Greene v. Wilson

208 Cal. App. 2d 852, 25 Cal. Rptr. 630, 1962 Cal. App. LEXIS 1873
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 24, 1962
DocketCiv. 25880
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 208 Cal. App. 2d 852 (Greene v. Wilson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Greene v. Wilson, 208 Cal. App. 2d 852, 25 Cal. Rptr. 630, 1962 Cal. App. LEXIS 1873 (Cal. Ct. App. 1962).

Opinion

*854 FORD, J.

On June 19, 1959, the plaintiff, George M. Greene, obtained a judgment in the amount of $16,635.65 against Gordon Wilson in an action on a promissory note dated.February 14, 1947. Mr. Wilson and Doris Wilson were husband and wife from December 31, 1933, until the entry of a final judgment of divorce on December 11, 1956. Mr. Greene was not able to satisfy his judgment by recourse to assets of Gordon Wilson, there having been a return nulla bona with respect to the writ of execution. He brought the present action against Doris Wilson for the purpose of subjecting to his judgment real property and business assets received by Mrs. Wilson by virtue of the final judgment of divorce. 1 This appeal is from a judgment in favor of Mrs. Wilson.

It was determined in the interlocutory judgment in the divorce action that the community property of the Wilsons consisted of a residence and the furnishings therein, their personal effects, insurance on the life of Mr. Wilson and on the life of Mrs. Wilson, and two businesses theretofore known respectively as Tri-Color Laboratories and Tri-Color Multiprint. Reference will hereinafter be made to the businesses under the designation of Tri-Color Laboratories. The matter of the disposition of the community property was deferred until the time of the final judgment. In the final judgment of divorce the community property, other than Mr. Wilson’s personal effects and the insurance on Mrs. Wilson’s life, was awarded to Mrs. Wilson, except that a Mercury automobile which was a business asset was awarded to Mr. Wilson and he was ordered to pay the unpaid portion of the purchase price thereof. However, Mr. Wilson was given a lien in the- sum of $25,000 on the assets of the businesses which lien was to be discharged by Mrs. Wilson by means of monthly payments in specified amounts. It was further ordered that Mrs. Wilson assume and pay all community obligations owed to Ona Kimball and hold Mr. Wilson harmless therefrom. A similar burden was placed on Mr. Wilson with respect to community obligations owed to Anna B. Wilson and Doris Seligman. Bach was ordered to assume and pay one-half of certain income tax obligations.

*855 In the present action the trial court found in part as follows: 1. At the time of the rendition of the final judgment of divorce the equity in the residence was of a value of approximately $17,000, but the business known as Tri-Color Laboratories was insolvent, its condition being that “the debts exceeded the fair market value of the assets thereof, and said business was unable to meet its obligations as they became payable” and it “had no fair market value.” 2. The lien in the amount of $25,000 in favor of Gordon Wilson has been satisfied and discharged, and the other obligations assumed and paid by Doris Wilson, pursuant to the final judgment of divorce and in satisfaction of certain tax liens on the business in excess of $21,500, exceeded the value of the assets awarded to her. 3. On numerous occasions during the pendency of the divorce action and during the pendency of the action against Mr. Wilson on the promissory note, the plaintiff Greene stated and represented to the defendant Doris Wilson and to her attorneys and to persons who later lent money to her that he intended to, and would, collect his claims only against Gordon Wilson, and that he would never assert any claim against Doris Wilson or any property she might acquire in the divorce action. 4. The plaintiff Greene knew that Doris Wilson, her attorneys and the persons who later lent money to her would rely on those statements and representations. 5. In reliance thereon, she and her attorneys made no attempt to protect her from that liability in the final judgment of divorce, and persons to whom the statements and representations were made “advanced money to and guaranteed loans to Doris Wilson in excess of $60,000.00.” 6. In reliance on such statements and representations of the plaintiff Greene, Doris Wilson “purchased thousands of dollars of new equipment for Tricolor Laboratories and made representations of her own financial condition to equipment sellers and trade creditors,” on which representations such creditors relied. 7. In reliance on the plaintiff's statements and representations, Doris Wilson represented to the subsequent purchasers of the business that Mr. Greene had no claims against the business and the purr-chasers relied on such representations. 2

*856 One of the conclusions of law drawn by the trial court was that the plaintiff Greene was “barred and prevented by the doctrine of promissory estoppel from enforcing the claim sued upon” against the defendant Doris Wilson.

As stated in Mayberry v. Whittier, 144 Cal. 322 [78 P. 16], at page 325: “It is clearly the general rule that upon a division of community property under a divorce decree the former husband and wife each take the part awarded subject to prior liens; and it has been held that the part awarded either wife or husband is subject to community debts not reduced to liens.” (See also Vest v. Superior Court, 140 Cal.App.2d 91, 95 [294 P.2d 988].) Consequently, the plaintiff Greene was entitled to pursue the property awarded to Doris Wilson in the divorce suit for the purpose of subjecting it to the satisfaction of his judgment, unless there was conduct on his part of such a nature as to prevent his successful recourse to that remedy. (Bank of America v. Mantz, 4 Cal.2d 322, 326-327 [49 P.2d 279].)

The doctrine of promissory estoppel is recognized in this state. (Drennan v. Star Paving Co., 51 Cal.2d 409, 413 [333 P.2d 757].) In section 90 of the Restatement of Contracts the doctrine is expressed as follows: “A promise which the promisor should reasonably expect to induce action or forbearance of a definite and substantial character on the part of the promisee and which does induce such action or forbearance is binding if injustice can be avoided only by enforcement of the promise.” (See also Morrison v. Home Savings & Loan Assn., 175 Cal.App.2d 765, 768 [346 P.2d 917] ; Van Hook v. Southern Cal. Waiters Alliance, 158 Cal.App.2d 556, 570 [323 P.2d 212] ; Henry v. Weinman, 157 Cal.App.2d 360, 366 [321 P.2d 117] ; Graddon v. Knight, 138 Cal.App.2d 577, 582-583 [292 P.2d 632] ; Wade v. Markwell & Co., 118 Cal.App.2d 410, 420 [258 P.2d 497

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Bluebook (online)
208 Cal. App. 2d 852, 25 Cal. Rptr. 630, 1962 Cal. App. LEXIS 1873, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/greene-v-wilson-calctapp-1962.