Hart v. Czapski
Hart v. Czapski
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
This bill, filed in the chancery court of Shelby
Louis Czapski died in 1878 in Shelby county, of which county he was a resident citizen, leaving a widow, the complainant, Nora _ B., who has since intermarried with her co-complainant, A. "W. Hart, and four children. These children are defendants to the bill, and their ages at the filing of the bill ranged from four to thirteen years. The complainant, Nora B., was appointed by the probate court of Shelby county, the guardian of the children. The only estate of the infants consists of $5,000 invested in the first mortgage bonds of the Mississippi '& Tennessee Bail-road Company, a corporation of this State. These bonds have been since they became the property of the wards, and are now in the custody and under the control of the defendant, the Union and Planters Bank, a corporation of this State at Memphis. The income from these bonds is only $400, and insufficient, the bill alleges, for the support and education of the children. It is further alleged that the pecuniary condition of the complainants is not such as to enable them to supply the deficiency out of their own means. The object of the bill is to obtain the sanction of the court to a sale of one of the bonds for $1,000, and the appropriation of the proceeds to the maintenance and education of the children. The bill states that the complainants and the children are non-residents of the State, and residents of Bock county in the State of Iowa. And it asks that the children be made defendants by publication. The bill is sworn to.
The court of chancery, it is conceded, has power to break into the principal of an infant’s estate, or to authorize the guardian to do so, where the- fund is so small that the interest will not afford the means of a competent maintenance and education to the infant: Beeler v. Dunn, 3 Head, 88. It is equally conceded that the non-residence of the guardian and wards would be no obstacle to the relief sought if ihe court has in other respects acquired jurisdiction: McClelland v. McClelland, 7 Baxt., 210; Hickman v. Dudley, 2 Lea, 375; Stephens v. Jones, 1 M. & K., 627. The argument in support of the demurrer is that non-resident parties cannot be brought into court by publication unless there is something in the case to give the court jurisdiction independent of the publication. For, it is pertinently said, if it were otherwise, the present suit might be -brought in any county in the State. And the question therefore is whether there is anything to confer upon the chancery court of Shelby county the requisite jurisdiction.
The court of chancery in this State acts ordinarily.in personam, and suit may be instituted wherever a - material defendant is found, unless otherwise prescribed by law: Code, see. 4305. . But the Code does pro
The decree must be reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings. The costs of this, court will be paid by the complainant, and allowed as a credit in the settlement of the guardian.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.