Lawrence v. Clark
Lawrence v. Clark
Opinion of the Court
This is an appeal from a ruling of the district court disallowing a claim filed against the estate of Ernst Zehner upon a promissory note for $5,000, which had been indorsed and sold by Ernst Zehner. The only issue
Byron E. Yoder made and delivered a note for $5,000 to Ernst Zehner, dated at Melbeta, Nebraska, June 5, 1918, and payable at the State Bank of Melbeta one year after date, with interest at 8 per cent., both principal and interest to bear 10 per cent, interest after maturity. The original note appears in the bill of exceptions, and bears seven- indorsements of payments between the dates of June 10, 1919, and November 28, 1922, the total amount of said payments being $2,645.65. After the indorsement upon November 28, 1922, under a rubber stamp printing the words, “Demand, notice and protest waived,” appears the signature of Ernst Zehner, and immediately thereunder appears two indorsements of payments, as follows: June 6, 1923, paid $210.10; December 29, 1925, paid $556.58. By the indorsement on the back of said note, it was sold to Jasper Lawrence, and upon the death of Ernst Zehner administration of his estate was begun in the county court of Scotts Bluff county, and upon December 26, 1930, Jasper Lawrence filed the note attached to a claim bill against the estate of Ernst Zehner, which claim was allowed by the county judge upon September 22, 1931, for balance due of $5,203.28, with interest at 8 per cent., as shown on the back of the claim bill.
The administrator appealed from this finding to the district court, and on trial of the same issues the district court found in favor of the administrator, and disallowed the claim against the estate, and motion for a new trial being overruled, the claimant, Jasper Lawrence, appeals to this court, and sets out four assignments of error: First, that the judgment is not supported by the evidence; second, that it is contrary to law; third, that the court erred in finding and determining that the claim of Jasper Lawrence is barred by the five-year statute of limitations of the state of Nebraska; and, fourth, that the court erred in overruling claimant’s motion for a new trial.
Charles F. Lyman testified that he organized the State Bank of Melbeta in 1913, and sold out his interest in 1918 to Crabill and Yoder, and in 1920 bought all of Mr. Yoder’s stock and most of Mr. Crabill’s stock, and that when Mr. Yoder ceased to be cashier he was succeeded by John T. Swan, who. was the active and managing officer of the bank. He had been acquainted with Ernst Zehner for many years quite intimately, and testified that he was a German, who was not able to read much English, and depended upon other people entirely to keep his accounts, and consulted with Mr. Lyman frequently. When money was collected on the ten notes listed in the written guarantee, the money was to be deposited to the account of Crabill and Yoder and held by the bank to make good Yoder and Crabill’s guarantee to Lyman, and that, when Yoder and Crabill’s guarantee had been entirely satisfied, then any money remaining in such bank account was to be distributed between Yoder and Crabill. When Ernst Zehner learned of the guarantee of notes signed by Yoder, he became worried about the possibility of collecting his Yoder note, and made complaint to Swan, the cashier, and Lyman, the president, and the claim is made that they got an agreement from Yoder that the State Bank of Melbeta should apply Yoder’s part of any money in that
In Sornberger v. Lee, 14 Neb. 193, the indorsement of $61.55, made January 30, 1877, was a collection upon a note left with them as collateral security for the note upon which it was indorsed. In this case the creditor did just what it was his duty to do in making the indorsement.
In Bosler v. McShane, 78 Neb. 86, being the second case cited by appellant, dividends paid on corporation stock deposited with the note were credited as payments thereon, and without such credit the note would have been barred. It clearly appears that such stock deposited by maker was collateral to the note, and the crediting of such dividends within the instructions of the maker.
But when this case was before the court on rehearing (78 Neb. 91) Judge Good, then commissioner, in adhering to the first opinion, set out that the rule is well established in this state that any voluntary payment by the debtor arrests the running of the statute, and states that the vital question in all these cases is: “Were the payments that were credited upon the note voluntary pay
In Dwire v. Gentry, 95 Neb. 150, Judge Letton discussed the case of Mayberry v. Willoughby, 5 Neb. 368, and says that a promise by one joint debtor will not take a case out of the statute of limitations as to his cocontractors unless he is specially and severally authorized for that purpose, and that, when the time limited by it has expired, then in legal contemplation the debt is extinguished, and can only be revived by a new promise by the person sought to be charged, or by some person lawfully authorized by him for that purpose.
In Borden v. Fletcher’s Estate, 131 Mich. 220, it is said: “It is only when authority is given to one to make a payment on behalf of another that such payment can bind a coeontractor of him who makes the payment.”
In 1781 it was held in England by Lord Mansfield, in Whitcomb v. Whiting, 2 Doug. K. B. 652, that a payment by one joint debtor was effectual to take the case out of the statute of limitations as to his co-obligors, for it was said that an admission by one is an admission by all, but the majority of states have repudiated this doctrine, and Nebraska is in line with the others in its recent opinions, such as Dwire v. Gentry, supra, and Hall v. Rogers, 113 Neb. 290.
In 10 Neb. Law Bulletin, 410, there is a discussion of the evolution of this theory in Nebraska, citing several cases. In Hall v. Rogers, supra, the first syllabus holds the same as Dwire v. Gentry, and the second syllabus is:
“Statutes of limitation are treated as statutes of repose, and are considered necessary to the welfare of society. Since the lapse of time carries away with it the means of proof, such statutes are deemed to be in the interest of morals, serving to prevent perjuries, frauds, and mistakes, and to render people attentive to the early adjustment of demands, and prevent the disturbance of settlements which have been made, but of which the proof may have been lost.” 17 R. C. L. 671, sec. 9.
As set out herein, Crabill received $1,000 on October 20, 1924, and $107.41 May 21, 1925, and kept both of these sums until December 29, 1925, when he arranged to redeposit them to make a payment on this note of $556.58. The last payment on this note, in any event, was received and should have been made upon this note upon May 21, 1925, and the statute of limitations commenced to run on that date, and more than five years had elapsed when this note was filed as a claim against this estate on December 26, 1930. These sums were not paid on the note with reasonable promptness.
There is nothing in this record from which an inference can be drawn that he was authorized to hold this money for months and then make a payment that would prevent the statute of limitations running as against the Zehner estate. 13 Am. & Eng. Ency. Law, 750; Sweet v. Ellis, 109 Mich. 460; 17 R. C. L. 935; 37 C. J. 1162; Scott v. DeGraw, 90 Neb. 274; Moffitt v. Carr, 48 Neb. 403.
The district court found generally for the administrator of the estate of Ernst Zehnei-, and against the claimant, Jasper Lawrence, and found that the statute of limitations had run against the claim of Jasper Lawrence prior to, the filing of his claim in the county court, and ordered and decreed that said claim be disallowed. Finding no error in the judgment of the district court, the same is hereby
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In re Estate of Ernst Zehner. Jasper Lawrence v. Armond M. Clark, Administrator
- Status
- Published