3 Vt. 283 | Vt. | 1830
The opinion of theCourt was delivered to the following effect by
There is no occasion to question the jurisdiction of this Court, or the power of a court of chancery to enforce a right of this description. Two questions only seem to require consideration. — Whether the adjudication of the probate and Supreme Court is conclusive upon the right in question — and, if such would be the effect of that adjudication in ordinary cases, whether this caséis differed by reason ofthe infancy of the orator at the time.
In reference to the first point, it is expressly alleged in the plea that the same matters now brought in question were then adjudged. And as this allegation is demurred to, it must be taken to be true in its full extent, unless it is shown that there was a defect of jurisdiction, or want of power, in those courts, to act upon the subject in the equitable view of it which is now taken. The inability, if any existed, did not arise from any complication of facts or difficulty of proof, but must have been inherent in the organization of the probate system. Every fact which is now presented was then brought into the case for consideration.
The leading proposition of the orator’s argument, that the probate courts possess no other than a strictly legal jurisdiction, is novel: no case is produced in which their powers have been thus
The question as to the effect of the orator’s infancy at the time of passing the decree admits of very little doubt. Indeed, the point is not even raised by him, but is met by way of anticipation by the opposite counsel. It is of the utmost importance that the settlement and distribution of estates, when made m the due course of existing laws, should be permanent. It usually happens on such occasions that many of the parties in interest are minors, and the law has accordingly provided for the appointment of guardians to take charge of their rights, has prescribed the modes of proceeding by which those rights are to be affected, has required of guardians proper security for the faithful execution of their trusts, and subjected them to an account with their wards. If it was not intended that proceedings between the wards and third persons, consummated in exact conformity to all these regulations, should be final, the legislature would doubtless have so said, and made some provision for so great an inconvenience. It is true, that the statute has saved to the ward, in certain specified cases, the right of objecting at full age ; but neither the statute nor any authority produced would justify us in extending that right to the present case. The result is that the plea must be allowed and the bill dismissed.