{
  "id": 5200976,
  "name": "In the Matter of the Estate of Frank R. Nitti, Deceased. Allen H. Schultz, Ida Schultz and Nathan Sugarman, as Co-executors of the Estate of Alex L. Greenberg, Deceased, Petitioners-Appellants, v. Annette Nitti, Administrator of the Estate of Frank R. Nitti, Deceased, Respondent-Appellee",
  "name_abbreviation": "Schultz v. Nitti",
  "decision_date": "1959-05-18",
  "docket_number": "Gen. No. 47,556",
  "first_page": "300",
  "last_page": "304",
  "citations": [
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      "cite": "22 Ill. App. 2d 300"
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    "name_abbreviation": "Ill. App. Ct.",
    "id": 8837,
    "name": "Illinois Appellate Court"
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    "name_long": "Illinois",
    "name": "Ill."
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    {
      "cite": "281 Ill. App. 124",
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  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T16:25:07.194887+00:00",
  "provenance": {
    "date_added": "2019-08-29",
    "source": "Harvard",
    "batch": "2018"
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  "casebody": {
    "judges": [
      "MoCOBMICK, P. J. and SCHWAETZ, J., concur."
    ],
    "parties": [
      "In the Matter of the Estate of Frank R. Nitti, Deceased. Allen H. Schultz, Ida Schultz and Nathan Sugarman, as Co-executors of the Estate of Alex L. Greenberg, Deceased, Petitioners-Appellants, v. Annette Nitti, Administrator of the Estate of Frank R. Nitti, Deceased, Respondent-Appellee."
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "JUSTICE DEMPSEY\ndelivered the opinion of the court.\nThe petitioners appeal from an order of the Circuit Court dismissing their petition to revoke letters of administration de bonis non issued to Annette Nitti.\nThe issues are whether the Probate Court had jurisdiction to grant the letters, and whether the petitioners, as alleged debtors of the estate, can object to the appointment of the administrator de bonis non. The first issue turns upon the words \u201cnewly discovered assets\u201d in \u00a7 95 of the Probate Act (par. 247, ch. 3, Ill. Rev. Stat. 1957). The pertinent part of par. 274 is as follows:\n\u201cWhen assets are discovered after distribution of the estate has been made and the executor or administrator has been discharged, on the verified petition of the executor or administrator the court may vacate the order of discharge and permit the executor or administrator to administer the newly discovered assets or on the verified petition of any interested person, letters of administration de bonis non with the will annexed or of administration de bonis non may be issued as the case requires.\u201d\nPrank R. Nitti died intestate in 1943. His widow, Annette Nitti, was appointed administratrix. An item, \u201ccash received from indebtedness\u2014$64,500.00,\u201d appeared in a supplemental inventory and was listed in her first current account. Neither the source of the money nor the identity of the debtor was disclosed in the inventory, the account or in any other document. In 1951 the estate was closed and she was discharged.\nIn 1957, alleging that \u201cthere remains a claim against the Estate of Alex L. Greenberg, Deceased,\u201d she successfully petitioned the Probate Court to be appointed administrator de bonis non.\nThe petitioners, who are the executors of Green-berg\u2019s estate, claim that the item, \u201ccash received from indebtedness\u2014$64,500.00,\u201d was a payment made by Greenberg in 1944. They introduced a receipt, signed by Annette Nitti, stating that this $64,500.00 was \u201cto be in full payment of all indebtedness due from Alex Greenberg to the Estate of Prank R. Nitto, [sic] Deceased.\u201d They contend that the Probate Court\u2019s jurisdiction rests upon the existence of \u201cnewly discovered assets,\u201d and that this term does not include assets which were known to the administrator during the original administration. They conclude that because Mrs. Nitti was aware of the claim against Green-berg, it is not an asset discovered after the distribution of the estate and, therefore, the order appointing her administrator de bonis non is void for lack of jurisdiction, and anyone, including debtors, may contest it.\nThe Probate Court has limited jurisdiction (In Re Lalla\u2019s Estate, 281 Ill. App. 124, affirmed 362 Ill. 621), and we agree that the justification for its order must rest upon the existence of assets which have been discovered after distribution of the estate has been made. However, we cannot accept the petitioners\u2019 interpretation of this term. It would, in many instances, hamper the Probate Court\u2019s ability to obtain a full and complete administration of estates. The broad function of the court is to gather a decedent\u2019s assets from every available source and to disburse these according to will or to law. An administrator could be fully aware of an asset and yet fail to disclose its existence. If a venal administrator concealed assets or corruptly compromised debts, should the Probate Court be precluded from appointing an administrator de bonis non just because these assets or debts were known to the administrator \u00b6 \"We do not believe so. After an estate has been closed and the administrator discharged, a creditor or a distributee should be able to reopen the estate. We believe the words, \u201cnewly discovered assets,\u201d relate to the court and its records, not to the knowledge of some individual.\nAlthough it appears that Mrs. Nitti was aware of the claim against Greenberg, the court was not. Apparently no petition was presented either asking the court\u2019s direction about compromising the alleged indebtedness or seeking approval of the purported settlement. The court records reveal no entry concerning Greenberg. The claim did not come to the attention of the court until the petition was filed in 1957. Therefore, the court had jurisdiction to grant the letters of administration de bonis non.\nInasmuch as the order is valid, the petitioners, as alleged debtors, do not have the type of interest in the estate which allows them to petition for the removal of Mrs. Nitti. In Be Estate of Trost, 292 Ill. App. 60. Their petition was properly dismissed by the Probate and Circuit Courts.\nThe order of the Circuit Court is affirmed.\nAffirmed.\nMoCOBMICK, P. J. and SCHWAETZ, J., concur.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "JUSTICE DEMPSEY"
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Schultz, Biro & Karmel, of Chicago, for petitioners-appellants.",
      "Joseph B. Quinn, Robert L. Phee, Richard B. Fredo, John J. Kennelly, of Chicago (John J. Kennelly, James P. Chapman, of counsel) for respondent-appellee."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "In the Matter of the Estate of Frank R. Nitti, Deceased. Allen H. Schultz, Ida Schultz and Nathan Sugarman, as Co-executors of the Estate of Alex L. Greenberg, Deceased, Petitioners-Appellants, v. Annette Nitti, Administrator of the Estate of Frank R. Nitti, Deceased, Respondent-Appellee.\nGen. No. 47,556.\nFirst District, First Division.\nMay 18, 1959.\nRehearing denied June 12, 1959.\nReleased for publication September 15, 1959.\nSchultz, Biro & Karmel, of Chicago, for petitioners-appellants.\nJoseph B. Quinn, Robert L. Phee, Richard B. Fredo, John J. Kennelly, of Chicago (John J. Kennelly, James P. Chapman, of counsel) for respondent-appellee."
  },
  "file_name": "0300-01",
  "first_page_order": 310,
  "last_page_order": 314
}