Hayes v. Horton

81 P. 386, 46 Or. 597, 1905 Ore. LEXIS 80
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 10, 1905
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 81 P. 386 (Hayes v. Horton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hayes v. Horton, 81 P. 386, 46 Or. 597, 1905 Ore. LEXIS 80 (Or. 1905).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Bean

delivered the opinion- of the court.

1. There is a conflict in the evidence as to whether defendant furnished the money with which to purchase and improve .the property; in dispute, or whether a part of it was provided by the plaintiff, but that question is really immaterial. It is a general rule of law that where the purchase price of land is paid by one person, and the. title taken in the name of another, the grantee will hold it in trust for the person furnishing the money, even without a declaration to that effect: 2 Story, Eq. (13 ed.), § 1201. But this rule does not apply to a purchase by a husband in the name of his wife, or by a parent in the name of a child. In such case the. presumption is that the purchase money was intended as an advancement or gift, until the contrary is established by the evidence: 2 Story, Eq. (13 ed.), § 1203; Welton v. Divine, 20 Barb. 9; Guthrie v. Gardner, 19 Wend. 414. If, therefore, it be assumed, although not clearly shown by the evidence, that the purchase of the property and the improvements thereon were made with the defendant’s money, there can be no resulting trust in his favor on account thereof, because there is no evidence to overcome, the presumption that it was intended as a gift to her. Indeed, the testimony on this point tends to show that plaintiff was to be joint owner of the property. She says that it was understood at the time the deed was made that she was to have a one-half interest, while the defendant testifies that there was no understanding about the title, and that his claim is based on the fact that he provided the purchase money. We are therefore of the opinion that there was no resulting trust in favor of the defendant.

2. We are further of opinion that by the deed Horton and the ' plaintiff became tenants by the entirety: Noblitt v. Bebee, 23 Or. 4 (35 Pac. 248); Howell v. Folsom, 38 Or. 184, 187 (63 Pac. 116, 84 Am. St. Rep. 785).

3. There is some conflict in the decisions as to the effect of a divorce upon estates by entirety, but the weight of authority is [600]*600that it destroys the unity of husband and -wife and s^vefs' such estate, making them thereafter tenants in common:'^ Bishop, Mar. & Div. (5 ed.), § 716; Freeman, Co-Tenancy (2 ed.), § 76; Stelz v. Shreck, 128 N. Y. 263 (28 N. E. 510, 13 L. R. A. 325, 26 Am. St. Rep. 475); Russell v. Russell, 122 Mo. 235 (26 S. W. 677, 43 Am. St. Rep. 581); Hopson v. Fowlkes, 92 Tenn. 697 (23 S. W. 55, 23 L. R. A. 805, 36 Am. St. Rep. 120). At common law, husband and wife were regarded as one person, and a conveyance to them by name was in effect a conveyance to a single person. By such a conveyance 'two real persons took the Avhole of the estate between- them, and each -was seised of the whole, and not of any undivided portion. When the unity was destroyed by death, the survivor took the whole of the estate,' because he or she had always been seised of Ihe whole thereof, and the other had no interest which was devisable. But when the unity is destroyed by a decree of divorce, leaving both spouses surviving, the only logical conclusion ia that they thereafter become tenants in common of the property, -bebause' there are two living persons in whom the title rests.

4. The deed from the plaintiff to Williams, made about the time of the commencement of the divorce suit, did' not change the status of the property or the rights of the parties. It was probably intended only as security for professional services, and the. title reinvested in the plaintiff immediately after the decree.

5. A contention is made that the complaint does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of suit, because it is mot alleged specifically what interest or estate the parties had in the property^, but this question was waived by confessing that a demurrer to the complaint was not well taken, and by answering over.

It follows that the decree of the court below must be affirmed, and it is so ordered. Affirmed.

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

Related

Brandt v. Brandt
333 P.2d 887 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1958)
Hall v. Pierce
307 P.2d 292 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1957)
Townsend v. Townsend
168 A. 67 (Superior Court of Delaware, 1933)
Marchand v. Marchand
3 P.2d 128 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1931)
Stewart v. Bleau's Estate
147 A. 692 (Supreme Court of Vermont, 1929)
Bernatavicius v. Bernatavicius
156 N.E. 685 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1927)
Schafer v. Schafer
260 P. 206 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1927)
Ganoe v. Ohmart
254 P. 203 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1927)
Klorfine v. Cole
254 P. 200 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1927)
Bliss v. Miller
250 P. 763 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1926)
Dutton v. Buckley
242 P. 626 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1925)
Breneman v. Corrigan
4 F.2d 225 (Ninth Circuit, 1925)
Twigger v. Twigger
223 P. 934 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1924)
Stout v. Van Zante
219 P. 804 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1923)
Yates v. Yates
1923 OK 863 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1923)
State Ex Rel. Roll v. Ellison
233 S.W. 1065 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1921)
Chase v. McKenzie
159 P. 1025 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1916)
Mendenhall v. Walters
1916 OK 524 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1916)
McKinnon, Currie & Co. v. Caulk
83 S.E. 559 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1914)
Sharpe v. Baker
96 N.E. 627 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1911)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
81 P. 386, 46 Or. 597, 1905 Ore. LEXIS 80, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hayes-v-horton-or-1905.