70 Wash. 498 | Wash. | 1912
In this appeal certain creditors of W. C. Bell, deceased, and the guardian of the estate of his minor son, seek a review of two orders of the superior court for King county, the first made on February 4, 1911, and the second on December 9, 1911, by which certain other claims against the estate of W. C. Bell, deceased, were classified and ordered
It is admitted that, in the fall of 1910, the respondent G. A. C. Rochester was appointed by the superior court of King county administrator of the estate of W. C. Bell. The claims attacked, as improperly classified as allowances to the widow, were all for services rendered to her after her husband’s death. They are as follows: After the accident, the widow was cared for at the Hotel Sorrento and Seattle General Hospital, at each of which places she remained for a considerable length of time. The claim of the Hotel Sorrento on this account was allowed for $746.75, and that of the hospital for $270.75. The respondent Arthur Young, a brother of the widow, made two trips from Kentucky to Seattle to care for his sister and her affairs and the affairs of the deceased, and his claim, for railroad fare, loss of time, and hotel bills, was allowed in the sum of $1,177.42. The claims of the respondents Dr. Davidson and Dr. Shannon were for professional services rendered to the widow during her last illness, and were allowed in the sums of $400 and $1,746.50 respectively. The claim of Louisa Laemrich was for services as a nurse, amounting to $16, and that of Frederick & Nelson for necessaries furnished in the sum of $11.69. The administrator testified that all of these claims were for necessaries and for necessary services and attention rendered and furnished during and on account of the last illness of the widow. No evidence was offered to the contrary.
The statute, Rem. & Bal. Code, § 1466, provides that, if
The appellants contend that the court was without jurisdiction to enter the orders, except upon the same notice as that provided in Rem. & Bal. Code, § 1562, for final settlement of administrator’s accounts. The admitted facts show that, upon the presentation of these claims, the administrator petitioned the court for an order as to their classification and allowance. On the hearing of this petition, the appellants W. P. Harvey, as guardian, the First National Bank of Har
It is admitted that all of the appellants had actual notice of the time and place of hearing on the second petition. This accorded every advantage which notice in any form could have
But it is argued that all creditors of the estate were interested, and that the court could not acquire jurisdiction to establish any claim as a preferred claim without the same notice to all claimants as required on final settlement. It is true that the supreme court of California has so held. In re Smith's Estate, 122 Cal. 462, 55 Pac. 249. We cannot follow that decision. It may be conceded that the order will bind no one not having notice or appearing at the hearing. But there is no more reason why persons who had actual notice and actually appeared should not be bound than would exist in any other case where the subject-matter is within the jurisdiction of a court of general jurisdiction. Other persons having claims, if there are any, are amply protected by the opportunity to be heard on the final settlement and by the bond of the administrator.
Nor do we find any merit in the contention that these claims should be submitted to the probate court of the state of Kentucky. There is no claim that this is not a proper case for ancillary administration within the state of Washington, and
The order appealed from is affirmed.
Mount, C. J., Morris, and Fullerton, JJ., concur.