Acker v. Priest

61 N.W. 235, 92 Iowa 610
Supreme Court of Iowa·Decided December 14, 1894·Published·Cited by 39 cases

Opinion

Deemer, J.

[612] 1 [611] I. The plaintiffs in the equity suit are the heirs at law of Elizabeth Priest, deceased, and the defendant Stephen C. Priest is their father. Mrs. Priest was a daughter of one Joseph Abrams. Joseph Abrams had one son and three daughters, besides Mrs. Priest. In the month of July, 1884, Abrams, who was then living in the state of Kansas, concluded to make a partial distribution and advancement of his property to his children. He was then the owner of two farms in Kansas, one of which was known as his “Home Farm,” and the other was occupied by defendant Priest and his family. Thomas W. King, another son-in-law, owned and occupied another and a third farm in the same county as the other two. In order to carry out his> purpose, and make an equal distribution of property to his daughters, Abrams made [612] arrangements with King to exchange the “home farm,” valued at eight thousand dollars, for the King place, at the agreed price of four thousand dollars. Prior thereto, however, Ahrams had had a conversation with defendant Priest, in which he told him he intended to give him a farm. After making arrangements with King, Abrams informed defendant that he had an opportunity to trade the “home farm” for King’s land, and directed defendant to go and look at the farm, and if it suited him he (Abrams) would make the exchange. Defendant, after examining the place, was pleased with it, and so informed Abrams, and Abrams made the contemplated exchange. Abrams deeded the home farm to King, and King, by direction of Abrams, and with the knowledge, direction, and consent of the deceased, Mrs. Priest, made a deed to his place to the defendant Priest. This last deed was a warranty deed, in the usual form and for the expressed consideration of four thousand dollars. Shortly after the making of these deeds, the defendant moved onto the King farm, and used and occupied it for a year or more, when he sold it, and with the proceeds purchased a farm in Cass county, Iowa, from one Isabella Q-oodale. The deed to the Cass county land was taken in the name of the defendant with the knowledge and consent of his wife. Defendant and his wife immediately took possession of the Cass county land, and occupied and used the same until the death of the wife, in April, 1888. After the'death of the wife, and in May, 1891, the defendant sold the land in Cass county, and at the time of the commencement of this suit was in possession of a large part of the proceeds of the sale. Plaintiffs claim that' the defendant at all times had the title to the' Kansas land and to the land in Cass county in trust' for his wife, Elizabeth V. Priest, and that they, as her heirs at. law, are entitled to have a trust impressed upon the funds now in the hands of the defendant, [613] arising out of the sale of the Oass county land. Defendant Isaac Dickerson was made a party to the suit because of his having possession of some of the funds arising from the sale of the land in this state.

2 Our first inquiry will be directed to the question as to whether there was any equitable title in the Kansas land in Mrs. Priest or not. Defendants pleaded and proved upon the trial in the court below the statutes of the state of Kansas with reference to trusts in land, which are as follows (Gen. St. Kan. 1868, Ch. 114):

“Sec. 6. When a conveyance for a valuable consideration is made to one person, and the consideration thereof paid by another, no use or trust shall result in favor of the latter, but the title shall vest in the former, subject to the provisions of the next two sections.
“Sec. 7. Every such conveyance shall be presumed fraudulent as against the creditors of the persons paying the consideration therefor. And where a fraudulent intent is not disproved, a trust shall, in all cases, result in favor of prior creditors to the extent of their just demands and also in favor of subsequent creditors, if there be sufficient evidence of fraudulent intent.
“See. 8. The provisions of the section next before the last shall not extend to cases where the alienee shall have taken an absolute conveyance in his own name without the consent of the person with whose money the consideration was paid, or where such an alienee, in violation of some trust, shall have purchased the land with money not his own, or where it shall be made to appear that by agreement and without any fraudulent intent the party to whom the conveyance was made, or in whom the title shall vest, was to hold the land, or some interest therein, in trust for the party paying the purchase money, or some part thereof.”

They also pleaded and proved the statute of frauds in that state, which is as follows (Gren. St. Kan. 1863, [614] section 6, chapter 43, p. 934): “No action shall be brought whereby to charge a party upon any special promise to answer for the debt, default, or miscarriage of another person, or to charge any executor or administrator upon any special promise to answer damages out of his own estate, or to charge any person upon any agreement made upon consideration of marriage, or upon any contract for the sale of lands, tenements, hereditaments, or any interest in or concerning them, or upon any agreement that is not to be performed within the space of one year from the making thereof, unless the agreement upon which such action shall be brought, or some memorandum or note thereof shall be in writing and signed by the party to be charged therewith, or some other person therein, to, by him, or her, lawfully authorized” — and section 1: “No trust concerning lands, except such as may arise from implication of law, shall be created unless in writing, signed by the party creating the same, or by his attorney thereto, lawfully authorized in writing.”

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Acker v. Priest, 61 N.W. 235, 92 Iowa 610 (iowa 1894).

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