58 Ala. 284 | Ala. | 1877
Through the sale of the land by Mrs. Gayle and her husband, to Marshall, for the money and notes given by him therefor, that part of her real property was converted into personalty. And the bill proceeds upon the idea that the complainants are entitled to all of this, in her stead. But, in the first place, there is nothing to show that the proceeds of the land sold to Marshall were not
But this suit cannot be maintained, at all, bv the distrib-utees directly. The estate of Mrs. Gayle has been reported and declared insolvent, and is subject to administration as such. A list of the claims against it, was set forth with the report. So that not only are these credits to be collected from debtors, if the notes on which the present suit is founded be credits of the estate, but there are persons claiming as creditors, to be entitled to payment from the estate of debts due from it to them. It is only by an administrator, who succeeds to the title which was in Mrs. Gayle at her death, that the business of an estate so involved can-be conducted, its assets be gotten in, its debts be ascertained, and distribution be made.
There are, it is true, decisions of this court, all of which are referred to in Fretwell v. McLemore, (52 Ala. 124) from which it appears that there may be exceptional cases, in which a court of equity will permit the distributees of an estate to maintain a suit in respect to their interests in it, without requiring the appointment of an administrator. But, “the rule, to be extracted from these decisions, is, that a court of equity will dispense with administration and decree distribution directly, when it affirmatively appears that if there was an administrator, the only duty devolving on him, would be distribution.” Such is not the case presented by this record. It comes under the general rule applied by this court in Gardner v. Gantt (19 Ala. 658). And the legal
We are compelled to hold that the decree of the Chancellor must be reversed, and the bill be dismissed. But the dismissal is without prejudice to the bringing of another suit about the same matter.