Davis v. Clark

26 Ind. 424
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedMay 15, 1866
StatusPublished
Cited by44 cases

This text of 26 Ind. 424 (Davis v. Clark) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davis v. Clark, 26 Ind. 424 (Ind. 1866).

Opinion

Elliott, J.

This was a suit by Clark, the appellee, against Davis, tbe appellant, and others, to enjoin the sale [425]*425of certain real estate, by the sheriff' on execution. The material allegations of the complaint are, in substance, as follows: That Catharine May, the wife of Daniel May, was seized in fee, by descent from her father’, of the lands described in the complaint, and being childless, for the purpose of securing the inheritance in the lands’to her husband, should he survive her, on the 29th day of June, 1863', joined with her said husband in a deed of conveyance, by which they conveyed said lands to Simeon Stansifer in fee, but in trust and for the sole purpose that he should re-convey the same to said Daniel and Catharine jointly; that said deed was delivered to said Stansifer on the 6th of January, 1864, who, on the same day, by a deed of quit-claim, re-conveyed said lands to the said “Daniel May and Catharine May, his wife, the survivor to inherit.”

On the 26th of July, 1865, Davis, the appellant, recovered a judgment in the Court of Common Pleas of Bartholomew county, against said Daniel May, for the sum of $166 69 and costs of suit. On the 25th of December, 1865, said May and his wife sold and conveyed said lands to the plaintiff Clark, for the sum of $5,600; of which sum he paid at the time of the purchase $300, and secured the payment of the residue in installments.

On the 28th of March, 1866, the defendant Davis caused an execution (fi. fa.) to be issued on his said judgment against said Daniel May, and placed in the hands of the sheriff of said county, who afterwards levied the same on “all the right, title and interest which said Daniel May had in said real estate on the 26th day of July, 1865,” the date of said judgment, and advertised the same for sale on the 5th day of May, 1866. The complaint denies that Daniel May had any interest in said lands at the date of said judgment subject to execution, and prays that, as a sale of the lands under said execution would cast a cloud upon the plaintiff’s title thereto, the' sheriff be perpetually enjoined from selling the same, and for general relief. May and wife were also made defendants, and were duly defaul[426]*426ted. The defendant Davis appeared and demurred to the complaint, for the reasons: 1. That the court had no jurisdiction of the subject of the action, the execution sought to be enjoined having issued from the Common Pleas Court, on a judgment therein. 2. That the complaint does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. The demurrer was overruled by the court, to which the defendant Davis excepted.

Davis then filed an answer, alleging that said Catharine caused the conveyances to Stansifer, and from him to her and her husband, Daniel May, to be made for the purpose of giving the latter credit with the public; that after said conveyances, and on the faith and credit.of said lands, and from the belief that said Daniel had an undivided interest therein, he did obtain credit, and became lai*gely indebted to sundry persons, who are named, including said Davis, amounting in the aggregate to over $3,000, on which judgments had been recovered, and all of which remained unpaid; and that prior to said conveyances the said Daniel May was not possessed of any property whatever. The court sustained a demurrer to the answer and rendered a final judgment and decree for the plaintiff in accordance with the prayer of the complaint. To these rulings Davis also excepted, and appeals here.

The first question presented by the demurrer to the complaint is, had the Circuit Court jurisdiction of the cause?

The appellant insists that as the execution levied on the lands in controversy, the sale of which was sought to be enjoined, was issued upon a judgment rendered in the Court of Common Pleas of the same county, the latter court had exclusive jurisdiction of the subject, and refers to the ease of The Indiana, &c., R. R. Co, v. Williams, 22 Ind. 198, as sustaining the position. In that case a judgment was rendered in the Circuit Court, on-which an execution was issued and levied on personal property of one of the execution defendants, and the sale'was postponed by the agreement of the parties. Afterwards a writ of venditioni exponas [427]*427was issued on the judgment, commanding the sheriff to sell. the personal property levied on under the original execution, but the sheriff', without selling the same, levied the vendí. on real estate of the other defendant, and was about to sell the same, without having first sold the personal property previously levied upon. The latter defendant filed a complaint in the Court of Common Pleas to enjoin the sale of the land until the personal property was first disposed of. It was held that the Court of Common Pleas had no jurisdiction in the case. The decision was based on Grant v. Quick, 5 Sandf., 612, in which it was held, under statutory provisions similar to ours, that “ no court of that State can rightfully enjoin a party from proceeding in a "suit in another court of the same State, having equal power to grant the relief sought by the complaint on which such injunction is asked.” In the case referred to in 22 Ind. it was said by Davison, J., that “there is no legal propriety in allowing the Common Pleas, a court of inferior, jurisdiction, to enjoin and adjudicate upon the validity of process issued from the Circuit Court. And the statute propeily construed, in our judgment, intends that each of these courts shall enjoin, control and litigate in reference to its own process.”

But .that ease is not analogous to this, and is not in point. Here the complaint was filed in the Circuit Court, a court of general jurisdiction, and having in the main exclusive jurisdiction in cases involving the title to real estate. Besides, in this case, it is not sought to enjoin the prosecution of an action in the Court of Common Pleas, nor the execution of a judgment in that court, nor to determine the validity or enjoin the execution of final process issued thereon, but simply to enjoin the sheriff' from selling the lands of the plaintiff under an execution against another party, to which it is claimed they are not subject, and to prevent a cloud being thereby cast upon the plaintiff’s title, and we think the Circuit Court had jurisdiction.

The next and principal question in the case, is, does-the [428]*428complaint state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, and to entitle the plaintiff to'the relief prayed?

The solution of this question must depend upon the legal effect of the deed of conveyance from Stansifer to Daniel May and his wife Catharine, and whether it conveyed to Daniel May any estate or interest subject to execution under the laws of this State. At common law, if an estate is granted, as in this case, to a man and his wife, they are neither properly joint tenants, nor tenants in common, for husband and wife being considered one person in law, they cannot take the estate by moieties, both are seized of the entirety, per tout, and not per my. Neither can dispose of any part of the estate without the assent of the other, but the whole must remain to the survivor. 2 Black. Com.

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Bluebook (online)
26 Ind. 424, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-clark-ind-1866.