Meek v. Allison

Citations

• 67 Ill. 46

Syllabus

<p>1. Administration—letters of, not rendered void by ike subsequent pro-late of a will. Where the will of a deceased person, when offered for probate, was rejected, and .no appeal being taken, the county court, upon a proper application, granted letters of administration upon the estate, under which the administrator paid off claims and made a partial distribution of the estate to the heirs, after which the will was again presented, and after protracted litigation, was probated: Held, that the letters of administration were not void, but only voidable, and not being void, they were a protection to the administrator for all lawful acts done by him under them before their revocation.</p> <p>3. Same—effect of probate as between legatees and distributees. Where the will of a deceased party is admitted to probate, after a partial settlement of the estate by the administrator, and payment of distributive shares to the heirs at law, in a contest between the distributees and legatees, the right of the latter, as conferred by the will, would probably prevail. But, as between the executor of the will and the administrator, the latter will be protected in the payments made by him to the distributees while his letters were unrevoked.</p> <p>3. Same—whether administrator is cha/rgedble with interest on moneys in his hands. Where, after the grant of administration upon the estate of a deceased person, the will of the deceased was offered for probate and allowed, after several years’ litigation, and letters testamentary issued to the executor, and it appeared that the money of the estate, in the hands of the administrator, was always ready to be paid whenever a proper person was appointed to receive it: Held, that the executor was not entitled to interest on the sum due him from the administrator.</p> <p>4. Same—cost of contesting will not a charge against the estate. An administrator of an estate, being under no legal obligation, as such, to contest the validity of a will of the