Cameron Estate
- Reporters:
- , ,
- Before:
- Jones
Opinion by
Mr. Justice Benjamin R. Jones,The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has appealed from a decree of the Orphans’ Court of Clearfield County which disallowed its claim against the decedent’s estate for the reimbursement of public assistance funds allegedly received by decedent.
When Mary E. Cameron died, intestate, April 6, 1952, she left an estate which, according to the final account, had a balance therein of $12,843.20 subject to unpaid disputed claims of $14,182.78.
At audit the learned court below appointed an auditor, inter alia, to pass upon all unpaid and disputed claims including the Commonwealth’s claim. After various hearings the auditor found as a fact (Finding
The present inquiry is whether the evidence was sufficient to sustain the auditor’s findings of fact upon which the claim of the Commonwealth was initially allowed. In Curran’s Estate, 310 Pa. 434, 439, 165 A. 842, 844, the extent of appellate review in this situation is clearly enunciated: where an auditor’s findings of fact are overruled by a court and reasons are given for its action, it is the duty of the appellate court to fully and carefully examine such reasons “ ‘together with the entire record, and determine whether the action of the court in banc is justified, keeping in mind the weight to which the original findings are entitled and also the reasons given for their overthrow’: Belmont Laboratories v. Heist, 300 Pa. 542, 548; Pilling v. Moore, 306 Pa. 406, 410”. See also: Mallory’s Estate, 295 Pa. 406, 145 A. 577. Because of his better opportunity to judge of the intelligence and credibility of witnesses and their knowledge of the subject under investigation, an auditor’s findings of fact from disputed testimony, while not equivalent to the verdict of a jury or to a Chancellor’s findings, are entitled to great weight: Dingee v. Wood, 228 Pa. 250, 251, 252, 77 A. 440.
The burden of proving its claim rested upon the Commonwealth. The late Mr. Justice Stearns, speak
A clarification of the Commonwealth’s claim can be achieved by dividing the claim into four time periods during which the Commonwealth avers it issued public assistance checks to decedent: (1) a claim based on checks issued prior to and including June 25, 1940; (2) a claim based on checks issued from January 27, 1945 to March 28, 1952; (3) a claim based on checks issued from June 25, 1940 to January 27, 1945; and (4) a claim based on checks issued subsequent to April 6, 1952. The checks in the latter classification were issued in the weeks immediately subsequent to decedent’s death and were endorsed and cashed, admittedly, by someone other than decedent, and for the amount of these checks the Commonwealth seeks no reimbursement.
A.
Checks Issued Prior To June 25, 1940.
It is conceded that during this period public assistance checks payable to decedent in the amount of $644.50 were issued, that the decedent actually endorsed and received the proceeds of such checks and this portion of the Commonwealth’s claim has been established beyond doubt.
B.
Checks Issued From January 27, 1945 To March 28, 1952.
The evidence indicates that during this period the Commonwealth issued checks totalling $3,571.60 payable to Mary E. Cameron. It is admitted that ten of these checks, representing a total sum of $222.00, were endorsed by a person other than decedent and that the Commonwealth’s claim for reimbursement during this period should be reduced to $3,349.60.
