Dushane v. Beall

Citations

• 161 U.S. 513
• 16 S. Ct. 637
• 40 L. Ed. 791
• 1896 U.S. LEXIS 2184

Syllabus

<p>The limitation of two years made by Rev. Stat. § 6057 to suits and actions between an assignee in bankruptcy and persons claiming an adverse interest touching any property or rights of property transferable to or vested in such assignee, is applicable only to suits growing out of disputes in respect of property and of rights of property of the bankrupt which came to the hands of the assignee, to which adverse claims existed while in the hands of the bankrupt and before assignment.</p> <p>Assignees in bankruptcy are not bound to accept property which, in their •judgment, is of an onerous and unprofitable nature, and would burden instead of benefiting the estate, and can elect whether they will accept or not after due consideration and within a reasonable time, while, if their judgment is unwisely exercised, the bankruptcy court is open to compel a different course.</p> <p>From the record in this case the court is constrained to the conclusion that the assignee should not have been held by the court below to have exercised the right of choice between prosecuting the claim and abandoning it, in the absence of any evidence whatever to justify the conclusion that he had knowledge, or sufficient means of knowledge, of its existence prior to August 10, 1888; and that therefore there was error in its judgment.</p>