115 Ky. 629 | Ky. Ct. App. | 1903
Opinion op the cotjkt by
Appibming.
C. H. Little died a resident of Fulton county on April I, 1900. At the time of his death he had on deposit in his own name in the Citizens’ Bank of Fulton, Ky., $547.68; and the bank held a note against him for $350, on which J. C. Bennett- and William Brown were sureties, which matured on April 2d, or the day after his death. The bank paid to his administrator $197.68, the balance of the deposit over and above the amount of the note, but declined to pay the remainder of the amount, insisting upon its right to offset the note against it. The administrator then filed this suit against the bank, and, the court having dismissed the action, he appeals.
The right of a bank to apply a deposit to the extinguishment of the depositor’s indebtedness grows out of the doctrine that the relationship between the bank and the depositor is that of debtor and creditor. “The bank holds a lien upon the deposits in its hands to secure the repayment of the depositor’s indebtedness, and may enforce that lien as the debts mature by applying the debtor’s deposits upon them, thus setting the two off against each other.” 3 Am. & Eng. Ency. of Law, 835. In Masonic Savings Bank v. Bangs’ Adm’r, 8 Ky. Law Rep., 16, this court said that the right of a bank to this lien is recognized by all the elementary books on the subject, and by an unbroken line of American decisions. In Kentucky Flour Company’s Assignee v. Merchant’s National Bank, 90 Ky., 225, 12 R., 198, 13 S. W., 910, 9 L. R. A., 108, an insolvent debtor, who was in
Judgment affirmed.