117 Ga. 113 | Ga. | 1903
This was an application by an administrator for leave to sell land of his intestate, and came on to be tried on appeal in the superior court. The court dismissed the caveat on demurrer, and directed a verdict in favor of the applicant. To both judgments the caveators excepted. The application alleged that the applicant was the administrator of the estate of Hannah Coburn, and that it was necessary, for the purpose of paying the debts of the estate and making distribution among the heirs, that certain specified real estate should be sold; and prayed for an order granting the applicant leave to sell the same after notice published as required by law. The plaintiffs in error, who describe themselves as heirs at law of Hannah Coburn, denied in their caveat, in specific terms,- that it was necessary, for the purpose of paying debts or making distribution, to sell the land described in the application, and alleged that it was not at all necessary for either purpose that the land should be sold. The caveators also alleged that the estate was of such-a character that it could be disposed of without selling the real estate, there being practically no debts and the real estate being easily divisible among the heirs. The caveat contained other grounds of objection to the sale, as follows: That the^ property described in the application was not the property of the estate; that caveators had bought the property from the intestate during her lifetime and paid her for the same all of the purchase-price except a small amount, and it was prayed that the administrator be required to accept this amount and convey the property to them; that after the property is so conveyed, the residue of the estate will, under the law, devolve upon caveators and one Burrough Coburn, a person of weak mind, whom they represent as next friends, and they ask that this residue of the estate be distributed in kind; that the estate is indebted to them in various small amounts, and they ask that these amounts be adjusted and passed on by a proper judgment of the court. The caveat closes with a general prayer that the application for leave to sell be refused. Upon demurrer the court struck all of the grounds of caveat.
When an administrator applies for leave to sell the land of his intestate, it is essential that he should allege that the sale is necessary for the purpose either of paying debts or making distribution. The ordinary has no authority whatever to grant an admin
We do not, however, think there was any error in striking the other grounds of the caveat. If the property did not belong to the intestate, it was no concern of the heirs at law that the ad
Judgment reversed.