Court Opinion

ID: 9793059
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 02:41:34.479374+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:03:11.662173
License: Public Domain

MR. JUSTICE ANGSTMAN
(dissenting):
I think the foreign heirs named in the will of Nick Bell have not yet had a fair run for their money.
Under the will of Nick Bell, Minnie Mullen was residuary legatee and entitled to all lapsed legacies. She filed a petition in court asking for distribution of the estate according to the terms of the will. That made it unnecessary for the nonresident heirs or legatees to institute any proceedings to determine their rights of heirship, under the express command of subdivision (2) of section 91-3901, R.C.M. 1947. They appointed Yugoslavian Consul General in Chicago and his successor as their lawful attorney to represent them and thus made claim to these legacies. In re Estate of Sorensen, 44 Cal. (2d) 306, 281 Pac. (2d) 870. Whether he in turn assumed to appoint Mr. Ettien the record does not disclose.
The record sufficiently indicates that the foreign legatees have not abandoned their rights, but on the contrary took steps to assert them. They established their identity as legatees by their deposition. If the present proceedings are insufficient to establish their rights, I think they should be given further opportunity to do so.
The matter of proving reciprocity was impossible during the *355war period. The statute of limitations was suspended during that period. The applicable statute of limitations was then five years. Section 7088, R.C.M. 1935, now R.C.M. 1947, section 91-418, as amended by section 1, Chapter 44, Laws 1947. It was suspended until the end of the war and until peace was declared on October 19, 1951. See Joint Resolution of Congress, 50 U.S.C.A. Appendix preceding section 1.
I think these legacies should be reported to the alien property custodian or the attorney general of the United States or both under the Trading with the Enemy Act, 50 U.S.C.A. Appendix, section 1 et seq., to the end that if these foreign legatees have any right they may be protected. Compare In re Gaspar’s Estate, 128 Mont. 383, 275 Pac. (2d) 656, and authorities therein cited, and In re Renard’s Estate, 179 Misc. 885, 39 N. Y. S. (2d) 968.