Case Name: Succession of SERRES
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1914-03-02
Citations: 135 La. 1005
Docket Number: No. 20423
Parties: Succession of SERRES.
Judges: O’NIELL, J., takes no part.
Reporter: Louisiana Reports
Volume: 135
Pages: 1006–1028

Head Matter:
(66 South. 342.)
No. 20423.
Succession of SERRES.
(March 2, 1914.
On the Merits, Oct. 19, 1914.)
(Syllabus by the Court.)
1. Executors and Administrators (§ 20*)— Affointment — Dismissal of Application for Letters Testamentary — Decisions Appealable.
An appeal lies from a judgment dismissing an application for letters testamentary, under a will wherein the applicant has been named testamentary executor.
[Ed. Note. — For other cases, see Executors and Administrators, Cent. Dig. §§ S3-105 ; Dec. Dig. § 20.*]
On the Merits.
2. Executors and Administrators (§ 14*)— Right to Appoint Executor — Confirmation of Appointment.
The same law which confers upon a man the right to dispose of his property by last will also confers upon him the right to appoint an executor, with seisin of his estate and with authority to carry the will into effect, ' and leaves him, and not his heirs or legatees, or the courts, to determine the necessity or propriety of making the appointment; hence his motive in making such appointment is not open to inquiry, and, unless there exists some reason, founded in law, for refusing so to do, the probate court, to which the will is presented, should confirm the appointment.
[Ed. Note. — For other cases, see Executors and Administrators, Cent. Dig. §§ 29-31, 42; Dec. Dig. § 14.*]
3. Executors and Administrators (§ 14*)— Appointment of Executor — Confirmation —Grounds for Refusal.
Though it .may be regarded as settled jurisprudence that a probate court is vested with a certain discretion in the matters of the appointment of administrators to successions which are free of debts, the fact that a testate succession owes no debts, and that there are no movable legacies to be paid, is an insufficient reason for refusing to confirm the executor appointed by the testator.
[Ed. Note. — For other cases, see Executors and Administrators, Cent. Dig. §§ 29-31, 42; Dec. Dig. § 14.*]
4. Executors and Administrators (§ 81*)— Duties of Executor — “Full. Seisin.”
The full seisin which the testator is authorized to give to his executor is distinct from, and paramount to, the seisin which is “considered” to devolve upon the heir at the moment of the death of the de cujus; and an executor who receives the seisin of an entire estate thereby assumes the obligation, not only of paying the debts and discharging the legacies, but of thereafter delivering the residue of the estate to the heirs, and to no one else; and it is only when no seisin is given to him that, under Rev. Civ. Code, art. 1660, his functions are limited as provided in that article.
[Ed. Note. — For other cases, see Executors and Administrators, Cent. Dig. §§ 323, 334; Dec. Dig. § 81.*]
Appeal from Civil District Court, Parish of Orleans; T. C. W. Ellis, Judge.
Succession of Jean Serres. John B. Hall’s application to be qualified as executor, being opposed by the widow and heirs, was refused, and he prosecutes a suspensive appeal.
Reversed, judgment rendered confirming John B. Hall as executor, and cause remanded, with directions.
Charles I. Denechaud, of New Orleans, for appellant. O. C. Friedrichs and Harold A. Moise, both of New Orleans, for appellee Bordes. Edward M. Heath, of New Orleans, for appellee Cook.

Opinion:
On Motion to Dismiss Appeal.
SOMMERVILLE, J.
John B. Hall was named executor of the last will and testament of Jean Serres. His application to qualify was opposed by the widow and heirs, and the district court refused to issue a letter to him. He prosecutes a suspensive appeal from said judgment.
A full statement of the case is in 133 La. 929, 63 South. 409.
Appellees move to dismiss the appeal on the ground that the appellant has no interest in the succession, and that he cannot appeal suspensively from a judgment rejecting his application to be appointed executor under the will.
If the judgment had been otherwise, if it had been in favor of the applicant for letters, surely the heirs would have had the right of appeal from such judgment; and there is no reason suggested why the unsuccessful applicant for letters of executorship should not have the same right. State ex rel. Marin v. Judge, 22 La. Ann. 23; Heirs of Pearson v. Judge, 22 La. Ann. 61 (64); Heirs of Gee v. Judge, 26 La. Ann. 122.
The appellate jurisdiction of this court "shall extend to all cases where the matter in dispute, or' the fund to be distributed, whatever may be the amount therein claimed, shall exceed $2,000, exclusive of interest." And where a judgment does not fall within the exceptions contained in articles 571, 580, and 1059, Code of Practice, the party cast in a judgment is permitted to appeal suspensively. We say in the Succession of Drysdale, 122 La. 37, 47 South. 367:
"In so far as the judgment rejects their (the testamentary executors') application for the probate of the will propounded by them and for their appointment as executors, the appeal, call it what we may, has no other effect than to hold the matter in court until it can be finally disposed of, just as does an appeal from a judgment rejecting a demand for money or property not under seizure."
Motion denied.