Inhabitants of Brookfield v. Allen
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Contract to recover money paid by the plaintiffs for the support of the defendant’s wife. It was agreed, in the superior court, that she, not having property of her own, and being temporarily a resident of Spencer, was committed to the State Lunatic Hospital at Worcester, as a lunatic, by order of the judge of probate, on the 11th of February 1862, and remained there till the 1st of the following July.
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Contract to recover money paid by the plaintiffs for the support of the defendant’s wife. It was agreed, in the superior court, that she, not having property of her own, and being temporarily a resident of Spencer, was committed to the State Lunatic Hospital at Worcester, as a lunatic, by order of the judge of probate, on the 11th of February 1862, and remained there till the 1st of the following July. The town of Spencer paid, on due demand, for her support there a sum which was admitted to be reasonable, and the town of Brookfield, where she and the defendant then had and still have their…
1Opinion of the CourtMetcalf, J.
As the defendant’s wife, when committed to the lunatic hospital, had her residence in Spencer, that town, by Gen. Sts. c. 73, § 23, was obliged to pay and did pay for her support in that institution; and as her settlement was then in Brookfield, that town, by § 25 of the same chapter, was obliged to reimburse the town of Spencer, and, having done so, now seeks indemnity from the defendant, in an action for money paid. This action is not maintainable on that part of the aforesaid § 25, which makes a lunatic’s “ kindred, obligated by law to maintain him, liable for expenses paid by any city or…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Inhabitants of Hanover v. TurnerMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1817
3Cited by1 opinion
- Inhabitants of Vienna v. WeymouthSupreme Judicial Court of Maine · 1934