In Bank v. Partee, the Supreme Court of the United States was asked to decide whether a bank could recover a debt from a third party who had received a payment from the debtor. The debtor had made a payment to the third party, who had then used the money to pay off a debt owed to the bank. The bank argued that the payment should be considered a payment to the bank, and thus the bank should be able to recover the debt from the third party. The Supreme Court held that the payment was not a payment to the bank, and thus the bank could not recover the debt from the third party. The Court reasoned that the payment was made to the third party, and not to the bank, and thus the bank had no right to the money. The Court also noted that the third party had acted in good faith, and had not intended to defraud the bank. The Court's decision in Bank v. Partee established that a bank cannot recover a debt from a third party who has received a payment from the debtor, unless the payment was made to the bank. This decision has been cited in numerous cases since, and has become an important precedent in the area of debt collection.

In the case of Bank v. Partee, the Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a bank could recover money from an individual who had received it in good faith and without knowledge that it had been wrongfully paid out by the bank. The majority opinion held that since there was no fraud or negligence on behalf of the recipient, they were not liable for repayment to the bank. Justice Field dissented from this decision, arguing that if someone receives money under circumstances where they should know it has been wrongfully paid out by another party then they are liable for repayment even if there is no fraud or negligence involved. He argued that such a ruling would be necessary to protect banks and other financial institutions against losses due to wrongful payments made in error as well as encourage individuals receiving funds which may have been wrongfully disbursed to return them promptly so as not to benefit unjustly at another's expense.