Elizabeth Walton's Estate

Citations

• 174 Pa. 195
• 34 A. 558
• 1896 Pa. LEXIS 871

Syllabus

<p>Parent and child — Guardian and ward — Agent—Jurisdiction of orphans' court.</p> <p>While a father is obliged to support and educate his minor children according to his condition in life, the orphans’ court has no jurisdiction to enforce this liability by seizing the father’s money.</p> <p>A married woman left her whole estate to a trustee in trust for her daughter. The husband elected to take against the will. By agreement the trustee took entire charge of the estate, and paid to the husband his portion of the income. He supported and educated the daughter away from her father’s home, and, assuming that the father was of sufficient ability to pay for her support and education, he offset against the father’s portion of the income the sums expended for her support and education. The orphans’ court sustained the action of the trustee. Held, (1) that the trustee in collecting the father’s share of the income acted merely as agent of the father, and had no authority to blend in one account as trustee in the orphans’ court his and the father’s individual transactions; (2) that the orphans’ court had no jurisdiction to apply the father’s money to the support of the daughter; (3) that the question as to the jurisdiction of the^ orphans’ court could be raised in the Supreme Court, although not raised in the court below.</p>