168 Pa. 638 | Pa. | 1895
Opinion by
It is a well-settled rule, supported by reason and authority, that in an action by the administrator of a solvent estate the defendant may set off against the claim of the plaintiff a debt due by the decedent when the suit was brought. In such a case no valid reason appears for compelling the defendant to pay what he does not owe and look to his debtor’s estate for the repayment of it. By requiring him to do so the commissions of the administrator may be increased at the expense of the estate and the defendant may be driven to an action against it for money he paid under compulsion of the law. It will thus be seen that the probable result of a departure from the rule above stated would be to delay the settlement of the estate, to increase litigation, and to subject the parties concerned to additional and unnecessary trouble and expense in the adjustment of the accounts between them.
It was thought by the learned court below that the rule we-are considering was overthrown by Chipman v. Ninth National
A motion for judgment for want of a sufficient affidavit of defense is in the nature of a demurrer. It admits the existence of the facts averred and denies their sufficiency as an answer to the claim. By the affidavit filed in this case it sufficiently appears that Henry Hicks was solvent at the time of his death, and that the defendant has valid claims against his estate, some of which matured before the suit was brought. It follows from what has been said that it was error to enter the judgment appealed from.
Judgment reversed and procedendo awarded.