Yates v. Wing

Statute of Limitations—in the case of \a concurrent remedy in equity and at law — money received under powers of attorney from residuary devisees to sell real property — it is payable without demand) and the statute begins, to run from the date of its receipt by the attorney — the running of the statute is not suspended by the pendency of proceedings for the settlement of the estate—statements, in a verified account fded in such proceedings, as admissions. An action in equity brought by a plaintiff who has a concurrent remedy at law, is subject to the Statute of Limitations which would be applicable to the action, at law. The residuary devisees under the will of Frederick D. Hodgman executed powers of attorney to Philander 0. Hitchcock, one of the executors, authorizing him to sell or lease real estate the ¡title to which passed to the residuary legatees under the will. In an action brought by the assignee of several of the residuary devisees against Hitchcock’s executor to compel him to account for moneys received by his testator under the powers of attorney,;it was Held, that no demand was necessary before suit, and that the Statute of Limitations governing the right to maintain the action began to run upon the receipt of the money by the defendant’s testator or upon the expiration of a reasonable time thereafter; That the operation of the statute was not suspended by the institution of proceedings for a judicial settlement of the personal estate of Hodgman,- it not appearing that the pendency of such proceedings induced the assignors of the plaintiff, who were parties thereto, to delay taking affirmative action to secure the determination of their right to moneys received by the defendant’s testator under the powers of attorneyj of which matter the surrogate had no jurisdiction; That a verified account filed by the defendant, in such proceeding, reciting that the defendant’s testator had received certain moneys under the powers of attorney, did not amount to a written acknowledgment of liability or a promise to pay, sufficient, under section 395 of the Code of Civil Procedure, to remove the bar of. the statute, the account containing no statement that anything was due the plaintiff’s assignors nor any recognition of an existing debt, and the inference from such account being that there was nothing due.

Appeal by the plaintiff, Mary E. Yates, from a judgment of the Supreme Court in favor of the defendant,, bearing date the 25th day of October, 1898, and entered in the office of the clerk of the county of Washington upon the dismissal of the complaint by direction of the court after a trial before the court without a jury at the Washington Trial Term. The grounds of the decision, as stated therein, are that the plaintiff has been guilty of such laches and delay as to bar any equitable or other relief herein, and that the claim of the plaintiff, if any existed, is barred by the Statute of Limitations. On the 7th day of December, 1873, Frederick D. Hodgman, a resident of the village of Fort Edward, in Washington county, died leaving a will which was afterwards duly probated and letters testamentary issued thereon on the 13th of February, 1874, to Philander C. Hitchcock and three others, one of whom was the plaintiff, the widow of the testator. By-this will, the testator, after making certain specific bequests and devises, and providing for the payment of certain legacies, gave all the rest of his property to his nephews and nieces, share and share alike. They were twenty in number, and this residuary devise operated to vest in them the title to most of the real estate which the testator left. The executors as such had no power under the will to sell real estate. On the 13th of December, 1878, and December 23, 1878, fifteen of these residuary devisees executed to Hitchcock powers of attorney, authorizing him to sell and convey all their interest in any or all of this real estate upon such terms as to him should seem meet, and until the sale to rent the same for the best rent that could be obtained for the same, and to demand and receive for their use all moneys due or payable to them by reason of any such sale or lease. Hitchcock died on August 27, 1888, and on the 12th of December, 1888, letters testamentary upon the will of Hitchcock were duly issued to the defendant. This action was commenced December 7, 1896. The plaintiff is the assignee by assignment executed on or about December 28, 1895, of eight of the persons-who gave the powers of. attorney. It is alleged in the complaint that Hitchcock, after the execution and delivery of such powers and by virtue thereof, rented and sold real estate belonging to the parties and received therefor large sums of money, the amount of which the plaintiff was unable to state, and which the said Hitchcock or the defendant had not paid to the parties or accounted for; that a decree has been entered settling the. estate of said, Hodgman in proceedings whereto the defendant was a party, and among other things settling the account of defendant touching the administration of Hitchcock as executor