112 Ga. 533 | Ga. | 1900
John Turner, by his guardian, S. T. Turner, brought an action of trover, in the city court of Wayeross, against James Smith, to recover 23 head of cattle. It appears from the petition that the plaintiff, John Turner, was the only child and heir at law of one Lucinda Turner, who died in 1879 at the age of 21 years, never having had a guardian appointed to look after her property. Lucinda Turner was oné of the heirs of the Henry Turner estate, and Henry Turner died in the year 1862, leaving as part of his estate a lot of cattle which was divided out in kind among his heirs. Lucinda Turner being at the time one of the heirs, there were allotted to her eight head of these cattle in the year 1864. She was then a minor. Joel Smith, after the death of Henry Turner, mar
We think the court erred in Ms ruling. Under the Civil Code, § 3353, it is provided: “ Upon the death of the owner of any estate in realty, wMch estate survives Mm, the title vests immediately in Ms heirs at law. The title to all other property owned by Mm vests in the admmistrator of his estate for the benefit of the heirs and creditors.” It has accordmgly been held by tMs court, from its earliest decisions, that title to personal property belonging to the estate of a decedent passes at his death, not to Ms heirs, but to
The conversion in this case, according to the allegations of the petition, occurred over thirty years before the filing of this suit. It is true that the petition alleged that the party under whom the plaintiff claimed had not more than reached her majority when she died, and that petitioner was still a minor, and never had a guardian appointed until the year 1898, a year before bringing this suit. It is contended that this minority of the plaintiff, and the party under whom he claims, prevents the operation of the statute of limitations. It is true under the Civil Code, § 3779, it is declared, in effect, that infants and some others, naming them, who are such when the cause of action accrues, shall be entitled to the same time, after the disability is removed, to bring an action, as is prescribed in the code for other persons. The minority in this case, then, would be a good plea against the statute of limitations, provided petitioner had a legal right to institute this action of trover for personalty; but he did not have such a right. The statute itself places the .title in the representative of the estate; and if per