Patton v. Pinkston
Patton v. Pinkston
Opinion of the Court
delivered tbe opinion of tbe court.
Mrs. Sarah E. Pinkston and Samuel W. Emmons, complainants below and appellees here, in their bill against Samuel R. Patton and Julia A. Patton and W. A. Gage & Co., who are appellants here, allege that complainants and said Julia A. Patton, being tbe wife of said Samuel R. Patton, are tbe children and only heirs at law and distributees of Eranklin Em-mons, deceased, who died in 1904; that said Eranklin Emmons left a last will and testament, which has been duly probated, naming one J. B. Boothe as executor, who has failed and refused to qualify, and that no letters testamentary or of administration have been applied for or issued; that at tbe time of bis death tbe said Eranklin Emmons owed no debts and bad no debts due him, as far as complainants can ascertain, except as set .out in said bill, and no necessity exists for any administration, all of bis. property having been specifically devised; that some time in 1895 tbe said Eranklin Emmons turned over to said Samuel R. Patton, husband of bis said daughter, Julia A. Patton, with whom be then resided and with whom be continued to reside until bis death, in 1904, certain moneys de
Tbe first ground of demurrer urged is tbat complainants bave not made out any title to tbe relief sought, but tbat tbe suit should bave been instituted by an administrator cum testa-mento annexo. We do not think there is any merit in tbis contention. The bill shows that no letters bave been issued and tbat there are no debts. Tbis court has held repeatedly tbat in such a case administration is not necessary, but tbat tbe distributees may sue in equity in tbeir own names to recover a debt due tbe intestate. If tbis may be done by tbe dis-tributees of an intestate, by parity of reason it may also be done by legatees to whom a specific debt or demand has been given. Nor will tbis right be defeated by tbe possibility that tbe funeral expenses and cost of probate of will are outstanding charges against tbe estate. Even if these charges are yet due by tbe estate, tbe creditors would not be injured by giving complainants tbe relief sought in tbeir bill. As was aptly said in Ricks v. Hilliard, 45 Miss., 363, 364: “A recovery by them does not cut off creditors or put them in a worse predicament than tbey were before.”
We do not concur in tbe contention of appellants’ counsel tbat tbe bill should not be entertained because one of tbe legatees to whom Franklin Emmons bequeathed tbe demand sought to be enforced in tbe suit, Mrs. Julia A. Patton, is not a complainant, but appears as a party defendant to tbe suit. We fail to see what difference tbis can make. Tbe bill is rich in equity. The right to tbe relief sought is clear. All tbe parties in interest
There is no merit in appellants’ contention tbat complainants’ suit is barred by tbe six-year period of limitation. Tbe case made by tbe bill shows a constructive trust in favor of the legatees of Franklin Emmons in tbe land described in tbe bill, and is subject to tbe ten-year period of limitation prescribed by Code 1892, § 2763.
Affirmed and remanded, with leave to answer within sixty days from filing of mandate in court below.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Samuel R. Patton v. Sarah E. Pinkston
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Wills. Bequest. Swlt by legatees. Equity. Jurisdiction. Legatees may sue in equity and recover upon a cause of action specifically bequeathed to them, if there be no executor of the will and the estate of the testator owe no debts, and the right will not be denied: (a) Because of the possibility that the funeral expenses of the testator and the costs of probating his will are unpaid; nor (5) Because one of the legatees refused to join as a complainant in the suit, and consequently was made a defendant thereto. '2. Same. Constructive trust. Code 1892, ? 2763.' Statute of limitation. A defendant who, having received money from a testator in his lifetime to invest for his benefit, invested it in lands for defendant’s own benefit, without the testator’s knowledge, holds the lands as a constructive trustee for the legatees to whom the right was bequeathed, and a suit to enforce the trust will not be barred until the ten years’ statute of limitations applicable to trusts, Code 1892, § 2763, shall have fully run.