Gemmer v. Hunter

74 N.E. 586, 35 Ind. App. 501, 1905 Ind. App. LEXIS 113
Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided May 23, 1905·No. No. 5,268·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

Kobinson, J.

In appellee’s claim against the estate of appellant’s decedent, it is averred that decedent during his lifetime was desirous of selling to appellee sixty acres of land, described, for the reason that he had no way to get to the land from any highway, and that the same could not be sold to any other tiran appellee, who owned adjoining land, for more than $10 an acre, and because the same was not at that time worth, even to appellee, $20 an acre; that when decedent found appellee would not give $30 an acre, and would give no more than $20, decedent proposed to appellee that if she would purchase the land at $30 an acre', amounting to $1,800, and secure tire payment thereof by executing to him nine promissory notes for $200 each, payable in one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight and nine years after their date of August 20, 1889, signed by herself and hus[503] band, with interest on all of the notes at eight per cent, from the 1st day of September, 1889, and execute a. mortgage on tire land and on appellee’s adjoining land to secure the payment of the notes, he would leave a will, bequeathing to appellee the difference between the price demanded — $30 an acre — and $20 an acre, to wit, $600, and the interest paid thereon by appellee; that appellee accepted this proposition, and thereupon, on August 20, 1889, the decedent and wife executed a deed conveying the land to appellee, and on the same day appellee and her husband executed to him the notes and mortgage as above mentioned; that appellee has fully paid all the notes and interest, and has performed all the terms of the contract to bo by her performed, but that decedent failed to comply with the contract; that he left a will at his death, in January, 1903, but wholly failed to make any provision therein for the payment of any sum. The complaint asks damages for breach of the above contract. Upon a trial a judgment was rendered upon the jury’s verdict in appellee’s favor.

Errors are assigned upon the overruling of the demurrer to the claim or complaint and the motion for a new trial.

1. It is well settled that a written contract can not bo enlarged or altered by prior or contemporaneous oral negotiations or agreements. It is also well settled that parol evidence is admissible to show the real consideration of a deed, and that the consideration may be shown to have been different from that expressed in the writing. McMahan v. Stewart (1864), 23 Ind. 590; Pickett v. Green (1889), 120 Ind. 584; Diven v. Johnson (1889), 117 Ind. 512, 3 L. R. A. 308; Reynolds v. Louisville, etc., R. Co. (1896), 143 Ind. 579, 614.

2. But it is argued by appellant’s counsel that the deed executed by appellant’s decedent to appellee, and the notes and mortgage executed to him by appellee, constituted a written agreement, which is not within the general rule that a consideration expressed in a deed or other written instru[504] ment may be varied by parol evidence. A promise, upon a valuable consideration, to bequeath a sum of money to another, is a valid contract, and an action will lie for its breach. Bell v. Hewitt’s Executors (1865), 24 Ind. 280; Caviness v. Rushton (1885), 101 Ind. 500, 51 Am. Rep. 759; Roehl v. Haumesser (1888), 114 Ind. 311; Woods v. Matlock (1898), 19 Ind. App. 364.

3. The proposition made and accepted was that if appellee would give the decedent $1,800 for land for which she was willing to give $1,200, and no more, decedent would bequeath to her the difference, with interest. When the contract between the parties was reduced to writing, the deed conveying the land was the consideration for the notes, and the notes constituted the consideration for the deed. They were all parts of the same transaction, and together constituted the contract. The deed conveyed the land to appellee, and, through the notes executed by appellee, she was bound to pay the consideration named. The pleading does not disclose that this informal written contract was, on its face, incomplete. See Singer Mfg. Co. v. Forsyth (1886), 108 Ind. 334.

The question arises: what was the consideration for the decedent’s promise to bequeath to appellee the $600 ? It must have been the execution by her of notes, payable to decedent, for $600 more than the land was worth to her. It is not averred in terms that this was the consideration for the decedent’s promise, but this must have been the consideration, if there was any; that is, the decedent executed the deed and made this promise in consideration that appellee execute the notes aggregating $1,800.

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

Gemmer v. Hunter, 74 N.E. 586, 35 Ind. App. 501, 1905 Ind. App. LEXIS 113 (Ind. Ct. App. 1905).

74 N.E. 586 (Gemmer v. Hunter) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Wabash Railroad v. Grate
102 N.E. 155 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1913)
McCaskey Register Co. v. Curfman
90 N.E. 323 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1910)
Pierse v. Bronnenberg
81 N.E. 739 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1907)