195 Mass. 133 | Mass. | 1907
Under R. L. c. 137, § 1, c. 162, § 3, the Probate Court is given exclusive authority to grant letters of adminis
The intestate although domiciled elsewhere was one of the beneficiaries under a trust created by the will of Christiana K. Sargent, which had been admitted to probate by the Probate Court for the county of Suffolk, and a trustees had been appointed by that court to administer the trust. It is agreed that this interest constituted all his estate remaining to be administered here at the time of filing the petition. Before his death, the time for a final distribution of the trust estate having arrived, the trustee had made arrangements for a division, and, if the deceased had survived, his share would have been paid to him. But, if the trustee had refused or neglected to make the distribution this claim could have been enforced by proper legal proceedings. Upon his appointment the trustee gave bond with sureties to faithfully administer the trust. If guilty of unfaithful administration, while the bond could have been put in suit for the benefit of the deceased, the allowance of his accounts and permission to bring an action on the bond could be decreed only by the Probate Court for the county of Suffolk, to which the parties interested must resort for this relief. R. L. c. 149, §§ 29, 30; c. 150, § 1. Bonaher v. Flint, 188 Mass. 525. It also was within the jurisdiction of that court, if the provisions of the will called for a final distribution, upon a petition, to require the trustee by a decree to distribute the fund according to the directions of the testatrix. R. L. c. 147, § 20. If a failure to comply with such a decree constituted a breach of his bond, and also imposed a personal liability as well, this liability could be enforced by suit brought within the same county, where he had a usual place of business, as well as in that of his residence. R. L. c. 167, § 1. By the decease of the intestate, no action or other proceeding could be maintained for the recovery
Decree of Probate Court affirmed.