First Nat. Bank of Crockett v. Hardtt

204 S.W. 712, 1918 Tex. App. LEXIS 684
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided May 9, 1918·No. No. 7560.·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

PHEASANTS, C. J.

This appeal is from a judgment rendered in two suits between appellant and appellees! which were consolidated and tried as one. A statement of the names of all the parties and the issues presented in the twoi suits is unnecessary, since the only portion of the judgment complained of is that denying appellant a foreclosure of an attachment lien upon 2,800 acres of land in Zavalla county, Tex., owned by the defendants, R. R. Simpson, Otis D. Simpson, Evelyn Simpson, Skelton J.- Simpson, and James A. Simpson.

The facts alleged by appellant upon which the attachment was sued out and a lien claimed upon the 2,800 acres of land to secure the payment of an indebtedness due appellant by G. T. Simpson are in substance:

That the land was on July 17, 1914, the property of G. T. Simpson, who was then wholly insolvent and indebted to appellant and to other named persons in various amounts, the amount due appellant being $2,000; that on said date G. T. Simpson sold the land to R. R. Simpson for the purpose and with the intent to hinder, delay and defraud appellant and the other creditors of said G. T. Simpson; that R. R. Simpson knew of such fraudulent intent when he took the deed to the land; and that the considerations named in the deeds were simulated and no consideration was in fact given for the land. Similar allegations as to notice of fraud of G. T. Simpson and the want of consideration are made in regard to the conveyances under which the other appellees acquired title. It was further alleged that G. T. Simpson was in truth and in fact the real owner of the land, and that it was subject to the lien created by the attachment which appellant had procured to be regularly issued and levied upon the land. These allegations were all denied by the pleadings of appellees. The cause was submitted to a jury in the court below upon special issues. The charge of the court submitting the case, in so far as it relates to the issues presented by this appeal, is as follows:

“By ‘insolvency’ is meant one who is unable to pay his debts, and whose estate is insufficient to pay his debts.
“First. Was G. T Simpson insolvent on the 17th day of July, 1914? Answer ‘Yes' or ‘No.’
“If you have answered the foregoing question in the negative, you need not answer any other issue. But, if you have answered said question in the affirmative, then I submit to you the following issues:
“Second. Did R. R. Simpson know of the insolvency of G. T. Simpson, or have knowledge of such fgets and circumstances as would have put a reasonably prudent person on inquiry as to his. solvency or insolvency? Answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No!’
“Third. Did G. T. Simpson convey to R. R. Simpson the Zavalla county lands with intent to hinder, delay, or defraud his creditors, and did R. R. Simpson know of such intention? Answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’
“In connection with the third issue, you are instructed that the burden of proof is upon the *713 defendant bank to sbow by a preponderance of I the evidence that G. T. Simpson conveyed to R. | R. Simpson the Zavalla county lands with intent to hinder, delay, or defraud his creditors, and that R. R. Simpson knew of such intention, or had knowledge of such facts as would put a reasonably prudent person upon inquiry, and that such inquiry, if pursued, would have acquainted R. R. Simpson with such intent. And if you so find, you will answer said issue ‘Yes.’ And, unless vou do so find, you will answer said issue ‘No.’ ”

In response to this charge the jury answered the first question “No,” and made no answer to the remaining questions. Upon the return of the verdict judgment was rendered in favor of appellees that appellant take nothing against them.

The first assignment of error presented by appellant is as follows:

“The court erred after submitting- the issue as to whether G. T. Simpson was insolvent on the 17th day of July, 1914, in instructing the jury as follows: ‘If you have answered the foregoing question (meaning was G. T. Simpson insolvent on July 17, 1914) in the negative, you need not answer any other issue, but if you have answered said question in the affirmative, then I submit to you the following issue: Did R. R. Simpson know of the insolvency of G. T. Simpson, or have any knowledge of such facts and circumstances as would have put a reasonably prudent person on inquiry as to the solvency or insolvency?’ ‘Did G. T. Simpson convey to R. R. Simpson the Zavalla county lands with the intent to hinder, delay, or defraud his creditors, and did R. R. Simpson know of such intention?’
“Because the court in presenting to the jury the issues in this form limited the inquiry to the question of insolvency of the defendant G. T. Simpson, and upon their finding that the defendant G. T. Simpson was not insolvent on the 17th day of July, 1914, they could not pursue the inquiry any further. The jury answered this question in the negative, and governed by the instructions of the court, did not consider the case further but returned their verdict accordingly.”

[1] Without regard to the question of whether this charge was an erroneous application of the law to the case made by the pleadings and evidence the assignment cannot be sustained. The record shows that the cause was submitted upon special issues at the request of appellant, and that the issues prepared and presented to the court by appellant for submission to the jury, before the court prepared the charge given the jury, contain the following:

“No. 1. Was G. T. Simpson insolvent on the 4th day of July, 1914? Answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’
“No. 2. If your answer to the above question ⅛ ‘Yes,’ then I submit to you the following question: At the time they made the trade with G. T. Simpson did the Burditts know of his insolvency, or could they have known of it by the exercise of reasonable diligence?
“No. 3. Was G. T. Simpson insolvent on the 17th day of July, 1914, the date of his deed •to R. R. Simpson conveying the Zavalla county lands ?
“No. 4. By insolvency is meant one’s estate is insufficient to pay his debts.
“No. 5. Did G. T. Simpson convey to R. R. Simpson the Zavalla county lands with intent to hinder, delay, or defraud his creditors, and did R. R. Simpson know of such intention?”

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

First Nat. Bank of Crockett v. Hardtt, 204 S.W. 712, 1918 Tex. App. LEXIS 684 (Tex. Ct. App. 1918).

204 S.W. 712 (First Nat. Bank of Crockett v. Hardtt) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Johnson v. Hodges
121 S.W.2d 371 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1938)
The Praetorians v. Redmon
93 S.W.2d 607 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1936)
Russell v. Old River Co.
210 S.W. 705 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1919)