84 Pa. Super. 170 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1924
Submitted October 22, 1924. This is an appeal from a decree of the Orphans' Court of Philadelphia County. It appears that Annas Melton Jones died in September, 1922, survived by two minor children as his next of kin. The account of the administratrix showed a balance of less than $500. The guardian of the minors claimed the balance as the children's exemption under section 12 of the Fiduciaries Act of 1917. It was also claimed by the United States because of an over-payment to the decedent by the government. It appears that the decedent was entitled to and received compensation in his lifetime from the United States Veterans' Bureau for disabilities incurred while in service in the late war; that under a mistake of fact over-payments in excess of $250 were made to him, and that the $250 on deposit at the time of his death was part of these over-payments. The court below awarded the entire balance of $428.74 to the guardian on account of the children's exemption. The contest is between the guardian and the United States, the latter contending that where it, through a mistake of its disbursing officers, pays a greater sum of money to a person than is legally due him, there is a trust relation created between it and the payee as to the excess payment, and that equity will decree that the moneys paid by mistake be paid out of the assets of the person upon his death to the exclusion of the claim of the minor children for their exemption under section 12 of the Fiduciaries Act of 1917. *172
Money paid under mistake of fact may be recovered through the ordinary channels of the law. The appropriate action is assumpsit for money had and received. No equitable right is involved: Potter v. Lehigh Valley R.R. Co.,
While the Fiduciaries Act of 1917, which is a reënactment of the Act of February 24, 1834, P.L. 73, relating to payment of debts of a decedent, and the order of such payment, does not give the United States such preference, *173 the early decisions in this State compel us to read the preference into our law. It was held in Commonwealth, to the use of the United States v. Lewis, 6 Binney (1814), 266, that a debt due to the United States by a deceased revenue officer is entitled to priority of payment from his administrators under the law of this Commonwealth, whether the debt arose before or after the Act of Congress of March 3, 1797, which is section 3466 of the Revised Statutes. To the same effect is the decision in Estate of Edgar M. Gregory, 11 Phila. 126.
But it does not follow that the government's right over the claims of other creditors gives it priority over the claim of the children of the deceased for their exemption. Section 916 (June 1, 1872) of Revised Statutes of the United States provides as followes: "The party recovering a judgment in any common law cause in any circuit or district court, shall be entitled to similar remedies upon the same, by execution or otherwise, to reach the property of the judgment debtor, as are now provided in like causes by the laws of the State in which such court is held, or by any such laws hereafter enacted which may be adopted by general rules of such circuit or district court; and such courts may, from time to time, by general rules, adopt such state laws as may hereafter be in force in such state in relation to remedies or judgments, as aforesaid, by execution or otherwise." (Page 175 of Revised Statutes of the United States, 2d ed., 1878). It was held in Fink v. O'Neil,
We have given careful consideration to the printed argument presented by the learned attorney for the government, but are unable to agree with his contention.
The assignments of error are overruled and the decree is affirmed.