Aycock & Clifford v. Braun

Citations

• 66 Tex. 201
• 18 S.W. 500
• 1886 Tex. LEXIS 481

Syllabus

<p>1. Administrator— Qualifications—Contract to make bond—Enforcement—A party desiring to be appointed administrator de bonis non, was unable to give the requisite bond. He contracted with a firm of lawyers to pay them a certain sum if they would secure his appointment and obtain for him sufficient bond. The heirs, having a superior right to the administration, had agreed to relinquish it in his favor. Held:</p> <p>(1) Good character is an express addition to the applicant’s qualifications. (R. S., art. 1861.) The test of this qualification is his ability to procure the requisite bond.</p> <p>(2) The inability of the applicant to procure the surety rendered him incompetent, and the agreement, the tendency of which was to impose upon the trust a deficient incumbent, cannot be enforced. (Porter v. Jones, 52 Mo., 399.)</p> <p>(3) If the tende'ncy of the contract was vicious, the innocent intention of the parties could not save it. (Marshall v. Railway Company, 16 How., 314.)</p> <p>(4) The attorneys could not enforce compensation for services rendered in furtherance of the scheme, and with the applicant’s approval.</p>