Hello,
Hello, The easiest way to explain Circuitcourt is to say it that can find fault - each party will be found right orwrong in the case. The court can make monetary awards. Chancery is simply a Courtof Equity, or fairness, and determines what is fair and just, with no onenecessarily being found right or wrong. No one is declared guilty andtechnically no one is punished. The judge, or an appointed commissioner, hearsthe facts and determines what happens. This can involve children, but notnecessarily. It can involve neighbors or people who don't know each other.Chancery is frequently used in family disputes, divorces, business disputes, land disputes, orsettling misunderstandings about wills, estates, debts, or property lines.
In his will, a man leaves his dogsto his five children, to be equally divided among them. At the time ofdeath only three dogs survived. The judge gets to decide how to equally dividethree dogs equally among five kids. Would the deceased want the dogs soldand cash distributed? How do you value the dogs? Or should three heirstake the dogs and pay something to the others. Which three? What if one child has been takingcare of them during the entire case and wants reimbursement? Cases in Chancerycan go on for years, as both sides and the judge, can ask for more evidence,and parties die, kids grow up, and circumstances change. The kids have no idea how these things are usuallysettled and want someone to decide what to do, The Chancery judge gets to play Soloman and decide how to split the baby.
Hope this helps.
Langdon Hagen-Long
On Monday, October 18, 2021, 10:24:11 AMhwanrr EDT, Leveen, Lois <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Howdy all,
I've come across some Richmond cases in Circuit Court and Chancery Court
in which one group of heirs is listed as "plaintiff" and another group as
"defendants". But in these instances, I would be surprised if there was
animosity between the parties. For example, the widow and adult offspring
of the deceased on one side with the minor children of those adult
offspring on the other. In some instances, the gist seems to be about
certificates of deposit for amounts due; in other instances, the only
information I could glean was that the case was stricken from the docket.
My guess is that such cases involved a required legal maneuver to register
certain things with the court, particularly when the interest of minors who
had some stake in an estate was concerned. But that is just a guess -- so
I'm hoping someone on this list might know more about such cases and be
able to confirm my guess, or to tell me how wrong I am by explaining what
is going on in such cases between seemingly "amicable" parties.
Thanks so much,
Lois
Lois Leveen, Ph.D.
she/her/hers
Virginia Humanities Fellow
Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
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