82 Ala. 281 | Ala. | 1886
— The Circuit Court decided, that the claim of the ward against the estate of the deceased surety on his guardian’s bond was barred by the statute of non-claim ; and the question presented in this co.urt is the correctness of this conclusion.
The statute of limitations does not ordinarily commence to run, in such a case, until the judicial ascertainment of the guardian’s liability — that is, until the rendition, by a court of competent jurisdiction, of a judgment or decree against the principal.- — Martin v. Tally, 72 Ala. 23. The non-payment by the principal of the amount thus adjudged .to be due would constitute a breach of the bond. Not so, however, with the statute of non-claim, which has in view the subserving of a distinct policy — the'speedy settlement of the estates of decedents, with safety to those entrusted with their management. A claim may fall within the operation of the statute of non-claim, before the statute of limitations commences to run against it, and although no riglit of action on it has accrued. As heretofore said by this court, “it is enough that the claim, the right .to demand in the future, cprtainly exists.” — McDowell v. Jones, 58 Ala. 25, 33. It has been repeatedly held, that the commisssion of a devastavit by an administrator or guardian, whether judicially ascertained or not, would constitute such a breach' of the surety’s bond as to be at once resolved into the accrual of a claim against the latter’s estate, and thus put immediately into operation the running of the statute of non-claim. Fretwell v. McLemore, 52 Ala. 124; Taylor v. Robinson, 69 Ala. 269; Foster v. Holland, 56 Ala. 474.
. The liability of. a surety on an administrator’s or guardian’s bond may, it is true, be deemed contingent until the principal fails in the performance of some duty required of him bv law. But, upon the failure of such duty, it becomes.an absolute, presentable claim, although not yet payable or due. When, however, an action at law, or a bill in equity, .will lie
Under the views above expressed, the presentation came too late, the claim being then barred, and the court properly so ruled.
Affirmed.