Ex parte Copeland
Ex parte Copeland
Opinion of the Court
In the case of Morrison v. Toomer, decided recently by the circuit court in Charleston, it is said by the chancellor, “the general doctrine and course of this court, is
Regarding the recent decisions on this subject, as in some degree, an innovation on the practice of the court, it is not deemed expedient to extend them to cases where the reason does not manifestly exist. The application is always addressed to the sound discretion of the court. The presumption should always be against the removal of funds beyond the jurisdiction of the court; where the expediency or necessity is made clearly to appear, permission should be granted only on such terms as the nature of the case may require, or as experience may suggest to be necessary. It is impossible to anticipate all the contingencies which may arise, and it is therefore unwise, if not impracticable, to prescribe conditions which should be adopted in every case. In Morrison v. Toomer, the chancellor directed that the proposed trustee, should procure a certified copy of the order, to be endorsed on the trust deed, and should produce a certificate to the commissioner of this court, that he had caused the deed, together with a copy of the order and a schedule of the slaves, as now existing, to be registered, or recorded, in the proper office of registration in the county or district of the State of Alabama, in which the complainant, (the cestuy que trust,) lives, and this was properly made one of the precedent conditions to his substitution as trustee. In the cases exparte Smith and exparte Heard, in which guardians had been appointed in another jurisdiction, the commissioner was directed to inquire whether sufficient-security had been given. In the judgment of the court, this inquiry is not satisfied by the certificate of the officer making the appointment, or by any other certificate, but must be proved like any other fact, by the examination of witnesses, in which the commissioner may propose such ques
The order of the circuit court, authorizing the petitioner, Copeland to remove the property of the minor, is reversed — and it is ordered and decreed, that the petitioner, D. M. Lafitte, be appointed guardian of the estate of the minor, on giving bond to the commissioner in equity for Barnwell district, with the usual security for the faithful discharge of the duties of his trust.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.