63 Cal. 349 | Cal. | 1883
This is an appeal from an order settling the account of the administrator.
Section 1631 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides that, in rendering his account, the administrator must produce and file vouchers for all charges, debts, claims, and expenses which he has paid, and lie may be examined on oath touching such payments ; if a voucher is lost, or for other good reason cannot be
According to section 1632, he may be allowed any item of expenditure not exceeding twenty dollars for which no voucher is produced, if such item- be supported by his own uncontradicted oath positive to the fact of payment, specifying when, where, and to whom it was made; but the aggregate of such allowances must not exceed five hundred dollars.
The vouchers produced by the administrator in this case, and used on the settlement of his account, numbered one to twenty-two, respectively, the receipts for sums paid the appraisers, clerk, attorney, and possibly some few others, were proper vouchers, and the items represented by them were properly allowed by the court; but the bulk of the so-called vouchers appearing in the transcript, from folio 57 to folio 88, are in no sense vouchers. We select one as a sample: — “$27.87. Bakersfield, September 24, 1878.
“Pay to the order of Fred Hanes twenty-seven 87-100 dollars, United States gold coin, value received, and charge to account of Rose estate.
“M. Purcell.
“ To H. Hirshfeld, Admstr. Rose estate.”
This is not a voucher. H. Hirshfeld is the administrator of the estate. This paper may have been very well as a statement from M. Purcell to Mr. Hirshfeld that he should pay the amount to the person named; but it gives no information as to why the amount should be paid out of the funds of, or charged to, the estate; nor does it tend to prove that the amount was paid; it is no voucher from the payee. There is no statement of any fact in the account or in the report tending to show that the items represented by these so-called vouchers were incurred or paid in or about the business of the administration of the estate. The same may be said of the accounts and receipts contained in the transcript, from folio 91 to and including folio 96, except that these appear to have been receipted by the persons in whose favor the accounts were presented. The amount of $678.75 appears on the credit side of the account as cash paid L. Hirshfeld, sujiplies; but why the item was paid, or what relation the administration of the estate bore to these sup
The order is reversed and the cause is remanded for further proceedings.
Thornton, J., and Sharpstein, J., concurred.