Shaffer's Estate

Citations

• 228 Pa. 36
• 76 A. 716
• 1910 Pa. LEXIS 427

Syllabus

<p>Statute of limitations — Cause of action — Conflict of laws — Act of May 22, 1895, P. L. 112.</p> <p>1. A cause of action which arose in another state and is barred by the statute of limitations, is not saved by the Act of May 22,1895, P. L. 112, which provides “that in all civil suits and actions in which the cause of action shall arise in this state, the defendant or defendants in such suit or action, who shall have become nonresidents of the state after said cause of action shall have arisen, shall not have the benefit of the statute of this state.”</p> <p>2. The phrase “cause of action” as used in the statutes fixing the jurisdiction of the courts according to where the cause of action arises, means that which creates the necessity for bringing the action. It arises when that is not done which should have been done and that is done, which should not be done.</p> <p>Statute of limitations — Promise to pay — Evidence.</p> <p>3. In order to relieve a claim from the effect of the statute of limitations there must be a clear and definite acknowledgment of the debt, a specification of the amount due or a reference to something from which such amount can be definitely and certainly ascertained, and an unequivocal promise to pay. A mere general statement by the debtor that he will settle, without more, is not an acknowledgment of the debt and a promise to pay sufficient to toll the statute.</p>