Detroit & Security Trust Co. v. Gitre

235 N.W. 884, 254 Mich. 66
Michigan Supreme Court·Decided April 7, 1931·No. Docket 136, Calendar 35,460; Docket 162, Calendar 35,455·Published·Cited by 14 cases

Opinion

*69 Fead, J.

This is a bill, filed February 25, 1930, in aid of execution. The court accepted defendants ’ testimony, which was substantially undisputed, and dismissed the bill.

On July 9, 1929, plaintiffs brought suit against Lester Gitre for rent due on a lease expiring in 1932. About October 11th the attorneys, Lester Gitre, and his son Stanley had a- conference, in which Lester proposed surrender of the lease and his own discharge from further liability on it. The offer was refused, plaintiffs ’ attorney insisting on the obligations of the lease, pointing out that Lester was financially respqnsible through ownership of a large number of lots.in Gitre Park subdivision in Detroit, and that plaintiffs would look to the lots for satisfaction of the rent due and to become due.

On November 5th, Lester conveyed, partly to Stanley and partly to his nephew Delos, the Gitre Park lots and other property in Michigan, California, and Canada. There was some indefinite testimony of his retaining a piece of land near Niles, Michigan, which he later sold, but the property was not identified as to character, value, or time of sale sufficiently to warrant its consideration here in mitigation of the effect of the conveyances at bar.

Plaintiffs levied on the Gitre Park lots which, in his pleadings, Stanley stated are worth $100,000. The separate value of the lots deeded to Stanley and Delos respectively was not shown. Plaintiffs claimed the transfers were in fraud of creditors. Defendants claimed, they were tona fide and for valuable and adequate consideration. Lester Gitre did not testify. As the conveyances present different considerations, they will be treated separately.

*70 Delos Gitre Deeds

Delos claims to hold as trustee for his father, George Gitre. In 1926, George transferred these Gitre Park lots to. Lester in at .least partial fraud of creditors. On the same day, Lester deeded them back to George. George said he held the deeds unrecorded to prevent his wife and her children from taking an interest in them. When Lester became financially involved in 1929 and something had to be done about the record title, instead of recording the deeds a new conveyance was made from Lester to Delos in verbal trust for George, in order to escape the wife’s claim. The unrecorded deeds were destroyed by the attorney who conducted the conveyances. The trust has become written by the pleadings in this case.

The testimony did not show that Lester was given credit by plaintiffs upon the strength of the record title of these lots, and the question of the rights of the parties, had such credit been given, is not before us. Nor are we here concerned with the rights of George’s wife. We agree with counsel for George and Delos Gitre that, through the unrecorded deeds, George had title, it was not restored to Lester by the destruction of the deeds, and George is still the owner of the lots. Tabor v. Tabor, 136 Mich. 255. As Lester did not own the lots, they are not subject to execution against him.

As to this property the decree will be affirmed, but without costs.

Stanley Gitre Deeds

Defendants claimed they paid fair consideration for these conveyances, running both from Stanley and his mother to Lester, The deeds covered sey *71 eral lots in Ontario as well as those in Gitre Park. The claimed considerations were:

First: Debt owing by Lester to Stanley for work. Stanley was born in 1907. Prom the time he was 14 years old he worked in his father’s drug stores after school, Saturdays, and during vacations, receiving board and room and wages of $18, increasing to $35 per week, until about 1925. He attended school and a military academy until he was about 18, when he was sick for approximately six months, and then worked on his father’s poultry farm until it was sold, some seven months after Stanley became of age. He said his father promised him for his labor a $12,000 drug store and the $70,000 chicken farm. On receiving the deeds in 1929, he released his father from the oral agreement and all claims for labor and otherwise. The value of his services was not shown.

Second: Debt owing by Lester to his wife for labor. When Lester and Mrs. Gitre were married, they were poor and Mrs. Gitre worked for their mutual benefit, aiding her husband in accumulating his property. She took boarders and roomers to finance an education for him and later worked in the drug stores. She claimed the value of her services as part consideration for the transfer to Stanley, but offered no evidence of their worth.

Lester and his wife were not happy together. Mrs. Gitre had filed suit for divorce in 1926, and later discontinued it. She testified that, in connection with the reconciliation in 1926, Lester promised to put all of his property in their joint names. However, no conveyances were actually made to her, as in the cases relied on by defendants, and the oral agreement neither gave her title nor created a debt from her husband to her.

*72 Third: Property settlement on wife. In connection with the conveyances on November 5, 1929, Lester and Stanley executed an agreement, not referred to in the deeds, reciting that Lester was about to remove from the city, wanted to permanently provide for the support of his wife, Stanley was willing to assume the burden in consideration of the transfer of the property, that the transfer was accordingly made, Stanley agreed to support his mother for the balance of her life, the obligation to be charged against the real estate conveyed, and Stanley should always hold at least $10,000 in fair value of the real estate for the protection of Lester and the mother in the faithful performance of the agreement of support. Mrs. Gitre executed a consent to the instrument, in full of all her claims for dower, alimony, support, and share in the real estate and property accumulated by Lester and herself through their joint efforts.

Fourth: Defendants claimed Stanley gave his father $390 and Mrs. Gitre gave him $1,500 to invest in some lots with the understanding that title would be taken in their joint names, but Lester did not do this, and the property was later disposed of by him.

Plaintiffs made a prima facie case under 3 Comp. Laws 1929, § 14617, and the burden then rested on defendants to show that the conveyances were bona fide. This means that defendants had the burden of producing credible evidence of a bona fide conveyance. It is true that when such showing is made the presumption vanishes and is not to be weighed against the evidence (Schick v. Levine, 247 Mich. 595; Corbett v. Williams, 248 Mich. 541), but this does not relieve defendants of the burden of pro *73 ducing evidence of the existence 'of every essential of good faith.

From the sequence of events, it is plain that both Lester and Stanley intended to put the property beyond plaintiffs’ reach.

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

Detroit & Security Trust Co. v. Gitre, 235 N.W. 884, 254 Mich. 66 (Mich. 1931).

235 N.W. 884 (Detroit & Security Trust Co. v. Gitre) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Advance Dry Wall Co. v. Wolfe-Gilchrist, Inc.
218 N.W.2d 866 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1974)
Hawes v. C. E. Cook & Co.
64 F.R.D. 22 (W.D. Michigan, 1974)
Dunaj v. Harry Becker Co.
217 N.W.2d 397 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1974)
Jim Causley Pontiac Inc. v. World Wide Auto Leasing Co.
182 N.W.2d 44 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1970)
Levy v. Gittelson
37 N.W.2d 105 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1949)
Estate of Awrey v. Commissioner
5 T.C. 222 (U.S. Tax Court, 1945)
Emery v. Tant
295 N.W. 356 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1940)
Drake v. Bissenger
293 N.W. 729 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1940)
Bentley v. Caille
286 N.W. 163 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1939)
Colter v. Salow
268 N.W. 752 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1936)
Kirshman v. Jackson
267 N.W. 591 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1936)
Kruse v. Carey
242 N.W. 873 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1932)