Geiger v. Drafts

Citations

• 17 S.C. 153
• 1882 S.C. LEXIS 60

Syllabus

<p>1. The Court of Common Pleas, as the general fountain of justice, has jurisdiction of every invasion of legal civil rights where no special direction is given; but where a statutory right is created and its enforcement and protection are conferred upon a designated tribunal other than that court, it has no jurisdiction in the matter.</p> <p>S. The Court of Common Pleas has no original jurisdiction of a petition filed by a widow in May, 1880, for a homestead in her deceased husband’s estate.</p> <p>[Note. — The doctrine of this case is in accord with the decision of the court in Kennedy v. Reames, 15 8. G. 552. In Howze v. Howze, 2 8. O. 233, there was no special tribunal designated, and therefore the Court of Common Pleas had jurisdiction under the principles here declared by the chief-justice. See, too, Adger v. Bostick, 12 S. G. 64. In decisions upon the homestead laws, however, care must be taken to note which one of the many statutes on this subject the court is considering. In this case, for instance, the court construes the act of 1873 (15 Stat. 372), which is not now of force. By Section 8 of that act the head of any family, widow, or children, entitled to an estate or right of homestead, and where no process had been lodged with any officer against such homestead, might make application to the judge of the Probate Court, and all subsequent proceedings in the matter were to be had in that court. In the subsequent act of 1880 (17 Stat. 516), however (now of force as Section 2002 of the General Statutes), the application is to be made to the master or clerk of court, and all proceedings after the filing of the return by the appraisers are to be had in the Circuit Court. In the act of 1878, and also in the statute now of force, this right of application to the master or clerk (formerly probate judge) can be-made only where no process has been lodged with any officer against such homestead. In the principal case no such process had been lodged. What is the pro