19 Ga. App. 74 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1916
E. D. Gatewood and others brought suit against T. M. Eurlow as administrator on the estate of Mrs. Julia Gate-wood, deceased, and the surety of his bond as such administrator, alleging that Eurlow and the surety Avere liable to them, as heirs at law of Mrs. Julia Gatewood, in the sum of $1,400, by reason of the fact that Eurlow, as such administrator, deposited the funds of the estate, Avhich came into his hands, in the Americus National Bank; that subsequently the bank failed, and that at the time of the failure there was deposited in the bank $1,400 belonging to the estate, in the name of “T. M. Furlow, adm’r,” without indicating that this fund belonged to the estate of Mrs. Julia Gate-wood. The defendant demurred to the petition, upon the ground that it did not set forth a cause of action. The court sustained the demurrer, and the plaintiffs excepted. The plaintiff in error contends that the deposit of the funds of the estate in the bank in the name of “T. M. Eurlow, adm’r,” was in law nothing more than a deposit in the name of Eurlow individually; that the letters “adm’r,” added to the name of Eurlow, were merely descriptio personce, and did not indicate that the funds so deposited in the bank were the funds of the particular estate of Mrs. Gatewood, and that on account of such deposit arid the loss' of the same, occasioned by the failure of the bank, the administrator and the surety on his bond were liable to the heirs at law of Mrs. Gatewood for, that amount.
Section 3570 of the Civil Code is as follows: “An instrument signed by one as agent, trustee, administrator, executor, or the like, without more, is the individual undertaking of the maker, such Avords being generally words of description.” This section of the code, however, deals with the relation of principal and agent, and the liability of a person who executes an instrument and adds to his name the word “agent,” “trustee,” “administrator,” etc. In our opinion this section of the code is not applicable to the question presented in the instant ease; for here there was no instrument executed by Eurlow. It is upon the theory of conversion that an administrator is held liable for depositing funds of the es