Cuenat v. Keenan

130 N.W. 656, 165 Mich. 247, 1911 Mich. LEXIS 794
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 31, 1911
DocketDocket No. 144
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 130 N.W. 656 (Cuenat v. Keenan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cuenat v. Keenan, 130 N.W. 656, 165 Mich. 247, 1911 Mich. LEXIS 794 (Mich. 1911).

Opinion

Stone, J.

The controversy in this case is between John F. Cuenat, as administrator of the estate of Clemence Surleau, deceased, and John F. Cuenat and Marie C. Chambers, nephew and niece of said Clemence Surleau, deceased, and her sole heirs at law, as complainants, and Mary Y. Keenan individually, and Mary V. Keenan as executrix of the last will and testament of Jacques Surleau, deceased, as defendant.

The questions involved are whether Clemence Surleau was mentally incompetent to make two deeds of conveyance, one dated October 25, 1900, purporting to convey to defendant Mary V. Keenan 22 acres of land on Snyder road, in Greenfield township, Wayne county, and one deed dated December 12,1904, which purported to convey to defendant Mary Y. Keenan a house and lot at 1045 Twelfth street, Detroit; and whether said Clemence Surleau was under the influence and control of said Mary Y. Keenan, or her said husband, Jacques Surleau, or of both of them, when these conveyances were made. A further question involved is whether upwards of $8,000 in money and notes claimed to have belonged to said Clemence Surleau in her lifetime passed, directly or indirectly, into the [249]*249possession and control of said defendant Mary V. Keenan without consideration, and by undue influence and advantage.

Complainants filed their bill in equity to set aside these conveyances on the ground of mental incompetency of Clemence Surleau, fraud, undue influence, and want of consideration, and to compel an accounting at the hands of defendant for moneys and personal securities so received. Defendant’s answer consists of a general denial, alleging a purchase of the 22 acres of land for the sum of $3,500 in cash payments claimed to have been made to Clemence Surleau and her said husband. The answer also claims transfer to the said defendant of the home on Twelfth street in consideration of the care and maintenance of said Clemence Surleau and her husband, Jacques Surleau; the title to the Twelfth street- property being in Jacques Surleau and Clemence Surleau as tenants by the entireties. The answer also admits the receipt of certain notes assigned by Jacques Surleau to the defendant, the principal of which aggregated about $1,750, and admitting that a certain judgment obtained in February, 1901, may belong to the estate of Clemence Surleau, deceased.

The record is a large one, there being over 400 pages of ' the testimony, which was taken in open court before the circuit judge who heard the case. The questions presented and discussed by counsel are largely questions of fact. We have read the record with care, and have considered the evidence in the case. It would not be profitable to refer to the same at length. The circuit judge found that Clemence Surleau, deceased, was not, during the last years of her life, mentally competent to transact business. Clemence Surleau died at the home of the defendant on April 10, 1907, having lived with the defendant at the latter’s home from July, 1905, to the time of her death. Jacques Surleau died also at the home of the defendant on April 2, 1906, having lived with the defendant and in her family after July, 1905, down to his death. The 22 acres of land had been purchased by Clemence [250]*250Surleau in 1864. The house and lot above referred to were purchased by Clemence Surleau and Jacques Surleau on April 4, 1893, and soon after the purchase of the last-mentioned property Jacques Surleau and Clemence Surleau, his wife, moved into the city and lived upon this property on Twelfth street until they went to live with the defendant in July, 1905, except that Clemence Surleau had been for three months confined in the Emergency Hospital in the city of Detroit.

The circuit judge granted the relief prayed for as to the house and lot on Twelfth street, but denied relief as to the 22 acres, holding that the proof introduced in the case was not sufficient to overcome the presumption of the payment of the consideration of $3,500. The evidence tends to show that the defendant purchased the said 22 acres of land with the expectation that she soon could dispose of it at an advanced price. This she has not been able to do. There is no evidence in the record that the said 22-acre parcel was worth more than the consideration named, to wit, $3,500. The complainants are unable to produce any positive or direct evidence that the consideration named in this deed was not actually paid by the defendant. This was a transaction which took place in 1900. There is positive and direct evidence in the record, given by the said defendant and her husband, that this consideration was actually paid in cash.

The evidence shows that Clemence Surleau was a woman of peculiar and weak mind. While she had not been strong mentally, yet she had in the earlier years of her married life with Jacques Surleau, which marriage took place in December, 1875, been strong enough in mind to dominate and control him to' such a degree that she handled and controlled their property. Prior to moving to the city they had lived upon 40 acres of land which belonged to her, save that Jacques seemed to have title with her to 10 acres of the homestead. They had farmed this property, and had sold produce in the city. The evidence tends to show that, after they moved into the city, the [251]*251said Clemence Surleau grew weaker in mind and body, and her husband, Jacques, began to get control and possession of the personal property and money, the latter of which was obtained for the sale of the 40-acre homestead. We are not satisfied from this record that at the time the sale of the 22-acre parcel was made Clemence Surleau was not of sufficient mental strength to make the conveyance, and to know what she was doing. We agree with the circuit judge, in view of all the evidence in the case, that it does not sufficiently appear that the consideration stated in the deed was not actually paid to warrant setting said deed aside. From the date of that deed the defendant took control of the 22-acre parcel, and has ever since controlled it, leasing it, from time to time, to different parties who were witnesses in the case. The consideration, if paid, seems to have been a reasonable one for the conveyance of this property. We do not feel warranted in disturbing the conclusion reached by the circuit judge with reference to this parcel of land.

Referring to the sale and the transfer of the city house and lot, which occurred over four years later, the circumstances were very different. The mental condition of Clemence Surleau was one of degree, and we gather from the testimony that she failed both physically and mentally from 1900 to December, 1904. The record shows that this city property was, so far as the deeds show, owned by Clemence Surleau and her husband as tenants by the entirety. The property would therefore go to the survivor. As we have already shown, Clemence Surleau survived her husband for about one year. It is not claimed by defendant that any money consideration was paid for this deed. The consideration named in the deed is $1 and other valuable considerations. The deed reserved to the grantors the possession, use and control of said premises for and during their natural lives. The deed also contained this clause:

“As a further consideration for this deed said second [252]*252party shall maintain and care for first parties whenever called upon so to do by first parties, or either of them, during their natural lives.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
130 N.W. 656, 165 Mich. 247, 1911 Mich. LEXIS 794, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cuenat-v-keenan-mich-1911.