In re Estate of Mallon

When judgment is giyen against defendant in his lifetime, and after his death is duly presented, allowed and approved as a claim against his estate, and said estate appears to be insolvent, does the preference given by Code of Civil Procedure, section 1643, extend to the interest on said judgment at time of payment?

The question of preference among claims only becomes material when the estate is insolvent, and section 1643, Code of Civil Procedure, places in the fourth class “judgments rendered against decedent in his life, and mortgages, in the order of their date.” The executrix has already paid a mortgage with interest, which is in the same class with this judgment, and we think no one could distinguish between an obligation to pay interest, arising from the contract of parties, as in case of a mortgage, and an obligation to pay it arising by operation of law, as in case of a judgment.

The correct view seems to be that while all interest-bearing obligations continue to bear interest after the obligor’s death, even those that were not originally interest bearing become so after presentation and allowance: Estate of Olvera, 70 Cal. 184 , 11 Pac. 624 ; Quivey v. Hall, 19 Cal. 98…