Willis v. Tozer
Willis v. Tozer
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
On the 10th of January, 1887, Francis Arnold instituted an action in the Court of Common Pleas for Richland County, against the defendant, as administratrix of the estate of Richard Tozer, to foreclose a mortgage on certain real estate in the city of Columbia. The defendant pleaded jplene administravit, complying with Rule 21 of the Circuit Court by filing a sworn cppy of her inventory and appraisement, and by giving a statement of her administration as follows: “That no goods or chattels, rights or credits, which were of the said Richard Tozer at the time of his death have come into her hands as administratrix to be by her administered except certain personal property, that is to say: * * * which said property now in the possession of this defendant was duly appraised, according to law, at the sum of $195, and that she has paid out the sum of $209.09 on account of the expenses of the last illness and of the funeral of her said intestate, and for fees of administration. And this defendant files herewith a copy of the inventory and appraisement of the estate of her said intestate. Wherefore, this defendant prays that whatever judgment be given against her in the premises may be made subject to this, her defence, that she has fully administered all the goods and chattels, rights and credits, of her intestate, which have come into her hands as administratrix to be administered by her.”
That action resulted on the 8th of May, 1888, in a judgment in favor of the plaintiff, Francis Arnold, against the defendant as administratrix for $633.08. The decree in that case provided: “That if the proceeds of the sale be insufficient to pay the amount adjudged to be due to the plaintiff, with interest and costs, as aforesaid, the master shall specify the amount of such deficiency, and that the defendant, Mary A. Tozer, as administratrix as aforesaid, do pay the same to the plaintiff, the said Francis Arnold, with interest from the date of such report, out of any assets that may come into her hands to be administered,
The defendant, in her answer, admitted the receipt of the assets, but pleaded: “That at divers tinges during her administration of the said estate, without knowledge and notice of the indebtedness to the said Francis Arnold, as set forth in the complaint herein, and prior to the commencement of the action upon the bond and mortgage of the said Francis Arnold, the defendant, in anticipation of receiving the said legacy, advanced and paid out of her own moneys, certain debts of the estate of the said Eiehard Tozer, and certain expenses of administration, including fees for professional services of her attorneys in and about her defence to the action pending against her as said administratrix, as hereinafter set forth, for which she asks to be reimbursed out of the assets hereinbefore acknowledged to have been received by her, which said debts and expenses of administration amount in the aggregate to the sum of $1,667.70; and this defendant further avers that at the time of the issuing of the execution set out in the sixth paragraph of the complaint, she did not have, and has not now, in her hands to be administered any assets of the estate of her said intestate.” The defendant in her answer also alleges, that over and above the amount for which the plaintiff herein demandsj udgment against the defendant, there are due and outstanding against the estate of the defendant’s intestate of equal rank with the judgment held by the plaintiff claims in various sums, amounting in the aggregate to the sum of $220.
The cause came on to be tried upon the pleadings at the summer term, 1893, of the Court of Common Pleas for Eichland
On this motion, his honor, Judge Gary, reciting the points as above set forth, made and entered the following order: “I am of the opinion, that the first and third grounds are not well taken, but that the demurrer ought to be sustained on the second ground. It is, therefore, ordered that the demurrer be sustained on the ground specified, but that the plaintiff have leave to amend her complaint, and that the defendant have twenty days in which to answer the amended complaint to be served upon her.”
