104 F. 380 | 8th Cir. | 1900
Lead Opinion
after stating- the case as above, delivered the opinion of the court.
From the foregoing statement it will be observed that the present action against the administrator, of S. W. Matteson to recover a judgment on the notes executed by him in his lifetime was not brought until after the expiration of the six months limited by the order of the probate court of Ramsey county, Minn., for the filing, examination, and allowance of claims against Matteson’s estate, nor until after the examination and allowance of flu* administrator's final account. It is accordingly contended in behalf of the administrator that by virtue of sections 4509 and 4511 of the Minnesota Statutes, heretofore quoted, the right to a judgment on the notes in controversy was forever barred, although they were owned by a nonresident of tiie state, and a recovery was sought in the federal court. This contention raises the principal question that we are called upon to consider and determine.
By reference to the aforesaid sections of the Minnesota Statutes, it will be observed that the several probate courts of that state have been vested with the power to determine for what period of time the creditors of a deceased person -whose estate is undergoing administration therein shall be given an opportunity to establish their demands against the estate: the only limitation upon that power being that the time granted shall not be less than (S months, nor more than 18 months. In the first instance it seems that they cannot allow more than 1 year for the establishment of demands, but, for cause shown, which they deem adequate, they may audit and allow claims within 18 months from the date of the original order fixing the period for allowance, and before a final settlement. It is furthermore manifest that the local administration law was framed
Another claim which is interposed by the administrator as a defense to this action is that the approval of its final account and the order of distribution made thereon by the probate court on April 27, 1896, closed the administration, and operated, without more, as a discharge of the administrator, so that there was in point of fact no administrator when the suit at bar was instituted. This view evidently was not entertained by the probate court by which the administrator was appointed, since the record discloses that that court as late as November 21, 1896, entertained a petition on the part of the administrator, and at its instance made an order founded thereon by winch the decree of April 27, 1896, wás amended and cor
Concurrence Opinion
I concur in the judgment in this case for the reasons stated in the opinion of the court, and for the further reason that creditors, heirs, and legatees who are citizens of other states are not deprived of their right to maintain and try their suits in the federal courts against administrators, executors, and all other parties who are citizens of the state of the decedent, nor are they barred of their original rights to maintain and to try these suits in the federal courts, by their failure to present their claims to the state courts as provided by the administration statutes of the states. Suydam v. Broadnax, 14 Pet. 67, 74, 10 L. Ed. 357; President, etc., v. Vaiden, 18 How. 503, 507, 15 L. Ed. 472; Borer v. Chapman, 119 U. S. 587-589, 7 Sup. Ct. 342, 30 L. Ed. 532; Lawrence v. Nelson, 143 U. S. 215, 224, 12 Sup. Ct. 440, 36 L. Ed. 130; Payne v. Hook, 7 Wall. 425, 430, 19 L. Ed. 260; Arrowsmith v. Gleason, 129 U. S. 86, 98, 9 Sup. Ct. 237, 32 L. Ed. 630; Johnson v. Waters, 111 U. S. 640, 667, 4 Sup. Ct. 619, 28 L. Ed. 547; Hayes v. Pratt, 147 U. S. 557, 570, 13 Sup. Ct. 503, 37 L. Ed. 279; Byers v. McAuley, 149 U. S. 608, 621, 13 Sup. Ct. 906, 37 L. Ed. 867; Hyde v. Stone, 20 How. 170, 175, 15 L. Ed. 874; Hess v. Reynolds, 113 U. S. 73, 76, 5 Sup. Ct. 377, 28 L. Ed. 927.