Johnson v. Bobbitt
Johnson v. Bobbitt
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
In 1885 W. P. Lowry, the clerk of the chancery court of Pontotoc county, was appointed a commissioner to sell the real and personal property of the estate of William Ward, deceased, for a division of the proceeds thereof among the heirs of said William Ward, of whom Ernest Bobbitt, the appellee [plaintiff below], was one. Lowry made the sale of the property, received the proceeds of the sale, and upon a report thereof he was by a decree of the chancery court directed to pay out said moneys to the heirs of the said William Ward, and
1. The contention of Johnson that Lowry himself, as well as he [Johnson], is discharged of any liability upon said bond, because Bobbitt never had a guardian, is too airy and unsubstantial to be a basis of judicial action. Bobbitt, being now of age, can, if he remains sane, have no 'guardian; and, if Johnson’s contention be law, he and Lowry are discharged from a payment of what is admitted to .be due, and which never has been paid. We think the decree to pay the money to Bobbitt’s guardian included the duty and obligation to pay it to Bobbitt himself if it should not during his infancy have been paid to his guardian.
2. The claim of Johnson that the sureties only upon the special bond of Lowry are liable for the default is also, we think, not to be supported, because the statute expressly de
3. The effort of Johnson to throw the burden of his surety-ship on the official bond of Lowry for the second term of office as chancery clerk must fail-also, because Lowry had no successor in the administration of the funds of the Ward estate, as all the proceedings and the final decree relating to its distribution were made during Lowry’s first term of office. That Johnson is legally liable for the entire default, we think, is supported by authority. The default of Lowry (there being no proof on the subject) must be presumed to have occurred during the first term, because it was then received and ordered to be paid out. He never received the money as his successor. He had no successor as to this money. “The obligation to hold and pay the money to the party entitled to it, when called for, is incurred when the money is received, and, if not so paid over, without other proof, the bond then in force is responsible.” Morgan v. Smith, 95 N. C., 396, 403; Thomp. Pub. Off., sec. 217; Higginbottom v. Watt, 23 Ark., 304; Dabney's Adm’rs v. Smith’s Legatees, 5 Leigh, 13; note to Crawn v. Com., 10 Am. St. Rep., 845; s.c., 6 S. E., 620.
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Walter S. Johnson v. Ernest Bobbitt
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Guardian. Infant. Arrival at majority. Deoree. A decree of the chancery court directing its clerk, into whose hands money belonging to an infant litigant has come, to pay the same over to the guardian of the infant, may be enforced and collected by the infant after he becomes adult, although he never had a guardian. 2. Estates oe Decedents. Sale of lands. Special statutory bond. Code 1880, § 1932; code 1892, § 589. Chancery clerk. Official bond. Code 1880, § 180?; code 1892, § 460. New term. Neio bond. Where the clerk of the chancery court was appointed a commissioner to sell the lands of a decedent for distribution of the proceeds among the heirs, and he makes such sale, he and the sureties on his official bond at the time of the sale and reception of the purchase money are liable (code 1880, §1807; códe 1892, §460) to the heirs for their distributive shares of the proceeds, although a special statutory bond (code 1880, §1932; code 1892, §589), to account for the proceeds, was executed by him before the sale, and they remain liable after the clerk has entered upon a new term of office and executed another official bond.