thereof; that in such account the defendant charged the estate of Hitchcock with sums received by him for rentals and sales of said real estate, aggregating a total of $17,097.31, but that defendant afterwards withdrew the same on the plea that they were for real estate rentals and sales, and acquired by Hitchcock under the powers of attorney referred to, and that the surrogate had not jurisdiction to pass upon them. Judgment was demanded that defendant be directed to render an account for the moneys received by Hitchcock for rentals and sales, and be directed to pay the plaintiff the amount she may be entitled to. Upon the trial the plaintiff, after putting in evidence the -powers of attorney, offered in evidence several deeds' executed by Hitchcock in pursuance of such powers, the consideration as stated in each deed being noted, the -first deed being dated May 1, 1879, and the last one June 28, 1884. The consideration in the deed of June 28, 1884, was one dollar, and the deed next before that bore date August 15, 1881. The plaintiff also offered in evidence an account verified June 26, 1890, rendered by defendant in proceedings commenced in Surrogate’s Court July 23, 1889, for the settlement of the personal estate of Frederick D. Hodgman, deceased. The plaintiff’s assignors were parties to these proceedings, and the decree therein, being the one referred to in the complaint, was entered December 30, 1895. The account rendered by the defendant was with reference to the administration of Hitchcock as executor of Hodgman and contained the following recital: “ Schedule B, hereunto annexed, contains a statement of all other moneys belonging to the estate of said Frederick D- Hodgman deceased, which apparently came to the hands of said Philander 0. Hitchcock, deceased, and this schedule includes nioneys resulting from sales of real estate, and rents received from said real estate, for the reason that your accountant is unable accurately to separate moneys so derived from real estate from the personalty, from the data which has come to his hands, particularly in regard to the paper mill property.” The items of Schedule B appearing on their face to he real estate items were dated from October 5, 1874, to May 6, 1879, and aggregated $31,067.51. The plaintiff also offered in evidence an amended account made by the defendant in the proceedings referred to and verified June 26, 1895. In this are the following statements: “ The said Philander 0. Hitchcock during his lifetime held power of attorney to sell and convey real estate from nearly all the residuary legatees of said Hodgman, deceased, and under and by virtue of said power of attorney, real estate left by said deceased was conveyed, and as appears from papers on file in this court in a former accounting herein, and other papers in my possession, during the years 1879 and 1880, a settlement was made by said Hitchcock with all the residuary legatees under the will of said Hodgman, deceased, except Alfred C. Hodgman and four others whose shares said Alfred C. Hodgman held by assignment.” “ The real estate of which the said Frederick D. Hodgman died seized appears to have been sold by the said Hitchcock as agent under the authority of powers of attorney from many of the residuary legatees of the' said Hodgman, deceased, in connection with his other residuary legatees, and not as executor, for which reason the matters pertaining to the said real estate have been eliminated from this amended account upon the theory that the surrogate has no jurisdiction to take the account or to settle those matters.”' The items so eliminated are those from Schedule B, above referred to, except an item of $14,000 for- sale of the one-half interest in the paper mill which seems to have been treated as personal estate. That left as eliminated items the aggregate of $17,067.51. This amended account on its face shows credits to Hitchcock to the amount of about $21,000 in excess of the debits. The foregoing is the substance of the proof on the part of the plaintiff. It is not shown what information the assignors of plaintiff had as to the amount of sales or rentals aside from the accounts rendered by the defendant. The findings and decree of the. Surrogate’s Court on the accounting were put in evidence by the defendant, and from these it appears that prior to 1882 the executors of Frederick D. Ilodgman, deceased, had settled with the residuary legatees represented by the plaintiff and taken receipts in full or transfers of all their claims against' said estate. It also appeared that the assignors of the plaintiff! .and some.other of the residuary legatees made default in the proceeding for an accounting, and a decree of settlement was entered oil the 23d of April, 1892; that afterward, and in or about April, 1894, they made application to open their default, upon what ground does not appear, which after litigation was granted; that subsequent to that the amended account was filed to which objections were made, and that the decree entered thereon on December 30, 1895, showed the credits to the defendant largely in excess of the. debts.