Case Name: The People of the State of New York v. The St. Nicholas Bank of New York. In the Matter of the Application of Horace H. Chittenden, Assignee, etc., of A. S. Hatch & Co., Appellant, to Compel Hugh J. Grant, Temporary Receiver of The St. Nicholas Bank of New York, Respondent, to Pay Certain Dividends, etc.
Court: New York Supreme Court, General Term
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1895-03
Citations: 92 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 277
Docket Number: 
Parties: The People of the State of New York v. The St. Nicholas Bank of New York. In the Matter of the Application of Horace H. Chittenden, Assignee, etc., of A. S. Hatch & Co., Appellant, to Compel Hugh J. Grant, Temporary Receiver of The St. Nicholas Bank of New York, Respondent, to Pay Certain Dividends, etc.
Judges: O’Brien, J., concurred.
Reporter: Supreme Court Reports (Hun)
Volume: 92
Pages: 277–279

Head Matter:
The People of the State of New York v. The St. Nicholas Bank of New York. In the Matter of the Application of Horace H. Chittenden, Assignee, etc., of A. S. Hatch & Co., Appellant, to Compel Hugh J. Grant, Temporary Receiver of The St. Nicholas Bank of New York, Respondent, to Pay Certain Dividends, etc.
, Assignee for the benefit of creditors — his right to the assigned estate until he is removed.
An assignee for the benefit of creditors is not an officer of the court, and, until he is removed from Ms office of assignee in the manner prescribed by statute, he is entitled to the possession of the assigned estate, and although he may have made propositions to a bank in which the funds of the assigned estate were on deposit, inconsistent with his duties as assignee, such fact does not enable the receiver of such hank to successfully resist his application for the payment of the amount standing on deposit to his credit as assignee.
Follett, J., dissenting.
Appeal by the petitioner, Horace H. Chittenden, assignee, etc., of A. S. Hatch & Go., from an order of the Supreme Court, made at the New York Special Term and entered in the office of the clerk of the county of New York on the 17th day of December, 1894, denying the petitioner’s motion to compel Hugh J. Grant, temporary receiver of The St. Nicholas Bank of New York, to pay certain dividends to the petitioner.
Thomas P. Wickes, for the petitioner, appellant.
John M. Bowers and L. G-. Heed, for the temporary receiver, respondent.

Opinion:
Yan Brunt, P. J.:
I cannot concur in the conclusion of Mr. Justice Follett in the case at bar. The applicant is the assignee and the owner of the fund deposited. He is not an officer of the court, and until he is removed from his office of assignee in the manner prescribed by statute he is entitled to the possession of the assigned estate; and although he may, as far as this semi-defunct bank is concerned, have made propositions which were inconsistent with his duties as assignee, such fact certainly does not authorize a holder of the funds of the assigned estate to resist the payment of the amount due to the assignee. If the assignee has misbehaved he should be removed. But to say that the receiver of this bank shall be entitled to hold the funds simply because the assignee and owner of the same ddfes not say that he intended to distribute it amongst the creditors, would seem to be appointing the receiver of this semi-defunct bank the substituted assignee of the estate, without going through any of the forms of law necessary to such substitution. Certainly, if this bank did not happen to be in the hands of a receiver, and a suit had been brought by the assignee to recover the amount on deposit, no defense would have been disclosed; and the fact that the bank is in the hands of such receiver and a suit cannot be brought, does not seem to be any reason for denying relief to which the petitioner is legally entitled. The order should be reversed and the motion granted, without costs.
O'Brien, J., concurred.