Bickford v. Stewart

Citations

• 55 Wash. 278
• 104 P. 263
• 1909 Wash. LEXIS 747

Syllabus

<p>Absentees — Agent of Absentees — Appointment — Authority. Where, upon the partition of an estate, an agent for absentees was appointed in probate to receive and care for their portion of the estate, distributed to them, and later by a suit in equity, the distribution was set aside and a different tract of land distributed to the absentees in lieu of the first, the agent still retains authority to act under the appointment in probate as to the later parcel finally awarded.</p> <p>Same — Sale by Agent — Petition. Where an agent for absentees was appointed in probate, under Bal. Code, § 6371, to receive their portion of the inherited estate distributed to them, and the appointment was later continued in a suit in equity instituted for a redistribution, a sale by the agent under order of court pursuant to § 6373, is not affected by the fact that the petition for sale was filed in the equity case; since that court had then acquired and exercised probate jurisdiction over the estate.</p> <p>Same — Power to Sell — Constitutional Law — Taking Property Without Due Process op Law. The act, Bal. Code, §§ 6371-6375, authorizing the appointment in probate of an agent for absentees to receive their portion of the estate, and if not claimed within one year, to sell the same under an order of court, paying the proceeds, less expenses, into the county treasury, for the use of the absentees, is within the inherent legislative power of the state to control the inheritance and descent of property, and does not violate the constitutional inhibition against the taking or sale of property without due process of law.</p> <p>Descent and Distribution — Rights op Heirs — Title. Property only descends to and vests in the heirs subject to administration, and may be divested by the process of administration.</p> <p>Absentees — Appointment op Agent — Sales—Method op Sale— Statutes. The act, Bal. Code, §§ 6371-6375, authorizing the appointment in probate of an agent for absentees to recover the