Ellis v. Chenoweth

THOMPSON, J. Helen Erma Ellis and Betty Jean Ellis, minor children of Albert 0. Bell, deceased, represented by their guardian ad litem, Otis Ellis, have appealed from an order of the Probate Court of Shasta County settling the final account of the administrator of said estate.

The chief contention of the appellants is that the final account of their father's estate was settled without their presence and without the giving of legal notice of that hearing.

Albert C. Bell died intestate December 1, 1937, in Shasta County, California, possessed of real and personal property, and leaving surviving him his widow, Mazie Bell, and the two minor daughters of the deceased, previously mentioned. Josie Bell, the mother of the two minor children, had divorced Albert C. Bell and subsequently married Otis Ellis, and the children assumed his name. Upon application therefor, Orr M. Chenoweth was duly appointed administrator of said estate. Letters of administration were issued December 31, 1937. Notice to creditors was published as required by law. An inventory and appraisement was filed showing the real and personal property to be of the value of $7,317.75. Pending administration, two suits were brought against the estate, each of which was compromised and settled with the approval of the probate court. Another suit to quiet title to a leasehold in the Sacramento Hotel in Bedding, California, was brought against said estate and the heirs of Albert C. Bell, deceased, by Twila Bragg and Elizabeth Bichards. Josie Ellis and the two minor children, represented by the children’s guardian, appeared and answered the complaint in that suit. J. Oscar Goldstein and his son, Burton J. Gold-stein, acted as their attorneys. On January 22, 1942, the children and their mother, Mrs. Ellis, abandoned their claim to an interest in the property involved in that action by filing their written consent to a judgment in favor of the plaintiffs. They did not appear at the trial. The estate was represented at that trial by Mr. Chenoweth. Judgment was rendered January 28, 1942, for the plaintiff as prayed for.

April 3, 1940, the administrator filed in said estate his final account and petition for discharge. The account showed total receipts amounting to $5,272.74, and disbursements in * the sum of $3,795.24, including attorneys’ fees, both normal and extraordinary, aggregating $885, leaving a balance of only $1,477.50 to apply on unpaid allowed claims in excess of $10,000. The account included preferred labor claims [336]amounting to $1,710.24, and an allowed claim for an unpaid judgment in favor of Josie Ellis for $11,840.75.