Opinion

Goodwin v. American Surety Co. of New York

  • 190 Wash. 457
  • 68 P.2d 619
  • 1937 Wash. LEXIS 395
Court
Washington Supreme Court
Filed
May 25, 1937
Status
Published
Author
Holcomb
On the bench
Steinert, Holcomb
Cited by
15 cases
Authority
More cited than 2.3%

The opinion

*482

Holcomb, J.

(dissenting) — The author of the prevailing opinion is thorough and accurate in the statement of the facts and issues.

There is no precedent, however, for the modification of the judgment in this case as decided.

Maryland Casualty Co. v. Grays Harbor County,

159 Wash. 356 , 293 Pac. 441 , is not such a precedent, for there the court said:

“The sureties should have paid the whole of the county’s deposit claim, as they were legally bound to do immediately upon the incurring of the insolvency of the bank, and then they could have been let into the shoes of the county as to all of its claims against the assets of the bank.”

In

Chapman v. Ross,

152 Wash. 262 , 277 Pac. 854 , we held that subrogation will not be allowed where the prior debt has not been discharged by the payor.

It is apparent in this case that respondent plaintiff has no judgment against the bank to which the surety could be subrogated, and that the surety has neither paid nor offered to pay any indebtedness which the payor may have owed to him. Such payment is necessary before the surety company can be subrogated to the rights of plaintiff respondent.

The judgment of the trial court was right and should be affirmed.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.