Bransom v. Bransom

144 S.E. 613, 151 Va. 603, 1928 Va. LEXIS 259
CourtCourt of Appeals of Virginia
DecidedSeptember 27, 1928
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 144 S.E. 613 (Bransom v. Bransom) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bransom v. Bransom, 144 S.E. 613, 151 Va. 603, 1928 Va. LEXIS 259 (Va. Ct. App. 1928).

Opinion

Chinn, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

This suit was brought by William S. Bransom, the •appellee (hereafter called the complainant), to compel his son Warren W. Bransom, the appellant (hereafter sometimes called the defendant), to convey to said •complainant twenty-one acres of land in Arlington county which was conveyed to said Warren W. Bransom by deed from Mrs. Elsie A. Simmonds and Dr. Sidney J. Simmonds, her husband, dated February 3, 1920.

The gravamen of the bill is that complainant purchased and paid for the land above referred to with his own money; that at his own expense and with his •own funds he erected a dwelling house and other buildings upon said property and moved into the •dwelling and occupied it with his family; that the deed to the property was taken in the name of his son, Warren W. Bransom, with the understanding that the :son should hold it as trustee for the complainant and ■would make him a deed for it whenever requested, which he now refuses to do, and that the facts and •circumstances give rise to a trust in favor of the •complainant which entitles him to require the defendant to deed the property to him.

The defendant, in both his answer and deposition, admits that the complainant furnished the cash payment for the purchase of the land from Mrs. Simmonds, and that he also paid the cost of the dwelling and of the material for a dairy barn which were afterwards erected on the property, but asserts in his answer that ■complainant loaned him the money with which to make [606]*606said cash payment, and erected the dwelling on the property with his permission; and that complainant advanced the money to build said house and to buy the material for the dairy barn. The answer prays that defendant be decreed to be the absolute owner of the property subject to a lien in favor of the complainant for the moneys advanced for the purchase of the same and for the erection of the dwelling and other improvements.

The general doctrine is, that when a conveyance' of real estate is made to one person and the consideration paid by another, it is presumed that the party advancing the money intended a benefit to himself, and accordingly a resulting trust is raised in his behalf. But when the conveyance is taken to a wife or child, or to any other person for whom the purchaser is under legal obligation to provide, no such presumption attaches. On the contrary the presumption in such case is that the purchase was designed as a gift or advancement to the person to whom the conveyance is made. But this presumption is one of fact and not of law and may be rebutted by parol evidence or circumstances showing a contrary intention. Irvine v. Greever, 32 Gratt. (73 Va.) 411; Steagall v. Steagall, 90 Va. 73, 17 S. E. 756; Page v. Page, 132 Va. 63, 110 S. E. 370; Clary, et als. v. Spain, 119 Va. 58, 89 S. E. 130.

The fact that complainant supplied the consideration for the conveyance in the instant case is undisputed; but it is contended that, on account of the relationship of the parties, it must be presumed, in accordance with the doctrine above stated, that the purchase was intended as a gift or advancement to the appellant, and the evidence must be viewed in that-light. If it were merely shown that the complainant. [607]*607paid the consideration this contention would undoubtedly be sound, but as the appellant alleges and claims that complainant lent him the money with which to buy the property, and bases his defense solely on that ground, the presumption of fact which usually arises out of the relationship of the parties in cases of this •character does not attach. The claim that the money was a loan, of itself, negatives the supposition that it was a gift, and repels all presumptions to that effect which the general rule on the subject prescribes.

The sole question presented by the pleadings is, therefore, whether the money employed in the purchase of the property was loaned to the appellant for that purpose, as he alleges, or whether complainant intended it to be used as a benefit to himself; and this is purely a question of fact to be determined from all the facts and circumstances of the case.

The evidence is voluminous, and in some respects in •conflict. Much of it is also immaterial, but the pertinent facts relating to the transaction, as deduced from the record, may be stated as follows:

Complainant had for many years been employed as a government clerk and lived in the city of Washington. He is the father of seven living children, four sons and three daughters, all of whom, with the exception of Warren, the appellant here, remained with their parents ■until maturity and contributed to the support of the family. Warren left home in 1904, when he was •eighteen years of age, to shift for himself. In 1918, while living in Chicago, he enlisted in the World War, but when he was discharged from the army in July, 1919, he again took up his abode at his father’s house. Upon his return from overseas he gave his parents to understand that he had been gassed in Prance, and, -on account of his health, felt obliged to go on a farm. [608]*608He was practically without funds, and, after making a number of futile attempts to secure a farm for himself, he informed the family that he would have to go as a farmhand. The parents had welcomed this long-absent son with open arms, were sympathetic, and desired to keep him with them. Thereupon the father told him that if he could find a place in the vicinity of Washington which was within his (the father’s) means he would try to secure it, and he would not have to go as a farmhand. Warren finally reported that he had found this tract of twenty-one acres which could be bought cheap. At the first opportunity complainant went out to look at the place and, being pleased with its location and possibilities, promptly called on Dr. Simmonds, the husband and agent of the owner, and entered into an agreement to buy the property for the consideration of $2,000.00 cash, and the assumption of mortgage liens against it amounting to $1,500.00. At that time complainant was seventy-three years old, and was entitled to retire from his position in the treasury Department on a service pension, but was holding over at the request of his superiors in order to clear up his work and his successor familiarized with it. Complainant’s duties were important and required all his time, and for that reason, according to his testimony, the completion of the details connected with the purchase was left to Warren, who had' the title examined and a deed prepared conveying the property to himself. Complainant’s life time savings • consisted of the small dwelling' in which he then lived, $2,000.00 in first trust notes, $1,500.00 in Liberty bonds, and about $1,500.00 in a savings bank. In order to make the cash payment, he at once sold his trust notes, and when he had received a cheek for the proceeds, met Doctor and Mrs. Simmonds in the clerk’s office of Arlington county, [609]*609where he indorsed the $2,000.00 check over to Mrs. Simmonds, and paid the necessary fees and tax to have the deed recorded, for which a receipt was given in Warren’s name.

Looking forward to his retirement and making the place a home for himself and his family, including Warren, almost immediately after the purchase was consummated, complainant furnished Warren $500.00 with which to buy a team and the necessary farming equipment, and shortly afterwards began to make plans for the erection of a dwelling house on the place.

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144 S.E. 613, 151 Va. 603, 1928 Va. LEXIS 259, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bransom-v-bransom-vactapp-1928.