260 N.W. 205 | Minn. | 1935
The sole question before us is whether an administrator, after the final account has been filed, assets collected, and debts paid and who has no further duty to perform but to make distribution, is a "party aggrieved" under the statute cited above.
The appellant contends that although this precise question has never been determined in this state the right of an administrator to appeal in a case of this kind necessarily follows from the reasoning employed in Burmeister v. Gust,
An administrator derives his powers from the law, and the functions he performs are primarily for the purpose of liquidating the estate and applying the funds so liquidated to the payment of creditors and preserving the estate for the purpose of distribution. During the process of administration an administrator may bring or defend suits and appeal from adverse decisions therein when necessary to preserve the assets of the estate. These powers are incidental to administration. But when the final account has been allowed and the decree of distribution entered, an administrator has no further interest in the estate than to distribute the residue in accordance with that decree. If any of the legatees are dissatisfied *299 with the decree they may bring actions to protect their interests, but the administrator cannot.
"It is quite true that an administrator or a personal representative may prosecute an appeal from a decree or judgment which affects the estate, as such, that is, which decreases the estate, or takes something away from it or changes the title and makes it less complete than it would have been but for the decree or judgment, or casts an incumbrance upon it in some way, but we can see no interest that an administrator can have in the question which of the distributees get the money." Maxwell v. Adams,
A mere stakeholder or one whose duty it is simply to safeguard the funds of the estate has no interest in the decree of distribution other than to turn over to the beneficiaries named therein the funds in his hands and cannot, at the expense of the estate, take part in controversies arising between claimants. The overwhelming weight of authority supports the action of the trial court. Bates v. Ryberg,
It is quite obvious here that the administratrix is endeavoring, at the expense of the estate, to litigate a question in which her sole interest is a personal one. This she cannot do.
Order affirmed. *300