Quigley v. Nash

CURTIS, J.

Action to recover on two claims presented against the estate of Paul A. Quigley, deceased. The plaintiff is the surviving wife of said deceased. Deceased, during his lifetime and at the time of his death, was engaged in the lumber and supply business in Susanville, Lassen County, in this state. His death occurred on May 31, 1930. The plaintiff on June 3d following took charge of said business, and on June 7th applied for letters of administration of his estate. On June 10th deceased’s place of business was destroyed by fire. There was no insurance carried on said business and in consequence of this loss the estate of decedent was rendered insolvent. On June 13th plaintiff waived her right to administer upon said estate in favor of Earl L. Nash, who was thereafter appointed, and qualified as administrator of said estate. Between the date when the plaintiff took charge of the business of her deceased husband and the destruction of his business by fire, plaintiff received the sum of $6,683.42, being proceeds of an insurance policy on the life of her husband which was her individual property. Prom this and other sources, she proceeded to pay certain obligations of her deceased husband, his funeral expenses, and certain expenses incurred in connection with the business left by said deceased. The money thus paid out by her is the subject matter of the two claims involved in this action. The administrator failed to act upon either of said claims, that is, he refused to allow or reject either of said claims and the plaintiff after the lapse of ten days from the presentation of said claims to said administrator instituted this action to recover the amounts claimed to be due as set forth in said claims.

The two claims will be referred to as claim A and claim B. Claim A was for money paid by the plaintiff to the Bank

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of Lassen County on two promissory notes, one for $1150 principal and $4.85 interest, and the other for $350 principal and $2.18 interest, totaling in all the sum of $1507.03. Claim B was presented as a preferred claim against said estate and was for money paid by plaintiff on account of various items which will be further explained. In his answer the defendant admitted all the material allegations of plaintiff’s first cause of action, which cause of action was based on claim A. As to the second cause of action, based upon claim B, the defendant denied each and every allegation thereof. As a further answer to said complaint, defendant set up a counterclaim against plaintiff’s demands consisting of two items, one for $718.99 and the other for $129.19, and prayed for judgment that plaintiff take nothing by her said action and that defendant recover the amount of his counterclaim. Upon the issues thus made, the cause proceeded to trial and resulted in the trial court directing a judgment in favor of the plaintiff allowing claim A in full as a general claim against said estate; allowing three items in claim B amounting to $157.46 as a preferred claim, and the balance thereof as a general claim against said estate less the amount of $16.50, which item was abandoned by plaintiff at the trial. The amount allowed as a general claim was $174.42 and consisted of five items in claim B. Upon defendant’s counterclaim, the court gave judgment in favor of defendant in the sum of $848.18, being the sum total of the two amounts of $718.99 and $129.19, claimed by defendant in his counterclaim. The court further directed that from this amount of $848.18, there be deducted the sum of $757.46, leaving the sum of $90.72, against which sum there should be further offset plaintiff’s costs incurred at said trial, and any dividends paid plaintiff on her general claim against said estate. The item of $757.46 requires some explanation. According to the finding, the probate court had made an order directing the payment to plaintiff of a family allowance from the estate of her deceased husband—$50 per month for one year, or a total of $600. The item of $757.46 is made up of this item of $600 family allowance and the said sum of $157.46, being that part of claim B which the court directed should be allowed as a preferred claim against said estate. Prom this order the plaintiff has appealed on the judgment roll.