Appeal of Leibert
Appeal of Leibert
Opinion of the Court
Opinion,
A part of the land of the deceased, Charles L. Knauss, was awarded to the appellant upon proceedings in partition on Jan-
It is undoubtedly true that the appellant as acceptor of part of the intestate’s real estate could have applied by petition to the Orphans’ Court to have the amount of the recognizance and bonds given by her abated sufficiently to pay the Goepp mortgage if she had chosen to do so. That mortgage was given in 1853 and was duly recorded. It was not paid at the death of the intestate, and it was an open lien against the land accepted by the appellant, of which she had constructive notice by the record, and actual notice also. This being so, she was entitled to have the mortgage discharged out. of the valuation money of the land if necessary. But there was ample personal estate for the payment of all the intestate’s debts. Although the mortgage was a lien upon the land, the debt which it was given to secure was payable, like all other debts of the intestate, out of his personal estate exclusively in the first instance. It was only in the event that there was no personal estate applicable to that purpose that the land could be resorted to. If then the appellant had applied by petition to the Orphans’ Court to have her recognizance and bonds abated for the payment of the mortgage debt, her petition must have been refused, because there was ample personal estate applicable to its payment. The other heirs would have had the right to resist, as they naturally would have done, any abatement of their bonds for the payment of the mortgage.
But the appellant, although she was one of the heirs and distributees, as well as acceptor of the land, and, in either of these capacities, could have compelled the payment of the mortgage by the administrators, did not see fit to exercise that right. On the contrary, she practically treated the mortgage as an obligation which she was bound to pay, by paying interest on it for nearly fourteen years. She slept during all this time upon whatever rights she had to have the mortgage paid.
The decree of the court below is affirmed, and the Appeal dismissed at the costs of the appellant.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.