Donnelly's Estate

Citations

• 246 Pa. 308
• 92 A. 306
• 1914 Pa. LEXIS 513

Syllabus

<p>Decedents’ estates — Insolvent estates — Loans to executors for benefit of estate — Priority.</p> <p>1. At the death of a decedent, the claims of his creditors against the property of which he died possessed are fixed'; the rights of such creditors do not extend to or include anything which the executors may afterwards be able to borrow for the purpose of protecting the assets or in aid of proper administration.</p> <p>2. To preserve an estate from loss, parties interested therein may in good faith advance money to the executors, and such parties will be protected in such advances and will be entitled to priority of payment over general creditors where it appears that such advances have resulted in a benefit to the estate and in the preservation of the assets for the creditors.</p> <p>. 3. Upon the adjudication of a decedent’s estate, persons who had advanced money to the executors were properly reimbursed in priority to general creditors, where it appeared that the testator had died owning real property valued at $2,500,000, subject to mortgages aggregating $1,400,000 and personal property appraised at $748,673.30, consisting of securities which were pledged; that owing to forced sales, the estate proved to be insolvent; that the proceeds of testator’s life insurance, amounting to $139,244.38, which had been paid to the widow and children, had been loaned to the executors' for the convenience of the estate, to be paid back when the estate should be able to do so; that part of such insurance moneys had been used to redeem certain stock pledged as security for certain notes, which stock was afterwards gold by the administrator for a price exceeding the price paid to redeem it and part to pay interest on mortgages on real estate which was a . valuable asset and worth more than the money paid on its account;' the lower court having found that the payment of such sum resulted in a benefit to the estate and in the preservation of the assets for the creditors.</p> <p>E