Case Name: Martin Brown v. Charles Millington and Josiah B. Chase, Trustee; S. Goodnow, Claimant
Court: Vermont Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Vermont
Decision Date: 1853-03
Citations: 25 Vt. 242
Docket Number: 
Parties: Martin Brown v. Charles Millington and Josiah B. Chase, Trustee; S. Goodnow, Claimant.
Judges: 
Reporter: Vermont Reports
Volume: 25
Pages: 242–244

Head Matter:
Martin Brown v. Charles Millington and Josiah B. Chase, Trustee; S. Goodnow, Claimant.
Trustee and Claimant.
Where the principal debtor had assigned a debt due to him, and no question was made as the legality of the assignment, and the assignee gave notice in writing to the administrator, the debtor having deceased before the service of the trustee process, and the notice was in the hands of the administrator at the time of his appointment, it was held, that the administrator was chargeable with notice from the time of his appointment; and that the claim, after'such notice, was no longer liable to be attached under the trustee process, as a olaim due the principal debtor, and that the claim, under the assignment and notice, is due only to the claimant or assignee.
Trustee Process. The suit was commenced originally before a justice of the peace, and came to the County Court by appeal.
The trustee disclosed that he was administrator of the estate of Moses Chase, deceased, and that said estate was indebted to the principal debtor in the sum of $20,37. And' also that the claimant gave written notice of the assignment of this claim, in about one week after the death of the said Moses, to him, as well as to the widow and heirs of the deceased. That the said written notice was in his hands when he took out letters of administration on said estate, on the 23d of October, 1850. It appeared that the writ in the present suit was served upon the trustee, on the first day of February, A. D. 1851.
The County Court decided and adjudged that said claim was due to the claimant by virtue of the assignment and notice, and that the said administrator was not chargeable as trustee.
Exceptions by plaintiff.
--for plaintiff.
J. JE. Butler for claimant.

Opinion:
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Isham, J.
The trustee, in his disclosure, acknowledges an indebtedness from the estate of Moses Chase to the principal debtor, in the sum of twenty dollars and thirty-seven cents. And the question arises, to whom shall this debt be paid.
The plaintiff claims the amount by virtue of the service of this process; the claimant, by virtue of an assignment of this claim from Millington to him. The trustee, in his disclosure, states that about a week after the death of Moses Chase, the claimant gave written notice to him, of the assignment of this claim, as well as to the widow and heirs of the deceased; and that this written notice was in the hands and possession of the trustee when he took out letters of administration, on the twenty-third day of October, A. D. 1850. The present suit was not served on the trustee until the first'day of February, 1851, so that if the assignment and notice is sufficient, the right of the claimant was perfected before the lien of the plaintiff under his attachment was created.
The legality of the assignment has not been questioned; and when that written notice of the assignment came into the hands of the . administrator, at the time of his appointment, and before the service of this writ, we think he was chargeable with notice from that time; and that the claim was no longer subject to be attached under a trustee process, as a claim due the principal debtor. The administrator cannot be considered as the trustee of the defendant, as the claim, under that assignment and notice, is due only to this claimant.
The judgment of the County Court is affirmed, with costs.