Estate of Katleman v. Katleman
Estate of Katleman v. Katleman
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
On Motion to Dismiss Appeal
By the Court,
Respondents move to dismiss the appeal of appellants from an order confirming a sale of personal property and from an order denying a new trial of said issue.
Liberty Katleman, surviving widow of Jacob Katleman, deceased, and the First National Bank of Nevada were appointed coadministrators of the estate of Jacob Katleman, deceased, on July 6, 1950. The assets of the estate included 495 shares of the capital stock of Elranco Inc. listed in the third account as of the value of $96,368.88, and a promissory note in the sum of $81,-631.12 from Elranco Inc. payable to deceased. A sale of said stock in October, 1951, for $96,368.86 was set aside by the court on account of irregularities, and the said purchase price, together with interest, was on order of court repaid to the purchasers. This caused an overdraft in the administrators’ bank account in the amount of $37,276.37. A second public sale was held in June, 1952, by the First National Bank of Nevada, one of the coadministrators, which produced the sum of $184,500 for the said stock and the said promissory note. Liberty Katleman objected to confirmation. • On July 14, 1952 the sale was confirmed and on September 10, 1952 an amended order of confirmation was filed. Thereafter Liberty Katleman, as a surviving heir, and Jennifer Lynn Katleman, a minor heir, through her attorney, moved for a new trial and for an order setting aside the confirmation. From the amended order of confirmation and the adverse orders on the subsequent motions this appeal was taken by Liberty Katleman and Jennifer Lynn Katleman.
Kespondents have attached as exhibits to their motion to dismiss sundry proceedings of the probate court. From these it appears that the coadministrators on January 14, 1953 filed a petition for a family allowance in the sum of $750 per month for the support of the surviving widow and minor heir. On February 3, 1953 the petition was granted as prayed and the January and February allowances were paid aggregating $1,500.
Respondents then assert that in order thus to place the parties to the sale in the position occupied by them, respectively, prior to confirmation, appellants would have to return the moneys received as a family allowance and would also have to recover and return the moneys paid to the former wife of decedent. No authorities are cited to support this assertion. It is based entirely upon the contention that the moneys received as family allowance and the moneys paid on the obligation to decedent’s former wife were all made out of the proceeds of the sale, which appellants seek to set aside by this appeal. In other words, respondents insist that the situation above described brings appellants within the rule that, having received and enjoyed the fruits of the orders, they are estopped from attempting to destroy these same orders.
The application of the rule is not new to this court. In Afriat v. Afriat, 61 Nev. 321, 117 P.2d 83, 85, this court reaffirmed the rule enunciated in State v. Central Pacific Railroad Co., 21 Nev. 172, 26 P. 225 (rehearing denied 21 Nev. 178, 26 P. 1109) and affirmed in Cunningham v. Cunningham, 60 Nev. 191, 102 P.2d 94, 105 P.2d 398, as follows:
*188 “Where a reversal upon the plaintiff’s appeal would require him to refund to the defendant money or property which he has obtained under the judgment, there is reason for holding that the acceptance of the benefits of the judgment is a waiver of the right to appeal. Having elected to receive the fruits of the judgment, he is estopped from attempting to destroy the very foundation of his right to receive them. But where a reversal would not work this result, where his right to what he has received would still remain intact, it is difficult to conceive why he should not be allowed to take what is now, and always will be, his, and still prosecute his claim for more.”
The court in the Afriat case then added:
“It seems apparent that a reversal of the judgment in this case would not require the appellant to refund the money received for additional attorneys’ fees and for maintenance during the pendency of the action, and hence such acceptance is not a waiver of her right to appeal.”
The application of this rule returns us to respondents’ contention that a setting aside of the sale, with its consequent return of the purchase price to the purchaser, would in turn require the repayment of the family allowance to the administrators and likewise the recovery and repayment to the administrators of the sums paid to the former wife. Respondents seek to support such position because of the lack of cash in the hands of the administrators and because of the bank overdraft of $37,276.37 resulting from the setting aside of the first sale of the Elranco stock. They assert that the estate was insolvent.
The record however does not indicate such insolvency. The third account of the administrators shows assets which had come into their hands valued at $325,244.96, from which disbursements had been made to the extent of $147,813.39, leaving a net estate of $177,431.57, in addition to further incoming assets aggregating several thousand dollars more. It is nowhere suggested that the
Where the assets are amply sufficient to pay all debts and expenditures incident to administration, the estate is solvent within the provisions of our sections having to do with family allowance. In re Ehler’s Estate, 115 Cal.App. 403, 1 P.2d 546, 548. As was said in that case : “In the ordinary estate offered for probate, there is rarely either sufficient cash on hand or income with which to pay off outstanding indebtedness, and an executor ordinarily is forced to sell off part of the estate in order to secure the funds necessary to pay claims and demands outstanding.” Indeed such a situation appears to be contemplated by our statutes. Section 9882.223, N.C.L.1931-1941 Supp., fixes the order in which the debts of the estate shall be paid: funeral expenses, expenses of the last illness, family allowance, debts having preference by laws of the United States, certain wage claims, judgments and mortgages, and lastly all other demands. Section 9882.226 id. has particular application. It requires the executor or administrator to pay the funeral expenses, the expenses of the last illness and the allowance made to the family of the deceased as soon as he has sufficient funds in his hands.
The minor heir, appearing through her counsel, contends that in any event she cannot be bound, nor can she be precluded from appealing by reason of acceptance of family allowance by her mother and legal guardian. In view of the foregoing, however, it becomes unnecessary to pass on this phase of the motion.
We have given consideration to the authorities cited
The motion to dismiss the appeal is denied.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF JACOB KATLEMAN, Also Known as JAKE KATLEMAN, Deceased LIBERTY KATLEMAN, One of the Heirs of the Estate, and JENNIFER LYNN KATLEMAN, Minor Heir of the Above-Entitled Estate, by and Through WILLIAM G. RUYMANN, Her Attorney, Appointed by the Above-Entitled Court v. BELDON R. KATLEMAN, Purported Purchaser of Personal Property, and FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF NEVADA, Coadministrator
- Status
- Published