224 Pa. 212 | Pa. | 1909
Opinion by
By a decree of a New Hampshire court made January 3, 1906, an assessment was levied upon the shares of stock of an insolvent corporation of that state for the payment of the debts of the corporation. One Louis Hano, a citizen of this state, was, at the time of his death, December 14, 1897, the owner of 5,100 shares. These shares were included in the general assessment, and were assessed as held by “Aaron R. Hano, Rachel Hano, and Samuel Cohen, Executors of the will of Louis Hano, of Philadelphia, Penna.” The amount of this particular assessment was $10,200, and the present action was brought by the receiver of the corporation, in the name of the corporation, against these defendants for its recovery. If the action were for the recovery of an assessment made against these defendants, or if it were against the legal representatives of the estate of Louis Hano, deceased, the several very interesting questions involving the regularity and enforcibility within this jurisdiction of the foreign decree sued on, and which were so ably discussed on the argument, would necessarily be for our consideration and determination. But we face neither of these conditions. The assessment was not made against the defendants; nor are they brought into court as the executors of the will of Louis Hano, but as “trustees under the will of Louis Hano, deceased.” The plaintiffs would derive liability on their part as trustees from the following facts which are recited in the third paragraph of the statement of claim filed: “At the time of his death, said Louis Hano was the owner of five thousand one hundred (5,100) shares of stock of said Samuel Hano Company, and by his last will and testament, dated August 19, 1897, and a codicil thereto dated November 12, 1897, and recorded in the office of the Register of Wills of Philadelphia County, in Will Book 196, pp. 569, etc., bequeathed and devised all his
Had the decree of the New Hampshire court ordering the levy of an assessment been directed against the defendants as trustees owning or holding the stock, the facts above stated would be pertinent, and quite sufficient, other things being equal, to impose liability on the estate in their hands; but the decree established an indebtedness of Hano, and involved his estate only. The defendants, as trustees, stand in no relation; at least no representative relation, to the estate of Hano. The funds they hold, and which they are answerable for, were, it is true, derived from the estate of Hano, but they ceased to be any part of that estate when they were awarded to and received by the defendants under a decree of distribution in the adjudication of the account of the executors. If for any reason they can yet be made answerable for any unsatisfied indebtedness of the estate of Hano, it is quite certain that no such recovery can be reached through a common-law action brought by the creditor against the trustees. Yet this would be the result were the present action to be sustained. The debt here sought to be recovered is the debt of Hano fixed
Appeal dismissed at costs of appellant.