Blunk v. Kuyper

44 N.W.2d 651, 241 Iowa 1138, 1950 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 371
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedNovember 14, 1950
Docket47741
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 44 N.W.2d 651 (Blunk v. Kuyper) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Blunk v. Kuyper, 44 N.W.2d 651, 241 Iowa 1138, 1950 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 371 (iowa 1950).

Opinion

Mantz, J. —

Plaintiff, Estella M. Blunk, brought suit against defendant, L. A. Kuyper, to recover on a promissory note given her husband on February 3, 1934. ,The defense was (1) Statute of Limitations and (2) Compromise and Settlement. Plaintiff relied upon alleged admissions in writing made by defendant to Stella May Kuypei*, wife of defendant, and daughter of plaintiff. The case was submitted to the jury and a verdict was returned for defendant. The plaintiff appealed.

I. The questions presented on this appeal involve the overruling of the plaintiff’s motion to strike portions of defendant’s answer, rulings on admission of evidence, plaintiff’s exceptions to instructions, and the denial of plaintiff’s motion for a.new trial.

We will briefly summarize the pleadings and some of the proceedings relating thereto: On December 16, 1948, plaintiff filed her petition at law against the defendant, L. A. Kuyper, bringing suit on a $2900 note of defendant to J. C. Blunk of February 3, 1934, and due in one year. Plaintiff alleged ownership of the note and stated that in March 1946 and also in March 1947 defendant admitted said note in writing; that same had not been paid; and she demanded judgment for the sum of $7342.13, attorney fees and costs.

Defendant admitted the giving of the note to J. 0. Blunk; that a true copy was attached to the petition and that J. C. Blunk died July 29, 1935; that in March 1946 he signed a written stipulation which was filed with the clerk of the district court in the case of Stella May Kuyper v. L. A. Kuyper, but denied that it removed the bar of the statute and further claimed that later he made a compromise and settlement with plaintiff. He alleged that the stipidation was prepared by Ned P. Gilbert, attorney for Stella May Kuyper, daughter of plaintiff, and further specifically pleaded that when said stipulation was prepared *1141 and presented to bim on March 27, 1947, the $2900 indebtedness was mentioned therein, and that defendant objected to snch being included therein and stated that he was not indebted to Mrs. Blunk on any $2900 promissory note; that he had at one time executed a note to said J. C. Blunk in said amount; .that said note was outlawed; that defendant was not liable therefor; that the debt for which the said note was given to the said J. C. Blunk was released by him in his lifetime and that to sign the same would revive said note and make the defendant liable therefor; that thereupon said Gilbert stated to the defendant that the language contained in paragraph 9 of said stipulation could not and would not be construed as an admission by the defendant that the indebtedness represented by the $2900 note was unpaid, or as a promise to pay said indebtedness, or as a revival of the outlawed cause of action on said note, and that it was for the sole purpose of protecting Stella May Kuyper against any claim of ademption that might thereafter arise in the estate of her mother, plaintiff herein; that thereafter, and in reliance upon said representations by said Gilbert, defendant signed said stipulation; that the signing of the same under those conditions did not amount to an admission that the note sued upon was unpaid, or a new promise to pay the same, or a revival of a cause of action sued upon.

In another division of his answer, defendant realleged the matters above set forth with regard to his objections to the signing of the stipulation and the assurances given him by Gilbert, and further stated that on December 20, 1947, he and plaintiff had a full compromise settlement with regard to all claimed indebtedness by defendant to the plaintiff, and that by reason thereof he is not liable to plaintiff in her action.

Plaintiff moved the court to strike from defendant’s answer the above allegations as to the circumstances existing at the time the stipulation was prepared and the objections which he, defendant, made to signing the same and the representations made to him by Gilbert and defendant’s reliance thereon and his signing the same. This motion was overruled and such ruling is urged as error in this appeal. Thereafter, plaintiff filed reply to defendant’s answer and specifically denied each of the affirmative allegations thereof.

*1142 We will briefly summarize from the record some matters which have a direct bearing on the issues:

Defendant and Stella May Kuyper were married for twenty-three years prior to March 1947, when they were divorced.

.It is undisputed that on February 3, 1934, J. C. Blunk, husband of plaintiff and father of Stella, loaned defendant $2900 for which he gave his promissory note due in one year. Upon the death of J. C. Blunk, July 29, 1935, the'note became the property of plaintiff herein and was in her possession at all times thereafter. Plaintiff, as executrix of her husband’s estate, did not inventory the note. At various times after the death of J. C. Blunk the defendant beeáme indebted to plaintiff. The record shows that nothing' by way of principal oi; interest had been paid on the $2900 note.

In the fall of 1946, defendant and his wife, Stella, became involved in marital difficulties. On October 21, 1946, Mr. Gaass, attorney for defendant, and Ned P. Gilbert, attorney for Stella, met in Gilbert’s office in Oskaloosa, Iowa, and there discussed questions pertaining to certain matters including a property settlement between defendant and his then wife in case a divorce was granted. A stipulation was prepared and signed by defendant but Stella refused to sign it and it was not used. One. of its clauses was Exhibit 5 and in it reference w7as made to certain debts purported to be owing by defendant to plaintiff. When defendant signed, blank spaces were left for filling in the amount cf such debts. The record indicates that these blanks were later filled in b37 attorneys for Stella May Kuyper. On October 26, 1946, defendant and Mr. Gaass went to Gilbert’s office to confer with Gilbert concerning the settlement between defendant and Stella in the divorce proceedings. There a stipulation of settlement was prepared and it was signed by defendant and Stella. At that time Stella was present with her attorneys, Gilbert, Jones &' Fleck.

II. Plaintiff rests her case upon the claim that the two writings referred to above revive the cause of action (section 614.11) and that they amount to an admission of the $2900 indebtedness and a promise to pay the same.

Defendant’s contention, in essence, is that the signed stipulation was not a legal revivor of the note sued upon, and that *1143 before suit be and plaintiff compromised and settled all claims between them, including the note sued upon.

We will set out the pertinent parts of said writings, being shown in Exhibits 5 and 6:

“Exhibit 5: * * Par. 10. It is agreed by the parties that the defendant is indebted to Mrs. J. C. Blunk for money advanced to the defendant for business purposes in the amount of 4487 dollars, and, coincident with the granting of the decree of divorce in this case, if a divorce is granted by the court, the defendant will execute a note to Mrs. J. C. Blunk in the amount of 4487 dollars, with interest at five (5%) per cent, payable semiannually; said note to become due in five (5) years from the date of the execution thereof.

“Exhibit 6: * * * Par. 9.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Smith v. Bertram
603 N.W.2d 568 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1999)
Wendell O. Anderson v. Ciba-Geigy Corporation
490 F.2d 438 (Eighth Circuit, 1974)
Cornick v. Southwest Iowa Broadcasting Co.
107 N.W.2d 920 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1961)
Nutrena Mills, Inc. v. Yoder
187 F. Supp. 415 (N.D. Iowa, 1960)
Brewood v. Cook
207 F.2d 439 (D.C. Circuit, 1953)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
44 N.W.2d 651, 241 Iowa 1138, 1950 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 371, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/blunk-v-kuyper-iowa-1950.