Hodgson's Estate

Citations

• 158 Pa. 151
• 27 A. 878
• 1893 Pa. LEXIS 1560

Syllabus

<p>Mining — Coal lease — Royalty—Trustee—Decedents' estates.</p> <p>A coal lease provided that the lessees should mine at least ten million bushels of coal, during the continuance of the lease, and mine, remove and pay for one million bushels of coal for each and every year, until the ten million bushels were mined. It was further provided that should the lessees fail to mine the whole amount of one million bushels in any one year the deficiency must be made up in the following year, except in the last year of the term, when the portion remaining unmined was forfeited to the lessor. The lessor died before the expiration of the lease. Two years after the death of the lessor, and in the fifth year after the execution of the lease, the property was sold by order of court for payment of the lessor’s debts. The administrator, under advice of counsel, failed to collect royalty on the whole of two million bushels the last two years, as that much was not mined. Held, that the administrator could not be surcharged for failing to collect the royalties on the coal which ought to have been mined by the lessee, but was not, and remained unmined at the date of the sale.</p> <p>Decedents' estates — Costs.</p> <p>Where an unsuccessful attempt is made by the distributees of an estate to surcharge an administrator with royalties which it was alleged should have been collected by him, the costs are properly payable out of the estate.</p>