Thompson v. Peter & Johns, Administrators de Bonis Non of Peter, Deceased is a Supreme Court case from 1827 that dealt with the issue of whether or not an administrator could be held liable for debts incurred by their predecessor in office. The court found that administrators are only responsible for those debts which were contracted during their tenure and not those of prior administrations. Furthermore, they ruled that if the debt was contracted before the current administration took over then it should be paid out of assets belonging to the estate rather than from personal funds owned by either party involved in this dispute. This ruling established a precedent whereby administrators can no longer be held personally accountable for any liabilities inherited from previous offices they have held.

In Thompson v. Peter & Johns, Administrators de Bonis Non of Peter, Deceased, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a creditor could bring an action against the administrators of a deceased debtor's estate for money owed by the debtor before his death. The majority opinion held that such actions were not allowed under existing law and thus dismissed the case. However, in dissent Justice Story argued that creditors should be able to recover from estates when there is sufficient evidence that debt existed prior to death and it would be unjust not to allow them recovery. He reasoned that creditors have rights which must be respected and enforced even after their debtor has died; otherwise they will suffer financial losses without any legal remedy available for redressal of grievances or protection of interests. Furthermore he noted that allowing creditors access to estates would encourage prompt payment on debts while also providing assurance against frauds committed by debtors who may try to evade their obligations through death or other means.