State Hospital v. Danville & Mahoning Poor District

Citations

• 36 Pa. Super. 77
• 1908 Pa. Super. LEXIS 116

Syllabus

<p>Poor laws — Indigent insane — Liability of poor district to state hospital for insane — Estate of lunatic — Lunacy—Insanity.</p> <p>A poor district sent an indigent insane person to a state hospital for the insane, and agreed to pay the. hospital $1.75 per week for her maintenance. This amount was paid to the time of the lunatic’s death. The state hospital also received $2.00 per week from the state on account of the patient. The minimum charge for private cases was $4.00 per week. After the death of the lunatic, it appeared that she had an estate. It also appeared that the justice of the peace who signed the order of relief waá the agent of the estate, and was also the treasurer of the poor district. He paid into the treasury of the district from the income of the estate the weekly amount which the district paid to the hospital. It did not appear that the overseers of the poor knew anything of this arrangement. The hospital claimed' to recover from the poor district the difference between $4.00 per week and $1.75 per week for the time during which the lunatic had been an inmate of the hospital. Held, that the hospital was not entitled to recover anything from the poor district.</p>