Gillingham v. Gillingham & Son Co.

Citations

• 260 Pa. 559
• 103 A. 991
• 1918 Pa. LEXIS 567

Syllabus

<p>Contracts — Loans—Evidence of payment — Recovery — Corporations — Dividends—Earnings—Impairment of capital. ,</p> <p>In an action against a corporation for money admittedly loaned by plaintiffs’ decedent to defendant, where the defense was payment, plaintiffs contended that certain sums which had been admittedly paid their decedent were dividends upon preferred stock of the defendant company which the decedent owned. It appeared that a payment had been made to plaintiffs’ decedent in the exact amount of the loan. The trial judge to whom the case was submitted without a jury found, as a matter of fact, that no dividends were ever declared by the directors of the corporations, that the various amounts of money claimed to have been paid as dividends were not earned by the corporation, and that the payments resulted in an impairment of the capital stock and upon these findings of fact found in favor of the defendant. Held, no error.</p>