Case Name: McDonald, &c., vs. Meadows
Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Kentucky
Decision Date: 1859-01-07
Citations: 1 Met. 507
Docket Number: 
Parties: McDonald, &c., vs. Meadows.
Judges: 
Reporter: Kentucky Reports
Volume: 58
Pages: 507–510

Head Matter:
CASE 31 — IN EQUITY
JANUARY 7, 1859.
McDonald, &c., vs. Meadows.
APPEAL FROM WASHINGTON CIRCUIT COURT.
Where a statutory guardian, appointed in Kentucky, received in Tennessee estate due to his ward from the representatives of the grandfather of the ward, the bond of such guardian binds him and his securities to account to the ward therefor.
This appeal is from a judgment of the Washington circuit court rendered at its August term, 1858, for $832 20, and interest from October 23, 1844, with costs, in favor of Meadows, against McDonald and his securities, on a settlement of his accounts as guardian to Meadows. McDonald became guardian and executed bond with security in the Washington county court. The suit was commenced on the 4th of October, 1850.
W. E. Riley for appellants—
McDonald and his sureties cannot be charged in this suit against them for money received by him in Tennessee as guardian of Meadows. (Story’s Conflict of Laws, page 849.)
R. J. Browne on same side—
The appointment of McDonald as guardian in Kentucky conferred upon him no authority to receive estate of the ward in Tennessee; and the sureties in the guardian’s bond cannot be held responsible therefor. {Story's Conflict of Laws quoted in 12 B. Mon., 324; 2 Kent's Com., 227, note b.; 1 Johnson's Ch'y Rep., 153-5; 4 LitL, 4; 4 Dana, 629; 2 Boumer's Inst., 57; 10 Alabama Rep., 589; 1 Bay's Rep., 13; 0 Ohio Rep., 504.)
M. R. Hardin for appellee—
That the estate was received by the guardian in Tennessee eannot avail either himself or his sureties. It is the duty of the guardian to take care of .and account for his ward’s money, however derived. (3 Dana, 223.) It was too late for McDonald to plead to the jurisdiction after he filed his answer in June, 1851. (1 /. J. Mar., 476.)

Opinion:
JUDGE DUVALL
delivered the opinion op the court:
It is not pretended that the wards of McDonald were not justly entitled to so much of their interest in the estate of their grandfather, Jonas Meadows, who lived and died in Tennessee, as came to the hands of their guardian. This interest, at the time of the execution of the guardian's bond, constituted all the estate to which the wards were entitled, and the guardian was doubtless appointed for the sole purpose of enabling him to receive and take care of it — all of which must be presumed to have been well known to the sureties when they executed the bond. With what propriety can they complain that the property situated in Tennessee was not embraced by the stipulations of the bond, or that the receipt of this property by the guardian was not contemplated by them when they became bound for him? Besides, the presumption is that the estate in question was lawfully and rightfully received by tbe Kentucky guardian, and there is nothing in the record to repel this presumption. The statutes of Tennessee upon this subject were not made part of the evidence, and the presumption is that they authorized the representatives of Jonas Meadows to pay over to the Kentucky guardian the estate to which his wards were entitled. The principle stated in the quotation from Story is undoubtedly correct. According to that principle, a guardian appointed in Tennessee would have no right, by virtue of his office,, or by virtue of any authority which the laws of Tennessee could confer upon him, to take possession of, or to exercise any powers or functions over, the property of his ward, whether real or personal, situated in Kentucky. But certainly the law-making power of Kentucky may confer such right upon the foreign guardian, as it has in fact done by the 16th section of the Revised Statutes, (p. 376,) which provides that where there is no guardian in this state of a non-resident minor, his guardian, appointed and qualified according to the law of the place where the minor resides, may collect, receive, and remove to such place of residence, any personal estate of the minor, being in this state. And even the guardian appointed and residing here may, by proper proceedings, be compelled to pay over to a foreign guardian the estate belonging to the non-resident minor. Similar statutory provisions exist in most of the states of the Union.
From what has been said, it results that the estate and property received by the guardian in Tennessee was, so far as this record shows, legally and rightfully the property of his wards; that it came legally and rightfully into the hands of the guardian, and that, consequently, the sureties in the guardian's bond are liable for any misapplication of it, or failure by the guardian to account for and pay the same over to the persons enti-tiled to it, according to the conditions of the bond.
It would be a waste of time to review the evidence relating to the various matters of account involved in this controversy. The transactions are of long standing, and the proof in regard to them contradictory and uncertain. An attentive examination of the record has satisfied us that no substantial injustice has been done the appellants by the decree complained of, and that it embodies a fair and equitable adjustment of the accounts between the parties.
The decree is affirmed.