37 Iowa 684 | Iowa | 1873
April 15, 1859, John W. Ogden was appointed administrator, with the will annexed, of the estate of James Tasker, deceased. The inventory filed by the administrator included, among other real estate, lots 2 and 3, block 73, in the city of Keokuk, which are described in a report subsequently made as being occupied partly as a homestead. These lots were never sold by the administrator; the other real estate was. Catharine Tasker, the widow, and Clarissa Orossan are devisees under the will of Tasker, each receiving certain parts of all his estate. Debts to a consider
It is claimed by appellants that the appointment of McCrary was illegal, for several reasons, and should therefore have been set aside. We will proceed to notice the grounds of the objections thus made.
The word “administration” means, as here used, the management of the estate of a decedent and expresses the jurisdiction assumed by the proper probate court over it. This jurisdiction is assumed by the appointment of the administrator; when that is done, administration is said to have been granted. It does not refer simply to the act of appointment of the administrator, although that act is included in the thought expressed, for “ administration,” management of the estate is assumed by the appointment. The word would not be appli
The abstract before us certainly does not show any such record or settlement. It shows that property of the estate, reported in the inventory, remained undisposed'of, and that the debts were not fully paid; in fact, but a small percentum
Revision, section 2459, is in these words: “ Upon final settlement of the executor’, an order may be made discharging him from further duties and responsibilities.” Such an order may be made, ought to be made, when the estate is finally settled, the debts paid and property lawfully distributed; it may and ought to be made when, for any cause, the administrator is relieved of further duties touching the business of the estate, and it has been found that he has properly accounted for all effects of the estate that at any time were under his control. It is very plain that the record in the case could have been made, as requix-ed by the section, when the estate was unsettled, property remaining undisposed of and debts unpaid. We think the abstract before us shows such to be the fact, which, moreover’, is supported by legal presumption.
The estate being unsettled, debts thereof remaining unpaid and property undisposed of, and the first executor having been discharged, it was the court’s duty to appoint another to manage its affairs, to complete the woi’k left by the first adminis
The foregoing views dispose of the questions in the case now before us. These exclusively pertain to the power of the court to appoint the administrator de bonis non, as the order making the appointment and no other is appealed from. Whether the real estate may hereafter be sold, etc., are questions not before us, and are neither considered nor determined. When an order is made for their sale, if that shall be, these questions may be brought here for our consideration.
It is our opinion that the judgment of the circuit court overruling the motion of plaintiffs to vacate the order appointing the administrator de bonis non is connect; it is therefore
Affirmed.