1833, and had notbeen heard of since, and that they were dead. Also, that a third, Ailsey, had been taken to Indiana, and was reported to be dead, as alleged in the original bill; and that a fourth, John, who
As there was not the slightest evidence in the original case, that any thing had been paid for the dower o Mrs. Constant, though the allowance of that item wai particularly assailed in the bill, and as there is no pretense of the' discovery of evidence on the subject, then was no ground, either for an injunction or a review, ot account of that matter. And although the assumptior in the decree, that there were but five heirs, was an apparent error on that record, yet as upon the present record it may be assumed as against Holland, that William and Garland Constant were dead, there being ii, addition to his failure to answer the specific allegation; of the cross bill in reference to them, and to prove that they had been heard of since 1833, proof on theothe* side that they had not been heard of since 1833, the apparent error of decreeing to Calvert one fifth instead of one seventh of the estate, is removed by the fact now shown, that there were not more than five heirs. Then, was proof, however, in the case, upon the bill of ret view, that Holland had paid Mrs. Constant for hei dower in the land, which had been conveyed by he* husband shortly before his death, with warranty against those claiming under him, and as the widow- claimed her dower, its fair value, so far as paid by Holland, wa1 a proper charge against his estate.
But we are further of opinion, that as without the consent of Calvert, there was no ground for-opening
In this view of the case, we are of. opinion that, although there was no sufficient ground for disturbing the title of the land as held by Holland, there is sufficient ground for overhauling the settlements relied on by the administrator, and that his accounts and settlements should have been referred to a Commissioner for enquiry and report, upon principles which we now proceed to state.
1.The administrator should not, upon the pleadings in this case, be charged with any items, (except interest) not contained in the settlements; and should not be pUt the proof of his vouchers therein allowed. And 1 r so far the settlements are to be taken as prima facie correct.
2. But as almost the entire credits of the estate consisted of three notes given for the land, payable in Ken- , ° . , , tucky currency, on designated days, and which the ad-m¡n¡strat0r was to pay for the land, he should be charged the specie value of these notes, at the dates when they respectively fell due, with interest from the same periods, to be credited by the specie value of his actual payments of debts against the estate, and of other allowances, at the dates when made. And proof should be allowed to show the actual amounts paid, and whether in specie or paper money, and the value of the latter. But when no proof is made, the payments should be credited according to the face of the vouchers except where the charges made were not properlv charges against the estate which the heirs may be allowed to prove.
3. The settlement shows on its face that several small items are credited to the administrator which upon the evidence are not proper charges against the estate. administrator was not charged with the personalty, made no sale, and in fact alleges and proves that there ,, , , , 1 . was no personalty which properly constituted assetts,
From the condition of the currency at the date of the 'ransaction involved in the settlement, as ■ notoriously ,;nown, and to be inferred from the evidence in this case, «.nd from the smallness of most of these transactions ¡i presumption arises that many of the items allowed as ■.redits to the administrator were paid in paper, and hould have been reduced to specie. Most of the notes ;»f the decedent exhibited as vouchers and credited at (heir nominal amount, seemed to have been assigned to ■he administrator without recourse, whence it is prob|.ble that he may not have paid the full amount, and as flready shown there are now credits for items clearly iot chargeable to the estate, and the error of charging he administrator with only one half of the nominal i-mount of each of the three notes for $500 each due in December 1822, 1823, and 1824, without interest upon ,ither of these is also apparent. For these errors and uspicious circumstances in the face of the settlement, he accounts are directed to be opened for proof and redjustment as to these particulars. The allowances for prvices and expenses are not disturbed except as to he second trip to Indiana, and the currency in which •llowed, as to both of which proof may be taken.
1 On the debts payable to the estate by the administra* or himself or assumed by him, he is to be charged with urrent interest, subject to credits as above indicated, or debts paid and allowances, and also for payment to distributees, and for the balance appearing in favor of lalvert and other distributees parties to this suit a decree should be rendered against him in their favor.
Wherefore the decree is reversed, and the cause remanded for furtherproceedings and decree consistent with this opinion.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.