In re the Assessment of Damages upon the Bond of Dean
In re the Assessment of Damages upon the Bond of Dean
Opinion of the Court
On due application an order was made directing that suit be brought on the bond given by Benjamin P. Dean on the granting to him of letters of guardianship of his son Albert, a minor. Dean was appointed guardian in 1860. In April, 1877, he made an assignment of his property for the equal benefit of his creditors. After that he was, on the application of his sureties, ordered by the orphans court of Salem county to account as guardian and give new sureties. He accounted, accordingly, .at the May term, 1877, of that court, and his account was allowed and passed. The balance against him thereon was $3,525.04. Subsequently, in the same term, the court removed him and appointed George W. Richman guardian in his place. The latter, soon after his appointment, presented a claim for that balance to Dean’s assignee, and he received a dividend thereon amounting to $1,869.61. After the ward came of age an order was made in this court that suit be brought on Dean’s bond, and suit was brought in the supreme court, accordingly, against him and his sureties. The bond was n.ot in the form prescribed by the statute, but was conditioned (1) that the guardian should file an inventory of the ward’s estate in three months; (2) that he should file an inventory of any property that should come to his hands thereafter; (3) that he should take care of th.e person, estate and education of the minor, and of all writings and evidence touching his lands} and (4) that he should render the estate and writings and evidence to him when by law required, or to such person or persons as by law were or might be entitled to receive them. In the suit on the bond the plaintiff assigned a breach of each of those conditions. The guardian did not plead. The sureties filed several pleas, but there was a demurrer to some of them, which was allowed, and the suit resulted in a judgment against the defendants on all the breaches assigned. A petition was subsequently filed in this court praying an assessment of the damages. A reference
As before stated, there is a judgment against Dean and the sureties on all the breaches. Obviously, the defence that the latter were discharged from liability by the action of the new guardian cannot be entertained here. The opportunity for setting up that or any other defence against liability on the bond is past, and the sureties are concluded by the judgment. The suit at law afforded the opportunity for defences against liability, and if the sureties failed to set them up there, or, having set them up, failed in sustaining them, they cannot be considered in this court. It is not material whether the damages be assessed upon the breach of the third condition — -to take care of the estate; or the fourth —to pay it over. The judgment at law is upon the breach of all the conditions. The master has very properly taken the account as the basis of the calculation for the assessment. But he has not made the calculation on the correct principle. He has com
It is quite clear that it is not proper to open the account nor to increase the balance by deducting the commissions which the court allowed the guardian on passing it. Whether the guardian was entitled to commissions or not was a question to be decided by the orphans court on the allowance of the account, and this court cannot review their decision in a collateral way. The objection that the master has not credited payments for taxes said to have been paid upon the estate by Dean while he was guardian, cannot be sustained. There is no evidence that, any taxes were ever paid, and if there had been they should have been charged in Dean’s account. The damages will be assessed at $2,544.80, as of the date of the master’s report, and interest bn $2,001.56 (the remainder, after deducting the dividend), from that date until paid, will be added.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.