166 Mo. 13 | Mo. | 1901
This case arises on exceptions, by heirs of Alice C. Judy, to the final settlement of Earrell, the administrator of Mrs. Judy’s estate. The exceptions were overruled by the probate court of the city of St. Louis, and also by the circuit court of that city, and the heirs appealed.
The exceptions are: Eirst, that the administrator did not inventory or account for the good-will of the firm of W. W. Judy & Oo., a business owned and carried on in that name by Mrs. Judy, which it is alleged was of the value of $20,000; second, that the administrator received, at the time of his ap
The evidence adduced in the circuit court, and the special finding of facts by that court, establish the facts to be, that for many years W. W. Judy carried on a game and produce business; that he employed Earrell as the manager thereof; that Judy died some time prior to October 27, 1891. There was no administration upon his estate, but his widow, Alice O. Judy, was the sole legatee under his will. On the twenty-seventh of October, 1891, she and Earrell entered into the following agreement:
“Articles of co-partnership made and entered into this twenty-seventh day of October, 1891, by and between A. C. Judy and James T. Earrell, both of the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, witnesseth; that for and in consideration of the services of managing the business known as W. W. Judy & Company commission business and his stand at the Union Market, which business and stand now belong entirely to Alice Judy, as well as all of the capital invested in the business, it is agreed that James Earrell shall receive for his services one-half of the net yearly profits after all expense of every kind, nature and description attending the carrying on of said business are first paid. And it is further agreed that neither one shall draw from the firm during the year a sum to exceed one hundred dollars per month. And it is further agreed, should James Earrell for any cause withdraw from the firm,,no de
“A. O. Judy,
“J. T. Earrell.'”
The business was carried on under the name of W. W. Judy & Co., by Mrs. Alice C. Judy and J. T. Earrell, pursuant to the above agreement, until Mrs. Judy’s death. Then Earrell was appointed and qualified as surviving partner of the firm of W. W. Judy & Co., and also as administrator of the individual estate of Mrs. Judy. As surviving partner he did not inventory the good-will of W. W. Judy & Co., but he purchased that good-will from the heirs for one thousand dollars. As surviving partner he charged himself with the $4,364.06 and the $2,153.31 specified in the second exception hereinbefore referred to in this case, as he did also the $3Y2.95 specified in the third exception herein. As surviving partner he wound up the partnership estate, accounted for the money referred to in the second and third exceptions herein, and on the sixteenth of September, 1896, he made final settlement and was finally discharged as such surviving partner. Thereafter on the first of June, 1898, Earrell filed his final settlement as administrator of the individual estate of Alice O. Judy, and the heirs of Mrs. Judy filed the exceptions thereto hereinbefore specified.
I.
The matters embraced in the exceptions were matters pertaining to the proper administration and settlement of the
In the administration of the individual estate of Alice C. Judy, it is true, as charged in the exceptions, that the administrator did not inventory the good-will of the firm of W. W. Judy & Co., nor did he do so in his inventory of the partnership estate, but that was a matter belonging exclusively to the proper administration of the partnership estate and concluded by the final judgment in that estate. As to the $4,-367.06 and the $2,153.31 covered by the second exception, and the $372.95 covered by the third exception, it is true that the administrator of the individual estate did not charge himself with those items, but they pertained to the partnership estate and not to the individual estate, and Farrell, as surviving partner, charged himself with all these items and accounted for them in his administration of the partnership estate, and his acts in respect to them were approved by the final judgment in that case. They are not open to attack or review in the settlement of the individual estate.
To avoid this conclusion the exceptors contend that Ear
Einding no error in the judgment of the circuit court, it is affirmed.