Cite as: 524 U. S. 156 (1998)
Opinion of the Court
The rule that "interest follows principal" has been established under English common law since at least the mid-1700's. Beckford v. Tobin, 1 Ves. Sen. 308, 310, 27 Eng. Rep. 1049, 1051 (Ch. 1749) ("[I]nterest shall follow the principal, as the shadow the body"). Not surprisingly, this rule has become firmly embedded in the common law of the various States.5 The Court of Appeals in this case, two of the three
the questions set forth in the petition, or fairly included therein," it would be improper for us sua sponte to raise and address the question answered by Justice Souter.
5 E. g., Freeman v. Young, 507 So. 2d 109, 110 (Ala. Civ. App. 1987) ("The earnings of a fund are incidents of ownership of the fund itself and are property just as the fund itself is property" (internal quotation marks omitted)); Pomona City School Dist. v. Payne, 9 Cal. App. 2d 510, 512, 50 P. 2d 822, 823 (1935) ("[O]bviously the interest accretions belong to such owner"); Vidal Realtors of Westport, Inc. v. Harry Bennett & Assocs., Inc., 1 Conn. App. 291, 297-298, 471 A. 2d 658, 662 (1984) ("As long as the attached fund is used for profit, the profit . . . is impounded for the benefit of the attaching creditor and is subject to the same ultimate disposition as the principal of which it is the incident" (internal quotation marks omitted)); Burnett v. Brito, 478 So. 2d 845, 849 (Fla. App. 1985) ("[A]ny interest earned on interpleaded and deposited funds follows the principal and shall be allocated to whomever is found entitled to the principal"); Morton Grove Park Dist. v. American Nat. Bank & Trust Co., 78 Ill. 2d 353, 362-363, 399 N. E. 2d 1295, 1299 (1980) ("The earnings on the funds deposited are a mere incident of ownership of the fund itself"); B & M Coal Corp. v. United Mine Workers, 501 N. E. 2d 401, 405 (Ind. 1986) ("[I]nterest earnings must follow the principal and be distributed to the ultimate owners of the fund"); Unified School Dist. No. 490, Butler County v. Board of County Commissioners of Butler County, 237 Kan. 6, 9, 697 P. 2d 64, 69 (1985) ("[I]nterest follows principal"); Pontiac School Dist. v. City of Pontiac, 294 Mich. 708, 715-716, 294 N. W. 141, 144 (1940) ("The generally understood and applied principles that interest is merely an incident of the principal and must be accounted for"); State Highway Comm'n v. Spainhower, 504 S. W. 2d 121, 126 (Mo. 1973) ("Interest earned by a deposit of special funds is an increment accruing thereto" (internal quotation marks omitted)); Siroky v. Richland County, 271 Mont. 67, 74, 894 P. 2d 309, 313 (1995) ("[I]nterest earned belongs to the owner of the funds that generated the interest"); Bordy v. Smith, 150 Neb. 272, 276, 34 N. W. 2d 331, 334 (1948) ("Once settled clearly and definitely whose money the principal sum was, the interest necessarily belongs to that person as an increment to the principal fund"); State ex rel. Board of County Com-
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