To support this position the appellant’s attorneys rely upon the case of Brown v. Hillegas, 2 Hill, *447, in which Judge O’Neall, delivering the opinion of the court, says: “In Jones v. Anderson, 4 McCord, 118, Judge Colcock, who delivered the opinion, cites, with approbation, the remarks of the Court of Appeals of Virginia, which said that ‘a suggestion of a devastavit may be likened .to a criminal proscution, and an executor shall not be presumed guilty of a devastavit until it is found against him by a verdict.’ I concur fully in this dictum. An executor or administrator is not to be made liable de bonis propriis until his devastavit is legally and firmly established. In this State this can only be done by establishing first his testator’s debt by matter of record (i. e., a judgment recovered de bonis testatoris against the executor or administrator); second, assets admitted by the defendant’s plea, confession or default, or found by the verdict of a jury on and against the plea of plene administravit generally, or praeter; and third, that the defendant has wasted such assets. These are facts which, although they may be proved by matter of record, must be found against the defendant by the verdict of a jury, before judgment and execution can go against him de bonis propriis." They also rely upon the case of Ford v. Adm’r of Rouse, Rice, 219, in which the court, after quoting the doctrine laid down in Brown v. Hillegas, says: “Under these rules it is plain to be seen that the defendant is not in any danger of a personal liability in an action of debt suggesting devastavit,” Also upon the case of Spoon v. Smith, 36 S. C., 588, in which Mr. Justice Pope, as the organ of the court, says: “It is, no doubt, true, as a general proposition, that the plea of plene administravit, set up by a personal representative of a deceased debtor, in a suit by a creditor of such
An examination of the cases of Brown v. Hillegas and Ford v. Rouse, supra, will show that the principles therein stated have no application to a case like this; in fact, there is not a single circumstance in either of those cases calling forth the doctrine applicable to the present case. The case of Spoon v. Smith, instead of sustaining appellant’s position, is authority against it, because it shows that although the personal representative is not liable under a judgment quando acciderint for assets that came into his hands up to the date of the judgment, he is “liable for such assets of the deceased debtor as should, or may, come into his hands after such judgment.”
The practice followed by the plaintiff herein was adopted in the cases of McDowall v. Branham, 2 Nott & McC., 572, and Summers v. Tidmore, 1 McCord, 270, and no objection was made to the proceedings on the ground mentioned herein, although they were dismissed on other grounds. It is also sustained by Williams on Executors, vol. 2, page *1705, where the author says: “If a judgment of assets quando acciderint has been entered against an executor or administrator, the plaintiff cannot have execution until some assets come into the hands of the defendant, when the plaintiff may bring an action of debt upon the judgment, &c.” A conclusive answer to the position of the appellant, it seems to us, is, that when the personal representative is sued in an action of debt upon the judgment quando acciderint suggesting a devastavit, the defendant can then have the issue of fact, as to a devastavit, tried by a jury; and not until this is found against him and judgment entered, is he liable de bonis propriis. Any other course than that pursued
In pursuance of the order of Judge Gary, the plaintiff amended her complaint, by inserting at the end of paragraph 8 of the original complaint the additional words: “which said sum is applicable to the payment of the judgment above alleged, all of which amount the defendant has failed and refused to apply to said judgment, but has wasted and misappropriated.” The cause came on to be tried on the amended pleadings, at the spring term, 1894, of the said court, his honor, Judge Fraser, presiding. Upon the reading of the amended complaint, the defendant interposed a motion to dismiss the complaint, on the ground that the order of Judge Gary had not been complied with, the amendment inserted by the plaintiff being conclusions of law; and that there were in the complaint, as amended, no allegations of fact to the effect that the assets alleged to have been received by the defendant as administratrix, were applicable to the payment of the judgment forming the basis of the plaintiff’s action, and no allegations
A judgment is conclusive between the parties to it not only as to those matters which were actually decided, but also all such as were necessarily involved in its rendition. Trimmier v. Thomson, 19 S. C., 254; Micheau ads. Caldwell, 1 Speer, 276. The question as to the indebtedness of the deceased had necessarily to be decided by the court in rendering judgment guando aeciderint, in so far as the defendant and the plaintiff therein were concerned. It must be remembered that this is not a contest between the plaintiff and other creditors attempting to assert their rights. The judgment guando aeciderint required the defendant to pay the claim assigned to this plaintiff out of any assets that might come into her hands to be administered other than such as were specified in her answer therein, and that
The case next came on for trial on the said amended pleadings before his honor, Judge James Aldrich, and a jury, at the summer term, 1894, of the said court. At the close of the plaintiff’s testimony the defendant moved for a nonsuit, which was refused. The grounds upon which the motion was made, together with the reason assigned by the presiding judge in refusing it, will be reported with the case. The defendant then offered testimony, at the close of which his honor charged the jury. The jury rendered a verdict for the plaintiff for 1666.55, upon which judgment was entered. The plaintiff’s
All the other exceptions except the seventh (No. 10) will be considered together.
