Case Name: M'Mahon vs. Glasscock, administrator of Lane
Court: Tennessee Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Tennessee
Decision Date: 1833-12
Citations: 5 Yer. 304
Docket Number: 
Parties: M’Mahon vs. Glasscock, administrator of Lane.
Judges: 
Reporter: Tennessee Reports
Volume: 13
Pages: 304–305

Head Matter:
M’Mahon vs. Glasscock, administrator of Lane.
An execution issued on a judgment rendered in the lifetime of the defendant, which execution is tested of a term subsequent to the death of the defendant, is no lien upon the property of the deceased, and does not authorize its seizure and sale by the sheriff.
This action is brought by Glasscock, the administrator of Lane, to recover some property sold by the sheriff, on an execution against Lane, under the following circumstances: A judgment was rendered against Lane in his lifetime; after the rendition of the judgment, he died; a term of the court passed after his death, and the judgment was not revived. The execution issued after the term had passed, tested of a term subsequent to the death of Lane. The sheriff levied upon property that had belonged to Lane, in his lifetime, and sold- it, and the defendant became the purchaser. The court charged the jury, that an execution issued upon a judgment rendered against a man in his lifetime, which was tested of a term subsequent to the defendant’s death, would not pass the property upon a sale under it. The jury found for the plaintiff; a motion for a new trial was made and overruled, and the defendant appealed in error to this court.

Opinion:
Peck, J.,
delivered the opinion of the court.
There is no error in the charge of the court. Lane, against whom the judgment had been rendered, had departed this life before the execution, which is relied on as an authority for the sheriff, issued. The property was vested in the administrator, by operation of law, and the sheriff could not seize it. The test of the execution was issued the term next before the day of levy, and the day of the test was after the death. The circuit court charged the law.
Judgment affirmed.