Parker v. Britt
Parker v. Britt
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
It is charged, among other matters in complainant’s bill, that complainant and- various others, who are made defendants, are the only children and heirs at law of John Parker, Sr., deceased, who died intestate, in Henderson county, in the year 1864; that
It is further charged, that in 1867, the said administrator filed his bill in the Chancery Court at Lexington, in which this bill was also filed, for the purpose of obtaining an account of advancements, and a final settlement of the entire estate; that the amount due complainant is considerably more than the amount of the notes executed to the clerk; and complainant therefore prays a temporary injunction to enjoin the collection of said execution, until an account can be taken, and a ..settlement made in said cause; and that said injunction may, then, be made perpetual. The clerk, the sheriff, and the heirs and distributees are made defendants; and the bill also contains a prayer for general relief.
An injunction was duly granted in the cause, on the 9th May, 1868, and at October Term, 1869, the same was dissolved, and the bill dismissed, on motion, for want of equity, and because the Chancellor was of .opinion that the Chancery Court has no jurisdiction, or authority, to restrain and enjoin the clerk of the Circuit Court in the execution, of the orders and decrees of said Court.
This cause was brought here by writ of error and supersedeas; and to sustain the action of the chancellor, the solicitor for defendant, Priddy, relies upon Deaderick v. Smith, 6 Hum., 147; Whiteside v. Latham, 2 Col., 93, and Smith v. Johnson, 2 Heis., 225. Heither of these cases sustains the action of the
In Whiteside v. Latham, judgment- was rendered against the sureties, alone, of a deceased purchaser, and they filed their bill for the purpose of having the administrator made a party, and of having the property of their principal exhausted. In that case it was declared, that if the judgment of the Circuit Court of Grainger was erroneous, the Chancery Court
In Smith v. Johnson, the Chancery Court at Murfreesboro had rendered a decree, and a bill was filed in■ the Chancery Court at McMinnville, to enjoin it; and we held that this could not be done, as the two courts were of equal jurisdiction, and that the court which first obtained jurisdiction had the right to proceed without interference from the other. 2 Heis., 225.
In all these cases, it will be observed, the validity of the judgments was attacked in other courts of equal jurisdiction, but in the cáse now before the Court, no effort is made to assail the judgment, or to interfere with the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court in pronouncing it. There can be no question that the Circuit and County Courts, as the law now stands, have concurrent jurisdiction with the Chancery Courts, so far as to direct the partition, or a sale in place of partition, of real estate: Code, 8266,' 3293, 4233, 4302; and may also provide for the distribution of the proceeds of sale under Article 8, p. 616. And under thé general provisions of the Code, as well as the principles declared in Deaderick v. Smith, there can be no doubt that the Circuit Court had jurisdiction to render the judgment in favor of' the clerk. See, also, Still v. Boon, 5 Sneed, 380. But, although
Adequate redress cannot be obtained in the Circuit Court, for the reason that it has no jurisdiction over the final settlement of the entire estate, real and personal; but as the Chancery Court is clothed with full jurisdiction over the whole subject, it is the proper forum in which the complainant should proceed. If it is true, as he alleges, that he is the owner of one half of the proceeds of the entire estate; that the estate is not indebted; that his shares amount to more than the amount of the notes executed by him to the clerk; and that a bill has been actually filed for the purpose of obtaining a final settlement of the estate, it would he alike useless and expensive to force him to pay the money into the hands of the clerk, to be paid over by him to the parties interested, and finally to he paid hack into the hands of complainant. The relief sought by the complainant is in the nature of an equitable set-off. The Circuit Court could not allow this under the provisions of the Code, 2918 to 2.926, and 2947, as it has no power to ascertain the complainant’s share of the entire estate.
As the hill alleges that all the debts against the estate are paid, and the fund, when collected, would be held by the clerk, as trustee for all the heirs; and as the entire estate was in process of
It is held in Wright v. Ray, 3 Hum., 69, 70, that a party will not be allowed, by process of law, to collect money which, when collected, would not be bis, either by law or in equity, but would, in equity, belong to tbe judgment debtor; and there is no difference, in principle, between that case and this.
In this case, however, no satisfactory reason is shown why tbe complainant did not seek relief by answer and cross-bill, or by cross-bill alone, in tbe suit brought by tbe administrator for a settlement; or why be did not, by motion or otherwise, cause this suit to be consolidated with that, or beard at tbe same time, so as to save costs; and for this reason, it is proper that be should be charged with part of the costs of this cause.
Let tbe Chancellor’s decree, therefore, be reversed, and tbe cause remanded; and let the complainant
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.