Court Opinion

ID: 9752328
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 17:58:28.476212+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:27:14.078885
License: Public Domain

POMEROY, Justice
(dissenting).
In light of the particular procedural history of this case in the court below, I find this Court’s approach to *440the failure to file a cost bond on the appeal from the ruling of the Register of Wills to be unnecessarily hyper-technical. I agree with Judge Taxis in his opinion of March 14, 1974 wherein he observed as follows:
“It is unfortunate that appellants were neglectful in respect to the filing of their bonds; but we do not believe that this failure in and of itself requires us to dismiss the present appeal, under the exact circumstances present. The estate itself is ample security for costs; both appellants, in fact, represent the interests of the trust estate. If Glenmede can possess the assets of estate and administer them in its corporate capacity without entering any security at all, as it can, a small bond for costs would serve no purpose, at least none so important as to warrant dismissal of the appeal. The heirs can show no harm suffered by them on account of these omissions. Moreover, the language of the statute is that an appeal not perfected by filing a bond shall be considered abandoned, but the parties had full notice in this particular case that no abandonment was thereby intended. Undoubtedly the requirement of a bond serves a real purpose in protecting the appellee, especially if an appeal may be capricious, but no such purpose is served here.”
For the reasons indicated, I think the lower court properly heard the case on its merits, and that we should do likewise on this appeal.