In re Gilleran

This is an appeal from an order of the surrogate of Richmond county, denying a motion of the appellant upon his petition as the administrator with the will annexed of Grershen P. Jesup, late of San Francisco, deceased, for the issuance to the petitioner, Gfilleran forthwith without the citation of any parties, ancillary letters of administration with the will annexed of Grershen P. Jesup, deceased, and for the revocation of ancillary letters testamentary issued by the surrogate of Richmond county, on. the 22d day of January, 1887, to Isaac Jesup and S. O. Putman, named as executors in the will of the deceased.

On the 2d day of November, 1886, Grershen P. Jesup died in the state of California, leaving a last will and. testament, disposing of all his real and personal property, which will was admitted to probate by the superior court of the city and county of San Francisco, in the state of California, on the 22d day of November, 1886. At the same time letters testamentary were issued by that court to Isaac Jesup and S. O. Putman, who were named as executors in the will of said deceased.

_ The decedent left real estate and personal property, situated in Richmond county, in the state of New York; and on the 22d day of January, 1887, ancillary letters testamentary were issued by the surrogate of Richmond county to Isaac Jesup and S, O. Putman, the executors so-named in the will of the decedent, and such ancillary letters so issued to Jesup and Putman are still unrevoked.

Subsequently to the issuance of such ancillary letters-testamentary by the surrogate of Richmond county, to Jesup and Putnam, as executors, and on the 25th day of April, 1888, the original letters testamentary issued to them in November, 1886, by the superior court of the city and county of San Francisco, were, by a judgment and decree of that court, duly vacated and revoked.

After the revocation and nullification of the letters testamentary issued to Jesup and Putnam as executors by the California court, and on the 30th day of April, 1888, letters of administration with the will annexed of Gershen P. Jesup, deceased, were issued by the court in California to James Gilleran, the petitioner and appellant herein, after he had qualified and filed a bond in the sum of $50,000, as required by law.

Such letters of administration with the will annexed are-still in full force and effect in the state of California. There are no debts due, or claimed to be due, from Gershen P„ Jesup, deceased, to any resident of this state.

Upon the foregoing facts, which are substantially undisputed, which are recited in the order appealed from, the appellant claimed before the surrogate of Richmond county

The surrogate denied the application and held that the issuance of a subpoena to the former executors was necessary. and that they had a right to be heard in respect to the revocation of their ancillary letters issued to them, although their original letters in California had already been revoked and taken away, and although in the proceeding for such revocation in the California court they had appeared and answered, and were heard upon the application which resulted in their removal.

It is the contention of the appellants that this determination of-the surrogate of Richmond county was erroneous and contrary to the provisions of the statute already quoted respecting ancillary letters of administration, and that the motion and application should have been granted.

Section 3695 of Code of Civil Procedure upon which the ■appellant rests his claim is as follows: “Where a will of personal property, made by a person who resided without the state at the time of the execution thereof, or at the time of his death, has been admitted to probate by a competent court, within the foreign country, or the state, or the territory of the United States, where it was executed, or where the testator resided at the time of his death, the surrogate’s court, having jurisdiction of the estate, must, up op. an application made as prescribed in this article, accompanied by a copy of the will and of the foreign letters if any have been issued authenicated as prescribed in this article, record the will and foreign letters, and issue thereupon ancillary letters testamentary or ancillary letters of administration with the will annexed, as the case requires.”

In a literal sense, all that is here prescribed has been complied with by the appellant. His application is by duly verified petition, which shows that there were no creditors of the deceased in this state, and therefore no parties necessary to be cited as provided in section 2698, and was accompanied by a duly authenticated copy of the will, and of the foreign letters issed to the appellant by the probate court of California. And as the section quoted, expressly provb s.

The original executors had notice of' the proceedings for-their removal in the superior court in San Francisco, and they appeared, and were heard in that proceeding, and after such hearing a decree was made for their removal, and thus the chain that linked them to the estate was melted and severed by that revocatory decree. They ceased to be-executors, and the petitioner is substituted in their place,, and upon the presentation of his petition, with the accompanying papers, to the surrogate of Richmond county, that-officer was called upon to act as though no ancillary letters had theretofore been granted by him.

When the letters testamentary of Jesup and Putnam were called back by the California court, their powers were abrogated, and they no longer had any rights to defend or interests to protect, in their estate of their testator.

Deprived of the support of the original letters, the ancillary letters fell without an order for their annihilation, and. the only effect of the action of the surrogate of Richmond county, for. the revocation of such letters will be to disencumber the record in his office. They are already can-celled and destroyed by operation of law, and exist only in name upon the records of the surrogate.

Under such circumstances, a notice of the formal act of' cancellation would be an-idle ceremony.

The order appealed from should therefore, be reversed, and the matter should be remitted to the surrogate of Richmond county, with directions to grant the prayer of the-petition. The costs should be paid from the estate.

(concurring)—As a rule, notice should be given when a court is to be asked to make an order which injuriously affects the parties against whom the relief is sought. The application is peculiar The ancillary letters-were granted on the faith .of a California decree appointing executors upon a probate of a will in that state.

Now the same court have removed the executor for cause, and no one questions the decree. Notice, if" necessary in ordinary cases, and evén on this application if'

The order should be reversed, with costs and disbursements, and the petition granted.

J. (dissenting)—We think the surrogate was Tight in allowing Putnam and Jesup an opportunity to be Iheard upon the application to revoke the letters heretofore issued to them.

Many reasons may be suggested why such an opportunity should properly be granted. We see no objections to that course.

If it be that the surrogate had power to grant new letters ■ex parte, we think his course in declining so to do is to be commended.

The disposition to exhaust the estate shown by the petition, printed at page 98 of the appeal book, where leave is asked to charge the estate with the expenses of the journey -of two persons from San Francisco to New York to make a demand that could as well be made by a resident attorney, was illy fitted to inspire confidence, and affords abundant xeason why all persons interested in the estate should have full notice and a patient hearing before the application should be granted.

Order affirmed, with costs.