Seabury v. Green
Headline: Court reverses state ruling and holds a deceased national bank shareholder’s estate liable for a federal insolvency assessment, allowing the receiver to collect from property now held by the heirs.
Holding: The Court held that a national bank shareholder’s estate remains liable under federal law for a Comptroller’s post-death assessment, and the administratrix can be sued to collect that assessment from estate property held by heirs.
- Lets bank receivers collect post-decease assessments from a decedent’s estate.
- Requires heirs holding estate property to face liability for unpaid bank assessments.
- Executor discharge does not automatically shield estate from federal bank-assessment claims.
Summary
Background
Moses Green died testate, and his executor distributed 20 shares of City National Bank stock among Green’s three sons, a daughter, and three minor grandchildren, putting four shares in each recipient’s name. The executor was later discharged. Years afterward the bank became insolvent, the Comptroller assessed $100 a share, and no payment was made for the four shares standing in the minors’ names. A receiver sued the administratrix appointed after the executor’s discharge and sought payment and enforcement against property now held by the children and grandchildren under state probate procedures.
Reasoning
The central question was whether the federal law making national bank shareholders liable for assessments also made a deceased shareholder’s estate liable after the executor’s discharge and after shares were placed in heirs’ names. The Court held the minors could not be personally liable and that the shares in their names still remained part of the decedent’s estate. The Court read Title 12, §§64 and 66, to impose liability on the living shareholder and on the estate after death, and it rejected the idea that the executor’s discharge or state law could defeat that federal liability. The administratrix, as the personal representative, therefore stands in the decedent’s shoes and is liable for the assessment.
Real world impact
The decision reverses the state supreme court and requires that the receiver may recover the unpaid assessment from the estate’s assets now held by heirs. It confirms that federal bank-assessment rules can reach estate property until final distribution, despite prior executor discharge.
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