In support of its claim the Commonwealth produced six witnesses, including two handwriting experts. The testimony of these witnesses, summarized, was as follows :
(1) James Patterson, Principal Claims Settlement Agent, described the method of keeping public assistance records and the manner of issuance of checks; the official records in his possession indicated that checks were mailed to Mary Cameron regularly from January 7, 1945 to March 28, 1952; among the official records in his possession were two applications for assistance executed by Mary Cameron on February 14, 1938 and May 24, 1940 respectively:
(2) R. W. Feitshans, Comptroller of Records in the DPA Pittsburgh regional office, testified that three separate Commonwealth departments were re
(3) Pearl Noechel, a DPA visitor, testified that on four occasions — October 29, 1941, January 28, 1942, February 13, 1942 and May 12, 1942 — she visited Mary Cameron’s home but on these occasions did not talk with Mary Cameron although on several of these occasions she conversed with a Mrs. Anthony (later identified as decedent’s sister); on the occasion of her last visit the witness was informed that the Cameron family had moved to DuBois; at the Pittsburgh DPA district office the witness conversed for the first and only time with a woman who identified herself as Mary Cameron who was then at the office to report a change in her address; this witness identified Mary Cameron on a photograph (an identification later confirmed by exceptants’ witness, Mrs. Bolam) and Mrs. Anthony in another photograph (an identification later contradicted by Mrs. Bolam) :
(4) Alfred Morasco, a former DPA visitor, testified not from his recollection but solely from the official records which indicated that he had seen Mary Cameron at her home on four occasions — September 11, 1944, June 20, 1945, January 20, 1947 and March 17, 1948 — and at the Pittsburgh district office on March 25, 1948; he identified Mary Cameron in a photograph and identified her handwriting on a public assistance form executed March 25, 1948:
(5) Rudolph Hardt, Head Teller of the Allegheny Trust Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., testified that Mary
(6) Lt. Stanley S. Smith, Document Examiner for the Pennsylvania State Police, testified that after an examination and comparison of genuine signatures of the decedent with the disputed endorsements on these checks, it was his opinion that the signatures in both instances were written by the same person with the exception of ten checks which bore endorsements by Mary Cameron which in Ms opinion were spurious and probably written by one Jean Greco.
(1) Daniel B. Kiel, Treasurer and Director of Union Banking and Trust Company, DuBois, Pa., testified that the decedent opened a check account in that bank in 1935; he was acquainted with decedent from that time until her death and he identified her signature not only on the bank signature card but also on a mortgage and certain notes; that over the years decedent’s signature did vary in the letters “y” and “m”; that in his opinion the endorsements on the disputed checks were not endorsements made by decedent; notices sent by the bank in reference to decedent’s mortgage went to 3358 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., while notices concerning decedent’s notes in the bank were sent sometimes to the same address but generally to an address on Main Street, DuBois, Pa.; the witness was aware that decedent had had an address on Sedgwick Street in Pittsburgh and that she was continuously back and forth between Pittsburgh and DuBois; from what he could observe decedent was apparently always in need of money:
(2) Elizabeth Bolam, herself a claimant, stated that from November 19, 1947 until her death Mary Cameron lived continuously in DuBois, Pa.; the witness talked daily with the decedent and maintained a diary; whenever decedent would go out of town the witness would take her to the bus station and such fact would be noted in her diary; inasmuch as her diary contained no notation of a trip by decedent to Pittsburgh on or about March 17, 1948 the witness concluded that decedent was not in Pittsburgh at that time, hence the Commonwealth’s witness Morasco could not have talked to decedent at that time, as he had testified; the witness kept the key to decedent’s mail
(3) Pearl Parris, decedent’s friend for approximately fifty years, testified that Elizabeth Bolam cared for decedent during an illness which lasted from April 30 to June 8, 1949, and that Mrs. Bolam had the key to decedent’s mailbox.
We are of the opinion that the evidence produced by the Commonwealth was sufficient to support its claim.
Prior to the period covered by these checks admittedly decedent was the recipient of public assistance, and, under the testimony of two witnesses for the exceptants, decedent was always in need of money, her income being very meager. The likelihood that decedent continued during this period of time to receive public assistance was established. That decedent lived not only in DuBois but at times on Sedgwick Street and Fifth Avenue in Pittsburgh was established by the Commonwealth and corroborated by Mr. Kiel, exceptants’ witness. Two Commonwealth witnesses identified decedent in a photograph as the person who visited the DPA district office in Pittsburgh to note a change in her address.
The official records kept in the regular course of business by the Department of Public Assistance establish that during this period checks were regularly mailed to a Mary Cameron. In
Higgins Lumber Co. v. Marucca et al.
159 Pa. Superior Ct. 405, 407, 48
Two handwriting experts, whose qualifications were not challenged, testified that in their opinion the endorsements on the checks issued during this period were genuine signatures of the decedent. Moreover, it seems incredible that decedent would visit the DPA district office to note a change of address if she were not the recipient of assistance or if decedent was not receiving her assistance checks that she would not have made a complaint over this period of time. The opinion of the handwriting experts supported by other facts and circumstances gives great weight to the strength of the Commonwealth’s case.
