§43-2-139. Inventory as evidence.

In an action against an executor or administrator, in which the fact of his having administered the estate of his testator or intestate, or any part thereof, comes in issue, and the inventory of the property of the deceased, filed by him, is given in evidence, the effect of the same may be repelled by evidence:

(1) That any property has been omitted in such inventory, or was not returned therein at its full value, or since the filing thereof has increased in value; or

(2) That such property has perished, or been lost without the fault of such executor or administrator, or that it has been fairly sold, according to law, at a less price than the value so returned, or that, since the return of the inventory, such property has deteriorated or decreased in value; and in such action the defendant cannot be charged for anything in action specified in the inventory, unless it appears that it was, or might have been, collected by the exercise of due diligence.

(Code 1852, §1932; Code 1867, §2291; Code 1876, §2635; Code 1886, §2282; Code 1896, §351; Code 1907, §2811; Code 1923, §6050; Code 1940, T. 61, §127.)