Mulloy v. White
Mulloy v. White
Opinion of the Court
The complainant files this bill as a creditor of the defendant Harris, to reach a fund in the hands of the defendant White as a testamentary trustee, to be paid, by the terms of the will, to Harris, in sums of $500 each year. The bill is an ordinary attachment bill under the Code, sec. 8455, subsec. 1, the ground of the attachment being that the debtor defendant resides out of the state. The defendant has not appeared,,
This question came before me at a former term, in a -case where the decree was by default without personal service, and without attachment of property. Such a decree is authorized by the Code, sec. 4352, subsecs. 1-5, and sec. 4369, subsec. 2. The effect of such a decree is regulated by ¡sections 4379 — 4383. Section 4382 provides thus : “ It is no ■objection to the execution of a decree rendered against a •defendant that it was founded on a bill taken for confessed, without personal service ; but the court may require the complainant to give sufficient security, in such sum as the court •deems proper, to abide by and perform such order touching the restitution of property, or repayment of money, as the court may make, upon the defendant subsequently netting aside the decree and successfully resisting the complainant’s suit.” The decree authorized as above does not become absolute for three years from its rendition, unless a •copy is served upon the defendant, in which event the •decree does become absolute within six months thereafter. Sec. 4379. There is also a provision in favor of the heirs of a defendant who may die before or after bill filed, to come in within three years and make defence. Secs. 4380,4381. Under these circumstances, it seemed to me, upon mature consideration, that the provisions of section 4382 are emi
That case, it will be remembered, was upon default with-cut personal service, and without attachment of property. This case is by default without personal service, but upon .attachment of property. Such cases in chancery, it is •expressly provided by section 4378, “ are governed, in respect to the effect of the decree pro confesso, by the provisions of sections 3529 to 3534.” These latter provisions .are contained in the chapter of the Code devoted to attachments, and, when we come to examine them, cover the ¡same ground, though with material differences, as sections •4379-4383, regulating decrees by default without personal ■service, and without attachment of property. These latter •sections are immediately preceded by section 4378, which refers us to sections 3529-3534 for the law governing decrees by default under attachment of property. It seems reasonable to conclude that the Legislature intended to keep these two classes of cases separate and distinct, and not to regulate either by the provisions designed for the other.
Moreover, by section 3527 the court, in attachment, cases, is authorized to stay final decree for not less. than six months nor more than twelve months from the time of the return of the attachment. And by section 3528 it is provided that, where the attachment, is sued out because the defendant is a non-resident, the-stay shall be allowed, unless sufficient cause appear to the-contrary. These liberal provisions for a stay of the final decree were doubtless deemed sufficient by the Legislature-to protect the defendant, without requiring the additional security of the bond prescribed bjr section 4382.
It may be added that section 4-382 is borrowed from the act-of 1787, 22, 1 (the first proviso), from which are also taken sections 4379, 4380, 4381, and 4383, and that act relates to default where there is no attachment of property.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.