Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

41 App. D.C. 525

Flaherty v. Columbus

U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit

Decided February 5, 1914

U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit · decided 1914-02-05

. Hearing on an appeal by tbe exceptant from a decree of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, holding a probate court, approving the final account of an administratrix. The Court in the opinion stated the facts as follows: This is an appeal from a decree of the supreme court of the District holding a special term for probate business, approving the final account of Bridget Flaherty, administratrix of the estate of Michael Flaherty, deceased.

Relies on Hunt v. Blackburn · 9 App. D.C. 408 - Alsop v. Fedarwisch

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Affirmed · Decided 1914-02-05

How this case has been cited

Cited by 8 later decisions — most recently December 2000

3 federal appellate · 1 district · 3 state decisions

201914192019301940195019601970198019902000decided

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.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

Mr. Chief Justice Síiepakd

¶1delivered the opinion of the Court:

¶2We agree with the learned trial justice that the depositions taken show that Michael Flaherty and his wife when married were poor, but she had $637 on deposit in a bank. Seeing an opportunity to buy an established saloon business, she turned over her money to him for the purpose.

¶3lie started in the business with her money. During his last illness and about a week before his death he was told by a priest of his church that if he had anything to fix up he would better attend to it, — meaning that he would better make a will. His reply was: “There is nothing to fix. We both of us worked together. It was as much hers as mine.” Ho further said “there is a fewr hundred dollars in a bank, and I must turn it over to her.” lie then called for a check, signed it, and delivered it to her. What became of this check does not appear. It seems not to have been presented for payment.

¶4Passing by questions of joint tenancy, partnership, and trusts that have been argued, we think that the facts and circumstances of the case show that the husband and wife were jointly interested in and possessed of the business and its proceeds, and that it constituted an estate by the entirety. Estates by the entirety vrere not abolished by the married woman’s act. Alsop v. Fedarwisch, 9 App. D. C. 408, 416. Such estates exist in personalty as well as realty. Freeman, Cotenancy, sec. 68. *530The husband and wife are seized and possessed per lout el non per my, and the whole remained to the survivor. Hunt v. Blackburn, 128 U. S. 464, 469, 32 L. ed. 488, 490, 9 Sup. Ct. Rep. 125; Alsop v. Fedarwisch, 9 App. D. C. 408, 418; Freeman, Cotenancy, sec. 64. The decree was right, and is affirmed, with costs payable out of the assets of the estate of Lawrence Flaherty. Affirmed.

/41/appdc/525 · .json · Public domain