Matter of the Estate Of Caleb Dorsey
Before: Belcher
Synopsis
Estate of Decedent—Sale of Real Estate—Order for Public or Private Sale. — Under section 1544 of the Code of Civil Procedure, an order for the sale of the real estate of a decedent, made at the instance of a creditor, should direct that the sale be made at public auction, unless in the opinion of the court the best interests of the estate would be sub-served by a private sale. Where, however, a private sale is asked for in the petition, the court may act upon the opinion of the executor or administrator and order such a sale to be made.
Id. — Time for Private Sale. — An order for the private sale of certain real estate of a decedent which limits the time within which the sale can be made to a period sufficient to give twenty days after the publication of notice of the sale for the reception of bids, is not unreasonable.
Opinion — Belcher
Belcher, C. C. — It appears' from the record that Caleb Dorsey died at Sonora, in the county of Tuolumne, on the twenty-eighth day of March, 1885. In July following Esther M. Dorsey was duly appointed and qualified as administratrix of his estate. The estate consisted of a [259]small amount of personal property, a dwelling-house and lot in Sonora, several gold mines and interests in mines, and a water ditch and water right connected therewith. By an order of the court, the dwelling-house and lot’were set aside for the use of the administratrix and her family. Claims against the estate were presented and allowed, aggregating more than seven thousand eight hundred dollars. In October, 1885, an order was madé and entered by the court authorizing the administratrix to sell all the mining properties and ditch at private sale, but no bids were received and no sales effected.
On the twenty-fifth day of January, 1887, George Winnie—the largest creditor of the estate—presented to the court a petition which, after setting out the necessary facts, asked that an order be made directing that all the real property of the estate (except the portion thereof set aside for the family of deceased) be sold at public auction to the highest bidder for cash. After due notice, this petition was heard, and on the third day of March an order was made, authorizing and directing the administratrix to sell at public auction, and in oue parcel or subdivisions, as she should judge most beneficial to the estate, the ditch and all the mines and interests in mines belonging to the estate, except the mine known as the Lady Washington mine, or so much thereof as should be necessary. The order further directed that the Lady Washington mine be sold at private sale, “said sale to be made on or before the ninth day of April, 1887.” The administratrix was present at the hearing of the petition, and objected to having the property sold at public auction, on the ground that a private sale would be most beneficial to the estate and to the creditors thereof.
The appeal is by the administratrix from the order as made and from the whole thereof.
In support of the appeal, it is urged that the court erred in ordering the property to be sold at public auc[260]
More from California Supreme Court
- People v. Wende (1979)
- People v. Watson (1956)
- People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996)
- People v. Kelly (2006)
- Auto Equity Sales, Inc. v. Superior Court (1962)
- Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (2001)
- People v. Lewis (2021)
- In Re Estrada (1965)
- Denham v. Superior Court (1970)
- People v. Marsden (1970)