Opinion ID: 1927069
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Deposit at Interest.

Text: The final contention of the petitioner is that Mrs. Hiller is guilty of maladministration because she failed to deposit the funds received from the sale of the assets of the estate in an account which bore interest. The petition for probate was filed in May, 1950. One parcel of real estate was sold in January, 1951. In April, 1951, another piece of real estate was sold. Final judgment was entered in July, 1951. The trial judge observed that the estate was settled expeditiously. The administratrix sold the two parcels of real estate promptly and at prices greater than the appraised valuations. The estate was closed fourteen months after the original petition for probate. We agree with the learned trial judge, who concluded: . . . it is not prima facie maladministration when a personal representative fails to produce income from the funds in his hands in the above fact situation. By the Court. Order affirmed.  DIETERICH, J. ( dissenting ). I must respectfully dissent from the majority opinion. A minor has no standing before the law. He must be represented by a guardian if his interests, privileges, and rights are to be made secure. The statutes are designed to protect minors and should be construed toward that end. The result in this case leaves the minor defenseless against the defalcations of his guardian when the guardian's bond is insufficient to cover those defalcations. Public policy demands a better answer. The executor or administrator of an estate serves in a fiduciary capacity. With the common-law concepts of a fiduciary in mind it would not put an unreasonable strain upon the statutes to hold that they require such fiduciary to ascertain whether a guardian's bond is sufficient before transferring a minor's property to that guardian. Any other result, it seems to me, is unconscionable and gives insufficient weight to the declared public policy of requiring property protection for minors and incompetents.