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40 N.H. 45

Haydock v. Duncan

Supreme Court of New Hampshire

Decided January 15, 1860

Supreme Court of New Hampshire · decided 1860-01-15

This was an appeal from a decree of the court of probate for this county. The appellee moved to dismiss the appeal, because there was no sufficient bond upon taking the appeal. It appeared that the bond was signed by the attorney in court of the appellant, who was not authorized to sign a bond for his principal by any instrument under seal. The bond was not objected to on any other account.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1860-01-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 4 later decisions — most recently April 1902

4 state decisions

1018601870188018901900decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Bell, C. J.

¶1The bond was executed in the name of the appellant, by his attorney in court. It is objected that as such he has no authority to sign and execute a bond. A power to execute a sealed instrument must be under seal, and it has been so held in the case cited by the counsel.

¶2*47The court is of opinion that a bond executed by an attorney is not absolutely void — a mere nullity — but is at most merely voidable. The appellant may confirm and ratify it; and he will then be forever estopped to deny that the instrument was legally executed at its date, and has been valid and binding upon him from the beginning. The other side may not object, or may admit the authority, and if the appeal should be prosecuted, no court of justice would permit either the appellant, or his sureties, afterward to deny -the authority of the attorney to sign it. If, then, before any objection is made, the bond is ratified, we think the objection is avoided, and the bond being then sufficient, the appeal must be sustained.

¶3Motion denied.

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