Smith v. Rotan
Illinois Supreme Court
Appeal from the Circuit Court of Marion county; the Hon. Silas L. Bryan, Judge, presiding. This was a bill in chancery filed in the court below, by the appellees against the appellants, surviving sureties of Willis Smith, deceased, guardian of the appellees, on their guardian bond, to compel an accounting for the funds of appellees. But a single question is presented by the record, which is stated in the opinion.
1Opinion of the CourtChief Justice Breese
The question made on this record is this: Complainants having made the administrators of the deceased obligors, in a guardian’s bond, defendants, and called upon them to account, was it necessary to make the heirs of these deceased obligors parties ?
As a general rule, in equity, all persons who have any substantial, legal, or beneficial interest in the question litigated, or who may be materially affected by the decree to be rendered, must be made parties; the only exception is, where the parties are very numerous and so widely scattered that their names and residences cannot be ascertained…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Prentice v. KimballIllinois Supreme Court · 1857
- People v. LottIllinois Supreme Court · 1862
3Cited by1 opinion
- Howell v. FosterIllinois Supreme Court · 1887