While we consider in our review only the strength, if any, of the claimant’s evidence and not the weakness, if any, of the exceptants, it is well to note that the opposition to the Commonwealth’s claim is based principally, if not solely, on the opinion of a handwriting expert who testified in effect that the endorsements on these checks were forged. Particularly applicable to this situation is the language of this court in
Snedeker Estate,
368 Pa. 607, 609, 84 A. 2d 568, 569: “Opinion evidence by an expert is, of course, admissi
An analysis of the record indicates that the evidence produced on behalf of the Commonwealth was sufficient to justify a finding that the Commonwealth vvas entitled to be reimbursed for money advanced to the decedent during this period.
C.
Checks Issued From June 25, 1940 To January 27, 1945.
James Patterson, Principal Claims Settlement Agent, testified that the official records in the .Department of Public Assistance Regional Office in Pittsburgh indicated checks were regularly issued to a Mary Cameron from June 25, 1940 to January 27, 1945 but that the cancelled checks issued during this period could not be produced due to the impossibility of isolating such checks from other checks and records Avhich were in storage.
The only difference between the proof presented by the Commonwealth in connection with checks issued during this period and the period subsequent to January 27, 1945 lies in the fact that the Commomvealth was unable to produce the cancelled checks and endorsements thereon.
We are satisfied that the failure to produce these checks arises from the fact that the Commonwealth in the field of public assistance is confronted with a serious problem of storage of a large amount of records with the resulting difficulty of locating any particular records among the stored material. We are
The official records produced by the Commonwealth indicated that checks were regularly issued during this period to Mary Cameron. It is a well established exception to the “hearsay rule” that book entries, made in books of original entry, are admissible against a deceased debtor: Engemann v. Colonial Trust Co., 378 Pa. 92, 101, 105 A. 2d 347, 352. The records introduced by the Commonwealth were not the records of a private company but were official records prepared in the ordinary course of business by officials of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Such records carry with them a presumption that they are valid and correct and that the official acts involved in their preparation have been properly performed: Vernon Township et al. v. United Watural Gas Co., 256 Pa. 435, 439, 100 A. 1007, 1008; Fleming et al. v. Adamson et al., 321 Pa. 28, 37, 182 A. 518, 522; Tremont Township School District Appeal, 366 Pa. 404, 409, 77 A. 2d 403, 406; Beacom v. Robison et ux., 157 Pa. Superior Ct. 515, 521, 43 A. 2d 640, 643; 31 C. J. S., Evidence §146.
To exceptants’ argument that because the Commonwealth admitted that endorsements of Mary Cameron on some checks issued during other time periods were forged, therefore, the Commonwealth’s claim should not be allowed for this period because of the possibility that the endorsements on some of the non-located checks might also have been forged, the auditor in his report makes a complete and logical answer: “In answer to this it should be pointed out that the lost
The testimony of the Commonwealth’s four lay witnesses considered in conjunction with the official records constituted sufficient evidence to justify the auditor in allowing the Commonwealth’s claim during this period.
The exceptants challenged four of the auditor’s findings of fact: “(1) To finding’ of fact No. 64 which reads as follows: Public Assistance checks totalling $5311.00 were issued by the Commonwealth to Mary Cameron during the period from July 25, 1940 to March 28, 1952 (Commonwealth’s Exhibit No. 5). (2) To Finding of Fact No. 65 which reads as follows: the endorsements on the checks in the group issued from January 27th, 1945 to and including March 28, 1952 are the signatures of Mary Cameron. (3) To Finding of Fact No. 66 which reads as follows: Mary Cameron received the funds represented by Public Assistance checks issued during the period from July 25, 1940 to March 28, 1952 except for the funds represented by the checks as set forth in Finding of Facts No. 63. (4) To Finding of Fact No. 67 which reads as follows: there is due to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania the sum of $5733.50, on all of its claims against the decedent.” (Rec. 122a)
The order of the lower Court reaffirming the exceptions and disallmving the CommonAvealth’s claim is reversed. Costs are to be paid by the estate.
Mr. Justice Aknold dissents.