Estate of Lackey
Estate of Lackey
Opinion of the Court
Opeeuon by
The decree appealed from was based upon the report of an auditor. This report was wanting in clearness. The learned auditor made no distinct findings of law or fact, as ought always to be done, and his conclusions must be gathered from a general examination of his report. It came before the orphans’ court on exceptions and was confirmed, not in consequence of a definite approval of findings made by the auditor, but, in the lan
In December, 1890, Lackey went to Philadelphia for the treatment,of some disease of one of his eyes. He spent several weeks in a hospital, during which his eye was removed and he was provided with a glass eye. When sufficiently recovered he returned to his home with Miss Campbell in the house which had belonged to his sister, where he remained for over two years and until his death in 1893. He was able, according to the evidence, to be about the town of West Chester, to visit his acquaintances at their places of business, and to a considerable extent to wait
The first suggestion made by the claimant of the existence of any claim on her part against her uncle, was in a postscript to a letter written by her to the executor in January, 1894. The claim then made was that the decedent had at one time given her a bond called the “ Steelton Bond” for $600, which she had afterwards returned to him at his request relinquishing her control over it. She said she had to pay interest on about the same amount of money, and needed the interest upon the “ Steelton Bond” with which to pay it, and would regard this arrangement as a satisfaction of all her claims against her uncle’s estate. The amount of her demand seems to have been next stated before the auditor, where it had undergone a complete change in its character and amount. As presented before the auditor, it was a demand for $10.00 per week, in addition to what had been regularly paid to her by the decedent for the whole time he had been with her after his return from Philadelphia and down to the day of his death. This time she had computed as one hundred and twenty-nine weeks. The auditor found that this demand should be allowed because the claimant was a niece and not a daughter of the deceased. From this fact he argued that the family relation did not exist between them, and that she might safely contract with him for his care. He infers that a contract was made between them,- because of what transpired in relation to the “ Steelton Bond,” about which there is no evidence whatever; and because, in the language of the auditor, “ Nothing appeared which rebutted the presumption of a contractual relation between appellee and decedent respecting the services rendered.” He did not find that the decedent needed any considerable additional attention after his return from Philadelphia, nor that he ever said one word indicating that he had agreed to pay or expected to pay, or had the remotest idea that his niece expected him to pay, any additional
The claimant can only recover upon an express contract. When was such contract made ? Then, but not till then, the position of the decedent ceased to be that of a member of the household, and became that of a mere lodger, paying for everything he received, and liable to have the services he received suspended entirely or raised in price at the mere will of the claimant. No facts have been found that support the decree rendered by the learned auditor. And as we cannot adopt his-presumptions which rest on mere conjecture there is nothing left for us but to reverse the decree. It is accordingly reversed, and the record remitted for further proceedings.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.