125 Pa. 38 | Pa. | 1889
Opinion,
The facts of this case are not in dispute; they are stated in the paper book, furnished at the argument, substantially as follows:
July 17, 1886, while the auditor was in the discharge of the duties of his appointment, George Blake, the lunatic, died; and thereupon, Hiram Blake and George E. Blake, executors under the will of George Blake, deceased, dated April 29,1882, duly proven since his death, appeared before the auditor and claimed that the entire fund should be distributed to them, the will distributing the estate to certain of his children. The auditor proceeded with the audit, and there were probated before him the claims of all the creditors of the lunatic. Before the auditor had filed his report he died, and J. P. Hale Jenkins, Esq., was appointed to his place and stead.
September 6, 1887, the auditor filed his report, distributing the fund in the committee’s hands, pro rata, among George Blake’s creditors. The executors filed exceptions to the report, alleging error in not awarding the funds to them; the court sustained the exceptions and directed the auditor to award the fund to the executors. The auditor thereupon filed his supplemental report in accordance with the opinion of the court, awarding the fund to the executors. Ellwood M. Wheatland, the principal creditor of George Blake, deceased, filed exceptions
The only question for our consideration, in this case, is whether or not the balance in the hands of the committee on settlement of his accounts was, at the death of the lunatic, rightly awarded to his executors to be administered as assets of his estate.
It is contended on part of the appellant, that the committee held this fund upon the terms of a trust, dver which the Common Pleas had full jurisdiction, that the Common Pleas had the power of distribution upon the footing of that trust, and that the distribution having been partially proceeded with, should have been made to and among the creditors directly and not to the executors.
The committee of a lunatic is, by the act of June 13, 1836, P. L. 597, intrusted with the management of his entire estate, real and personal; it is his duty to apply so much of the income thereof as shall be necessary to the payment of his just debts and engagements, to the support and maintenance of the lunatic and his family, and to the education of his minor children. If the income shall not be sufficient for the purposes stated, he may, under the direction of the Court of Common Pleas, having jurisdiction of his accounts, apply so much of the principal of the personal estate as may be necessary. If the personal estate shall not he sufficient the court may make an order authorizing the committee to sell or mortgage a part or the whole of the real estate. In such case, the expediency of selling a part or the whole, the terms of sale, and the amount of security required, are all matters for the determination of the court before the order issues, and upon a return, if the order of sale is confirmed, upon the committee giving security to the satisfaction of the court for the faithful application of the proceeds, according to the duties of his trust. Thus it will be seen that the sale of the real estate is under the immediate control and supervision of the court; indeed, the committee is but the receiver of the court, from which he derives his powers, and the fund, when it comes into his hands, is a trust fund as much in custodia legis as if deposited in bank to its credit, or locked up in the strong box of the court, under the care of its officers : Eckstein’s Est., 1 Pars. 59. This fund, as wé have
It is certainly true, as a general rule, that the Orphans’ Court alone has authority to ascertain the amount of a decedent’s estate and to order its distribution among those entitled to receive it: Whiteside v. Whiteside, 20 Pa. 473; it is equally true that the Court of Common Pleas has not power to decree distribution of a fund in the hands of a trustee among the heirs or next of kin of the deceased cestui que trust: Johnson’s Est., 2 Wh. 119; it must be awarded to the personal representatives, in order that after administration it may be distributed under the direction of the Orphans’ Court, according to law: Frankenfield’s App., 11 W. N. 373. But when the decedent’s estate consists in part or in whole of moneys or property held upon the terms of a trust, the personal representatives can take only what remains after the trust is executed or fully settled; as in case of the death of one of two or more partners, his executors or administrators are only entitled upon the footing of an account after the payment of the joint debts: Story on Part., 367, 557.
In this ease the fund was raised to be applied to a specific purpose; it was in the custody of the court, and was actually in process of distribution to the objects and purposes for which it was created, and we are of Opinion that the proceeding was not stayed or the course of distribution altered by the death of the cestui quo trust.
The decree of the Common Pleas is reversed, and the record remitted in order that distribution may be made in accordance with this opinion; the appellees to pay the costs of this appeal.