Plume & Atwood Manufacturing Co. v. Caldwell

Citations

• 136 Ill. 163
• 26 N.E. 599

Syllabus

<p>1. Insolvent debtors—voluntary assignment—prior liens—wider execution and attachment—jurisdiction. Where two or more courts have concurrent jurisdiction of the same subject matter, the court first acquiring it by service of process will retain the same, to the exclusion of the other. Therefore, the county court has no power to interfere with the custody of the sheriff of property acquired through executions and writs of attachment issued from the circuit court, upon an assignment of the debtor made subsequent to the levy under such writs.</p> <p>2. The assignee of an insolvent debtor takes the assigned property subject to all valid liens thereon, and when it is in custody of the sheriff under valid executions and writs of attachment, the deed of assignment can operate only upon the residue after satisfying such prior liens. If such writs will not create valid liens on the property assigned, the assignee may, under the order of the county court, institute proceedings in the proper forum for its recovery.</p> <p>3. A voluntary assignment by an insolvent debtor, after a valid levy of an execution or writ of attachment on all his personal property, and while the sheriff has the same in his custody, fails to confer jurisdiction over such property upon the county court; nor will that court have power to interfere with the execution of process of other coiuts of competent jurisdiction in respect of property not in the custody of the assignee, nor within the administrative control of the county court.</p> <p>4. To invest the county court with jurisdiction over property of the assignor, the assignee must reduce the same to his possession. When this is done, the county court will have ample power to determine and adjust any and all liens and claims, and all conflicting rights or interests therein.</p> <p>5. Where property assigned by an insolvent debtor is in the possession of a sheriff under execution or attachment, the circuit court issuing such writs will have exclusive