Court Opinion

ID: 9584230
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:45:44.276812+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:07:12.568334
License: Public Domain

Gunter, Justice,
dissenting. The trial court directed a verdict against the appellant, a trustee for minor children in a deed conveying realty, who was the defendant in the court below.
The trial court directed a verdict on the sole ground that the trustee had moved her residence from Georgia to the State of New York, the evidence showing at the time of the trial that she was a nonresident of Georgia.
Code Ann. § 108-315, as amended by Ga. L. 1959, p. 324, 1964, p. 270, provides that where the sole trustee of any trust estate has "removed beyond the jurisdiction of the courts of the state,” the superior court shall have full power and authority, upon petition of two or more of the parties *820interested in such trust, to appoint a new trustee or trustees.
The trial court committed error in holding that the trustee in this case has "removed beyond the jurisdiction of the courts of Georgia.” Georgia Laws 1953, pp. 178, 179, as amended, provides that a foreign trustee as to lands in this state is subject to the jurisdiction of the Georgia courts. Code Ann. Ch. 108-7. Also, Ga. L. 1966, p. 343, as amended (Code Ann. § 24-113.1) provides that a court of this state may exercise personal juisdictión over any nonresident who "owns, uses or possesses any real property situated within this state.”
It is therefore clear that a trustee who resides in the State of New York, the subject matter of the trust being real estate located in Georgia, cannot be removed as trustee solely on the basis of nonresidence. I would reverse the judgment.
I respectfully dissent.