Roth v. Hummel
Roth v. Hummel
Opinion of the Court
This proceeding in error is brought by the distributees, who were the children and next of kin
A demurrer was filed by Roth’s distributees to the petition and amendment thereto, both general, that the petition did not state a cause of action, and special, in that “the action was not brought within the time limited for the commencement of such actions.” This demurrer was overruled, to which ruling they excepted. Afterwards they answered, and on trial judgment was entered against them.
The account of Frank Fehr as executor of Theresa Aulbach, deceased, was filed in the probate court which, upon settlement of same May 1, 1902, found that there was due from him as executor of said estate some three thousand five hundred dollars. Fehr’s successor as executor of Theresa Aulbach, Joseph Hummel, who was plaintiff below, gave notice, May 10, 1902, of his intention to appeal from this finding and judgment of the probate court to the court of common pleas. The transcript and original papers were filed in the common pleas court on August 4, 1902, on appeal from the probate court. As the statute, in order to perfect
In Biddle, Trustee, v. Phipps, 2 C. C., 61, it was held that the person appealing must file the transcript, in Downing v. Downing, 3 C. C., N. S., 623, that a failure to file the transcript in time is fatal, and in Brown, Assignee, v. Wallace, Assignee, 66 Ohio St., 57, the supreme court has laid down the rule as follows:
“As the right of appeal exists only by virtue of the statutes, in order to give appellate court jurisdiction the statutory provisions must be strictly followed.”
The common pleas court never having obtained jurisdiction of this appeal, it was dismissed. This practically decided that there never had been any pending appeal and the judgment of the probate court had been at all times after its entry in full force precisely as if no attempt had been made to appeal it.
The defendant in error was himself responsible for the delay caused by his abortive attempt, and plaintiffs in error were not in any way a party to these proceedings or responsible for same.
Section 6217, Revised Statutes, provided: “After the settlement of any estate by an executor
And Section 6218 provided: “Any such creditor whose right of action shall first accrue after the expiration of the time of such limitation * * * may recover the same against the heirs, widow as next of kin, and next of kin of the deceased, and the devisees and legatees under his will, each one of whom shall be liable to the creditor to an account [amount] not exceeding the value, whether of real or personal estate, that he or she shall have received under the will, or by the distribution of the estate of the deceased; * * * and, provided further, no such suit shall be maintained unless it be commenced within one year next after the time when .the right of action shall first accrue, except.” Then follow exceptions for disabilities of infancy, lunacy, etc.
Without the provisions of these statutes there would be no right of action against John G. Roth and his brothers and sisters. They did not sign Fehr’s bond as executor and had no relations whatever to plaintiff or the claim sued upon. Their father, however, was a surety on the bond, and if he had
Plaintiff’s cause of action first accrued when the probate court settled the account of Fehr as executor. Newton v. Hammond, 38 Ohio St., 430.
The order finding the amount due from him to the estate became a judgment in favor of the estate to which the succeeding executor was entitled. Slagle v. Entrekin, 44 Ohio St., 637.
In this case therefore plaintiff’s cause of action accrued May 1, 1902, and no suit could be maintained thereon against plaintiffs in error unless it was commenced within one year from that date. The petition was filed August 31, 1908, more than five years too late.
The argument of defendant in error that because the action arises upon an executor’s bond under Section 4984, Revised Statutes (Section 11226, General Code), it can be brought within ten years, overlooks the fact that this section was itself “subject to the qualifications in Section 4976, Revisec .Statutes,” which section was as follows:
Section 6218, Revised Statutes, does prescribe a different limitation of one year and as it and the ten-year limitation of Section 4984, Revised Statutes, both start from the time the cause of action accrues, the latter must yield to the former by virtue of the express terms of Section 4976, Revised Statutes. If this were not the rule we could hardly conceive of a case where the one-year provision of Section 6218, Revised Statutes, would apply. Take a case where it was desired to pursue distributees on a claim arising on a verbal contract, by the same argument suit could be commenced in six years and not in one, as the statute provides. So if it were upon a promissory note, it might be prosecuted in fifteen years and not be limited to one year, and so with every other class of the claims, rendering the one-year provision entirely nugatory.
Our supreme court has passed on this question in The C., S. & C. Rd. Co. v. Mowatt, 35 Ohio St., 284, where a claim on behalf of a property holder for damages caused by change of grade made by a railroad in occupying a city street was limited by the terms of the statute to two years instead of the general statute of limitations for tort of four years. See also Shierberg v. Shierberg, 5 Bull., 753.
There is no right to proceed against the distributees of an estate except upon the terms named
Plaintiff therefore had no right of action against Roth’s distributees under the petition when filed, and their demurrer should have been sustained. Judgment reversed as to plaintiffs in error and judgment will be entered for them here.
Judgment reversed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.