151 Mich. 74 | Mich. | 1908
The record of a proceeding to appoint a special guardian for an alleged incompetent person is brought into this court by writ of certiorari, and with it the record in the proceeding to appoint a general guardian in the same matter. It appears by the return that the court had, after an extended hearing, made an order appointing a general guardian for the property and person of plaintiff in certiorari and that she had appealed therefrom to the circuit court. Notice of and reasons for appeal had been filed, the bond on appeal filed and approved, and an order made directing the manner in which notice of the appeal should be given, after which and on the same day and before the appeal had been perfected August Wagner, who is brother-in-law of plaintiff in certiorari, who in his petition described himself as friend and is the same person who petitioned for the appointment of a general guardian, applied for the appointment of a special guardian. He set out the fact of the adjudication of incompetency, the appointment and qualification of the Union Trust Company as guardian, the appeal and the fact that Christine Wagner was possessed of an estate, real and personal, valued at upwards of $15,000, besides a life estate in realty valued at $50,000 and upwards, and alleged that it was necessary in order to protect her property, collect the rents and care for her, that a special guardian be appointed pending the determination of said appeal. Reference is also made to the petition for the appointment of a general guardian and to the proceed
It is urged, however, and this is the meritorious question presented, that the court acquired no jurisdiction to appoint a general guardian and, for that reason, no jurisdiction to appoint a special guardian. In re Bassett, supra. The ground of this objection is the one already stated, viz., that August Wagner is neither a relative nor friend of the alleged incompetent within the meaning of the statute.
From the year 1818 until now the words “friends or relations ” appear, in the same connection, in the statute law of the Territory and the State. The act “empowering the judges of probate to appoint guardians to minors and others,” made a part of the Territorial law by the governor and judges, July 27, 1818 (1 Terr. Laws, p. 375), is adopted from the laws of Massachusetts. In common parlance, a friend is “one who entertains regard for another and takes active interest in his welfare.” Is this the statute meaning of the word, and, if it is, is jurisdiction conferred upon the court by the bare allegation, in the petition, that petitioner is a friend of the alleged insane or incompetent person? We are referred by counsel to no interpretation of the word in a similar connection. The Massachusetts courts have not, so far as our examination has extended, discussed or determined the point here presented. The supreme court of Wisconsin, consid
“ Where the court would be justified in proceeding upon the application of a person having no more friendly relations to the incompetent person than the petitioner in this case [petitioner described himself as a neighbor and life-long friend and alleged that the incompetent had no. wife or children in the county] ; but where it appears that there are near relatives or others occupying the position of a ‘ friend,’ having intimate associations with the party proceeded against, such relatives or friends ought to be the petitioners, unless some cause be shown why they neglect or refuse to proceed; * * * unless it appears from the petition that there is some good reason why the application is not made by such relatives.” Appeal of Royston, 53 Wis. 612.
It is a general rule that no court can allow any one to intervene in the affairs of an estate unless personally interested or authorized by law so to do. Breen v. Pangborn, 51 Mich. 29; Taff v. Hosmer, 14 Mich. 249. In the latter case it was held, however, that a near relative (grandfather of the minor), who could not have appealed from the probate of the will if nothing but property was involved, could appeal if the will appointed guardians to the minor. See Goss v. Stone, 63 Mich. 319, 321. The point considered was what persons other than the father, mother and infant, who are named in the statute, were authorized to intervene in proceedings to appoint a testamentary guardian for an infant, and the right of others to intervene and to have notice of such proceedings was found in the jurisdiction of courts of chancery over the persons and estates of infants and the practice, in those courts, of referring matters of that nature to a commissioner to report the circumstances of the infant, what relations he had, and admitting all proper parties to propose a guardian. Under this practice, the. term ‘ ‘ relations, ” it is said, included those who would, if the infant died intestate, be entitled to a distributive share of his estate.
“We are entirely satisfied that the next of kin may, if they see fit, make themselves parties to guardianship proceedings, and that when they do so, they may appeal from an adverse decision.”
The -cases in which it is held that a power to appoint amongst “relations and friends” is to be considered as a power to appoint relatives only; that a reversion of realty to “my friends” means to the testator’s kindred; that a statute which permits administration of an estate to be committed to “the next and most faithful friends ” should be interpreted so as to limit appointment to blood relatives, rest upon reasoning and upon conditions not here present or applicable. We find in the language employed in the statute nothing to indicate that the legislature intended to prefer relatives to friends, or to limit either class of persons by a particular relationship or intimacy with the alleged incompetent. It seems insensible to find limitations of the meaning of the word relations and give to the word friends its generally accepted meaning. The essential inquiry in every case is whether the person alleged to be insane or incompetent is so in fact. Upon this subject, it is apparent, a friendly neighbor may be better informed than a relative living at a distance. If it is a fact, the incompetent ought not to continue to manage himself or his property. Notice of proceedings to ascertain the fact must be given to the incompetent and to those interested in his estate, and, presumptively, in his welfare. In re Bassett, supra; In re Myers, 73 Mich. 401. See, also, Storms v. Allegan Circuit Judge, 99 Mich. 144; Munger v. Kalamazoo Probate Judge, 86 Mich. 363. Courts will look with disfavor upon, and legal remedies can be found for, mere intermeddling in such cases.
We are of opinion that the petition for appointment of