Deford v. Mercer

24 Iowa 118
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedJanuary 30, 1867
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 24 Iowa 118 (Deford v. Mercer) 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
Deford v. Mercer, 24 Iowa 118 (iowa 1867).

Opinion

Dillon, Ch. J.

1. guardiah’s tion of misciepresumption. It is not necessary to discuss or examine any questions respecting the guardian’s sale, which were decided in the case of Pursley v. Hays (22 Iowa, 11). That case was very elaborately ax-gued axid deliberately considered. Under the course of decision in this State respecting administrators’ and guardians’ sales, it was held that the sale by Jones, as guardian, was valid, as against the various objections in that case made against it. This cause has reference to another tract of land of which the said Hugh Pursley, deceased, was, at the time of his death, the owner; but this tract was sold by the said Jones under the saxne order or license of the Couxity Court (August 3, 1852), referred to in the Hays case.

The land owned by Pux’sley and claimed in the present suit is the south-west quarter of the north-east quarter of five, etc. It is claimed that J ones’ petition, as guardian, for an order to sell, described the land as the south-west quarter of the north-west quarter of five, etc.; and that after the said petition of the guardian to sell was filed, and after notice was served on the wards, if not, indeed, after the order of sale, the description was fraudulently or without authority changed by erasing the word “ west ” and inserting the word “ east.”

Testimony was taken on this point, but while this establishes that the change was made after the petition was drafted, it does not clearly satisfy us that it was made after it was filed. The mistake in the description was, probably, discovered before the filing of the petition of the guardian to sell, and con-ected prior to such filing by erasing the word “west” and inserting the word “ east,”

[121]*1212. — estojjFoVea.se ° But the same mistake was omitted to be corrected in the copy of the petition which was served upon the wards. The mistake occured by following the like mistaken description in the deed from Abel J. Cain to Hugh Parsley, of date August 16, 1819. The notice to the wards (which notice was. indorsed upon a copy of the petition, which copy described the land as the S. ~W. ¿ of the N. "W". J, etc., instead of the S. "W. ¿ of the N. E. i, etc.), contained a material mistake in the description of the land; it was a mistake because it described lands in which the wards had no interest, but it also describes them as those conveyed to the said Hugh by the said Cain. Admitting, as for the purposes of this case we do, that the effect of this misdescription of the land would be to enable the wards to avoid the sale, yet there are other facts which we now proceed to state, that equitably and effectually estop them from claiming title to the land. The answer alleges and the evidence establishes (indeed the fact • is not disputed) that all of the wards of the said Jones after they became of age, with full knowledge of the fact of the sale, and that he had no money except such as arose from this sale, received from amd receipted to him for the purchase money of the property sold by him as guardian.

Not only so, but they received this money from their guardian, after this suit was brought, a suit which directly attacked and put in issue the validity of the guardian’s sale. Such alleged invalidity is, indeed, made the groundwork of the relief herein sought. Not only so, but the testimony shows that they knew the money arose from the sale, among other tracts, of this very land; that Jones had no other money in his hands except such as he had received from the sale made by him as guardian; and this money the said heirs (the present appellants on the record) not only still retain, but they have never tendered [122]*122it back to Jones or Ms vendees. It is not sliown or claimed that any fraud was practiced upon them, to .induce them to receive the money. On the contrary, it seems that they were anxious to get it just as soon as was practicable after attaining their majority.

It is not shown that they received it under any mistake of fact, nor that they received it under any misapprehension as to their legal rights.

Under these circumstances, if there is any thing well founded in conscience or in law, it is, that they are estopped in equity from claiming the land after having voluntarily accepted the money which arose from or was the product of the sale of the land.

- We 'can only account for the action of the heirs in thus receiv-idg the money, by supposing the testimony to be rtrue, fhat in case there was a recovery they were to have ohly'a portion thereof; that the rest was to go elsewhere, >;ahd';that they were unwilling to give their undisputed ...right to the money arising from the sale for their disputed right to recover the land. But, however this may be, it is certain that the present appellants have, under the circumstances before stated, voluntarily received from Jones, their guardian, the purchase money, for the very land they are now. seeking to recover.

That they are not entitled to and cannot have both the money and the land, is a proposition which seems too plain to require either an extended argument or authority to show. We have so held in a former case arising upon the same sale. Pursley v. Hays, 17 Iowa, 310. If the brief opinion filed in that case is closely examined it will be seen that the propositions on which it rests are guardedly stated. That opinion is certainly correct. There is nothing in the circumstances ofithe present case which requires us to decide more than that where a party with full knowledge of all the facts, there being no fraud or mis[123]*123take, and nothing to repel the presumption that he knew his legal rights, but much to show that he did fully know them, voluntarily accepts and retains the purchase money arising from the sale of his land, he cannot afterward claim the land itself. He is equitably estopped to deny the validity of the sale. When this question was before us previously in Pursely v. Hays (17 Iowa, 310), we did not deem it necessary to fortify our conclusion by a citation of adjudged cases in other courts.

As the question has been again brought lip, we subjoin a reference to some decisions not only holding the same view, but even going much further than we are required to do by the facts of the cause now under consideration.

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