In re May
In re May
Opinion of the Court
I have been asked to revise the decision given in Re Hol-brook [Case No. 6,5SS]. The argument has been ably presented, but the law is too well settled to be changed. Our statute has borrowed and put into the act itself the practice of the courts of bankruptcy, by which a creditor having security upon the bankrupt's estate is to give credit for its value before proving his debt. There was no such general rule in equity in England, and in settling the estates of insolvents deceased, or in winding up insolvent corporations, or limited companies as they are called in England, a secured creditor could prove for his whole debt and retain his security besides, until he received full payment. By a late statute the proceedings in winding up cases are put on the footing of bankruptcy in this respect. In this country the rule in bankruptcy has been adopted in some of the states, and in others rejected, when no statute governed the point. But whenever there has been a statute upon the subject, it has followed the practice in bankruptcy, so far as I am informed.
The insolvent law of Massachusetts contained a provision very much like that in our present statute, and, under it, the courts held that where two or more persons had given
It is true, as was argued, that there is nothing on the face of this note to prove that John J. May was the surety, and the firm the principals; but evidence is always admissible between principal and surety to show what their equitable rights towards each other are. Indeed, it would be admissible against the creditor, if he was aware of the fact; so, of course, with the other fact that the land was the separate property of John J. May, the surety. It was argued that there was something to be found in the examination of one of the bankrupts, tending to show that this land should be treated as firm property by virtue of some sort of estoppel. It was not said to have been bought with the money or used in the business of the firm in fact, or to have been dedicated to the firm in any way, but to have been held out as part of the resources of the firm. It strikes me as improbable that such an estoppel could be made out in any case. If it is so, the assignees must look to it, and have the property distributed to the joint creditors. On this certificate I have no right to look at the evidence, but must take the fact to be that it was the separate property of one partner. It follows, that the creditor may prove, and indeed is bound to prove at the request of the separate creditors, his whole debt without deduction, against the joint assets; but only the deficiency, after disposing of the security, against the separate assets of J. J. May. Proof to stand, in full, against the estate of the firm-
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In re MAY Ex parte MASSACHUSETTS HOSPITAL LIFE INS. CO.
- Status
- Published