Wilkins v. Harriss
Wilkins v. Harriss
Opinion of the Court
The jurisdiction of the Court of Equity in cases of the kind before us, is undoubted. • u But the mere poverty of the executor does not authorize the court against the will of the testator, to remove him by putting, a receiver in his place. There must be in addition some maladministration, or some danger, of loss from the misconduct or negligence of the executor, for which he will not b'e able to answer by reason of his insolvency. That That seems to be the well settled rule.”- Fairbairn vs. Fisher, 4 Jones Eq. 390. Hence, .where the condition of the executor in property or credit, has not been changed for the worse since the making of the will and the death' of the testator, the court will not interfere. Such, it is contended by the counsel for the' defendant Harries, is the ease with him.' He admits in his answer that at the death of his father he had.been u unlucky in business” and was embarrassed with ■ debt, but he alleges that this circumstance was well known to his father when hb appointed him one of his executors, and he avers that his pecuniary condition has somewhat improved since then. If it were true, that the full extent of his indebtedness was known to his testator at the time when he appointed him an executes, and also true, that ¿lis’pecuniary embarrassments had not increased - since, then the court would not be authorized to remove him, nor ta interfere with his management of the estate. But is that true ? "We think not. The bill charges that the defendant Harriss, had, in the lifetime of
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.