The defendant having had the opportunity, as well as it being her duty, to present the real condition of the administration of the estate in the first action, we will now consider her right to a second opportunity for such adjudication. The rule is so clearly stated in the case of Micheau ads. Caldwell, 1 Speer, 276, that we quote somewhat at length from that case. The court says: “Iu the case of Earle v. Hinton, 2 Str., 732, Chief Justice-Eyre said: ‘It- is a settled rule in law, that if a defendant has a matter proper for his defence, and he neglects to plead it in bar to the action at the time he may, he shall never take advantage of it after.’ And Justice Butler expressed himself in nearly the same words in the very strong case on this subject of Ewing v. Peters, 3 Term, 685, where the change in the consequences of
It is the judgment of this court, that the judgment of the Circuit Court be affirmed.
Reference
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- 1. Actions on Judgment Quando Acoiderint. — After judgment against an administrator quando acoiderint, an action of debt on such judgment will lie against the administrator suggesting devastavit oí assets subsequently received. 2. Desoriptio Personae — Surplusage.-—Where the assignee of a judgment in action on the judgment, describes herself in the caption as “executrix of,” &c., but makes no allegation in the compaint of her right to sue in a representative capacity, a demurrer to the complaint will not be sustained on the ground of such omission, as the words, “as executrix,” &c., in the caption may be stricken out as surplusage. 3. Complaint — -Amendment.-—A demurrer to this complaint havingbeen sustained, on the ground that it did not allege that the funds subsequently received by defendant were applicable to plaintiff’s judgment, and had been wasted by defendant, there was no error on the part of the Circuit Judge in permitting the complaint to be amended. 4. Point Not Decided Below- — Case Criticised. — An exception cannot be sustained, which charges error to the Circuit Judge in refusing to grant a motion in the cause, when the judge made no ruling on the motion. This case distinguished from Aultman v. Utsey, 41 S. 0., 305. 5. Plene Administravit — Judgment Quando Acciderint — Res Judicata.— An administrator being sued, pleaded plene administravit, but in her plea made no statement of other outstanding claims against her intestate's estate, and judgment was entered against her for the debt to be paid “out.of any assets that may come into her hands to be administered.” In action of debt on this judgment, after other assets had been received, defendant cannot plead retainer for debts paid, and liabilities incurred by her before the former action, such liabilities having been also afterwards paid by her. The requisites of a plea oi plene administravit stated. 6. Pacts — Conclusions of Law.' — An allegation in a complaint, that assets received by the defendant as administratrix, were applicable to plaintiff’s judgment, and had been wasted by her, states a fact and not a conclusion of law. Y. Plaintiff’s Capacity — Demurrer.—An allegation in the complaint, that plaintiff is a duly appointed and qualified administratrix of a deceased intestate, is sufficient where no objection was made to it, other than by oral demurrer at the trial. 8. Pormer Pleadings — Evidence.—In action of debt on a judgment, the unverified answer of defendant in the former action may be offered against the defendant, as evidence of the admissions therein contained. 9. Judgment — Res Judicata — Plene Administravit. — A judgment is conclusive as to all proper defences which were available to defendant, as well as of defences pleaded. And, therefore, where an administratrix is sued in equity, and in her plea of plene administravit. fails to claim credit for debts and expenses paid and incurred by her, and to set forth other outstanding debts of a higher rank, she cannot, in this action, when sued on a judgment quando acciderint in that action, plead a retainer for these items. 10. Plene Administravit. — In action at law on a judgment, defendant, as administratrix, cannot plead that there are other outstanding debts of equal rank. 11. Another Action Pending. — The pendency of an action by an executrix against an administratrix, and personally to foreclose a mortgage, is not a bar to another action of debt on judgment by this same plaintiff against this defendant, as administratrix.