Wiley v. Carson
Wiley v. Carson
Opinion of the Court
This is an appeal from an order setting aside the judgment entered on July 7, 1893. The service of summons in 1893 was by publication, and no appearance was made in the action on the part of the defendants. The notice of motion was served on the attorneys for the plaintiff more than seven years after the entry of the judgment. The motion was made on the following grounds: “First, that the court obtained no jurisdiction to render said judgment; second, that the affidavit for the order of publication contained no facts showing that a cause of action existed in said cause; third, that said affidavit contained no sufficient showing of diligence to procure personal service of said summons; and, fourth, for the reason that the summons, as published, stated the complaint to be on file, when in truth and in fact said complaint was not filed at the time so stated in the summons.” The motion was made upon the affidavit, answers, and affidavits of merits of the defendants, and the pleadings and proceedings in the action.
The attorneys, in their brief for the defendants and respondents, say they rely wholly upon the ground that the judgment set aside was void for want of jurisdiction. Their contention is that the affidavit of publication fails to show that the plaintiff had a cause of action against the defendants, for the reasons: First, that the complaint is not made a part of the affidavit for publication; second, if it can be considered as a part of the affidavit, then it was insufficient, for the reason that it was not verified by the plaintiff, or by any one. in his behalf. The contention that the complaint is not made a part of the affidavit for publication is untenable, as the complaint is referred to in the affidavit, and the court recited in its
Tile second ground is entitled to more consideration. The jurat to the verification of the complaint is signed by the person after whose name appears the words “Notary Public”, but there is no seal of the notary affixed thereto. It is contended, therefore,, that the failure of the notary to affix his official seal leaves the complaint unverified. The principal question, therefore, is, did the failure of the notary to affix his seal to the jurat to the complaint have the effect of leaving the complaint unverified? Section 494, Comp. Laws, provides for the appointment of notaries public, which'“shall have power and authority anywhere in the state to administer oaths and perform all other duties required of them by law.” Section 503 provides, “Every notary public, before he enters upon the duties of his office, shall provide an official seal and deposit an impression of the same, together with said oath and bond, in the office of the secretary of the state.” Section 504 provides that he shall deposit with the clerk of the courts of his county an impression of his seal, together with his official signature, and the said clerk shall record the same in a book for that purpose. The only part of the act that speaks of the use of the notarial seal is section 501, in which it is provided that the notary shall keep a record of his proceedings, which record, or a copy thereof, “certified by the notary under seal, shall at all times be competent evidence to prove” certain facts therein specified. The special mention of the seal in this section would seem to indicate that, in the opinion of the legislature, there might be cases in which the use of the official seal might not be necessary. As the statute does not expressly require that the notary, in taking an affidavit or administering an oath, shall authenti
It is further contended by the respondents that the order of the court should be sustained on the ground that the. summons, as published, states that the complaint was filed on the 7th day of March, 1893, but in fact the complaint was not filed until the 8th day of March. But we are of the opinion that this contention is untenable for the reason that the complaint was filed prior to the first publication of the summons, and the mistake in the summons as to the date the same was filed could not have had the effect of misleading the defendants, or either of them. The statute requires that the complaint shall be filed prior to the publication of the summons. Subsection 5, § 4900. And in this case, as we have seen, the complaint was so filed.
In the view we have taken of the case, the circuit court had jurisdiction to enter the judgment sought to be vacated, and hence the same must be held to be a valid and binding judgment. These views lead to the conclusion that the circuit court was not authorized
Reference
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- 1. An objection that a complaint was not made a part of the affidavit for publication of summons, and that therefore the affidavit failed to show a cause of action against defendants, was untenable, where the affidavit referred to the complaint, and the order of publication recited that it was made on affidavit and complaint. 2. Comp. Laws, § 494, provides for the appointment of notaries public who “shall have power * * * to administer oaths.” Section 503 requires the notary to provide an official seal, and deposit an impression with the secretary of the state. Section 504 requires him to deposit an impression of his seal, together with his official signature, with the clerk of the courts of his county. Section 501 provides that the notary shall keep a record of his proceedings, which record, “certified by the notary under seal,” shall be. competent to prove certain facts. Held, that the affixing by a notary of his seal to the verification of a complaint, not being expressly required by statute, was not absolutely essential to its validity as a verified complaint. 3. The court sitting in a county in which a complaint is verified can take judicial notice of the fact that the notary whose name is subscribed to the verification is duly authorized to act as such. 4. A publication of summons reciting the complaint as filed March 7th, whereas it was not in fact filed until March 8th, was not ground for setting aside a default, where the complaint was filed prior to the first publication, as required by Comp. Laws, § 4900, subd. 5, and the mistake in the summons could not have misled defendants.