Kirksey v. Snedecor

60 Ala. 192
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedDecember 15, 1877
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 60 Ala. 192 (Kirksey v. Snedecor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kirksey v. Snedecor, 60 Ala. 192 (Ala. 1877).

Opinion

STONE, J.

These three cases present, substantially, the same questions, and we will consider them together. The bills are in the form of creditors’ bills, filed by the complainant, Kirksey, in behalf of himself and all other creditors of the estate of J. J. Little, who will make themselves parties, and contribute to the expense of the suit. No other creditors have come in, and Kirksey remains sole complainant. The gravamen of the bills is, that Little, the intestate, in his lifetime, being largely indebted to complainant and others, purchased several tracts of land, described in the bills, paid for them with his own money, and had the titles made to Sarah A. Little, his wife, without valuable consideration moving from her, and with intent to delay, hinder, and defraud his creditors.

Fraud that will vitiate a conveyance, and expose the property conveyed to the debts of the grantor, or of the person who pays the purchase-money, is of several classes. A conveyance of property on a consideration simply good, and not valuable, is voidable and inoperative against any debt the grantor may then owe; and this, without any reference to the innocence of the motive, or the present ability of the grantor to pay his debts from other sources.—Miller v. Thompson, 3 Por. 196; Moore v. Spence, 6 Ala. 506; Stokes v. Jones, 18 Ala. 734; 2 Brick. Dig. 21, § 100. A conveyance by gift, or on other consideration not deemed valuable in the law, is [198]*198not, for that cause alone, rendered invalid as to subsequent creditors; and hence, while such conveyance will be set aside as to antecedent debts, it will be upheld as to subsequent debts. We have never followed the doctrine, that a conveyance, made without intentional fraud, by one indebted at the time, can be, on that ground, set aside by a subsequent creditor; or, if set aside by a prior creditor, let in a subsequent creditor to share in the proceeds. To do so, would be to obliterate the distinction between actual, or intentional fraud, and constructive fraud.—See Corprew v. Arthur, 15 Ala. 525; Stiles v. Lightfoot, 26 Ala. 443; Spencer v. Godwin, 30 Ala. 355; Huggins v. Perrine, 30 Ala. 396; Gardner v. Booth, 31 Ala. 186; Cole v. Varner, Ib. 244: Pinkston v. McLemore, Ib. 308. But conveyances made in actual fraud — with intent to delay, hinder, or defraud creditors — may be avoided by any creditor or purchaser, subsequent as well as antecedent.—Williams v. Avery, 38 Ala. 115; Huggins v. Perrine, supra. In Crawford v. Kirksey, at December term, 1876, we drew some distinctions between sales made by a failing or insolvent debtor in payment of a bona fide debt, and such sales when made upon a new consideration, presently paid. We need not repeat what we then said, as we do not consider that question directly presented by these records.—See Hubbard v. Allen, at this term.

Five deeds are brought to view in the present suits, and they are all assailed on two grounds: first, that the consideration in each case moved from J. J. Little, the intestate, and not from Sarah A. Little; and, second, that each and every one of the deeds was procured to be made to Mrs. Little, with intent to delay, hinder, and defraud the creditors of J. J. Little. The first and most important deed was made by Hibler and wife, and bears date September 2d, 1867. This deed, after being duly acknowledged and certified, was recorded in the probate office of the county, January 10th, 1868. The consideration of this sale was $6,400, and the record is silent as to when it was paid. We infer it was paid before the deed was executed. The second deed averred to have been made, it is charged, bears date February 15, 1868, and was executed by Mary Beatty. This deed is not in the record, and it is neither averred nor proved when the consideration was paid, the amount of it, or value of the lot purchased. We infer this was paid for at or before the execution of the deed. We know not whether this deed was recorded. The third was executed by Eeavis and wife— their first sale — and bears date April 9th, 1868; consideration, $470 in gold, paid down at the purchase. This deed was not received for record, until' October 4th, 1871, The [199]*199bills charge that, when, these deeds were executed, J. J. Little was largely indebted to complainant and others. The account and dealings between Little and Kirksey & Carpenter — now Kirksey — is made part of the testimony. It shows that the first item of indebtedness from the former to the latter was April 11th, 1868, “ cash paid Stone & Matthews, $1,000.” On the 25th of the same month, $900 of this was returned, or refunded. The next debit is May 6th, $150; set off by a collection by Kirksey & Carpenter, for Little, of the same amount, two days before. On the 23d April, 1869, the account was made out and balanced between the parties, and the balance then against Little was only $581.42, five hundred dollars of which was for an advance made that day. It is thus shown that, at the purchase of the three parcels of land above referred to, Little was not at all indebted to Kirksey & Carpenter; and so, as to these tracts, the relief claimed on the ground stated above must fail.

The other two conveyances, however, stand on a different footing. The deed of Thompson, administrator of Rogers, was executed December 19th, 1870; and the second deed from Reavis and wife bears date September 28th, 1871. There are circumstances tending to show that these purchases were probably made at an earlier date than these deeds show. But no reliable evidence is given, showing when the purchases were made, or the money paid. Hence we can not, with safety, assign to these transactions dates different from those shown in the deeds. Kirksey & Carpenter were large creditors of Little when each of these transactions was had, and their debt has never been paid. In January, 1870, the balance was over $7,000. In April following, it was near $5,000; and it steadily grew from that time until Little’s death, in February, 1872. These purchases fall under the principle of conveyances made by - or through a person who is indebted at the time, and cast on the grantee the necessity of proving a valuable consideration. The $1,000 alleged to have been received from Mrs. Rogers, the distributive share of Mrs. Little in her father’s estate, is the only item we deem it necessary to consider in this connection. Of that sum, Little received $800 in draft of Mrs. Rogers, which went to complainant in this suit, March 4, 1869 ; immediately after it was drawn. When the remaining $200 was received is not shown. Little paid Thompson, administrator of Rogers, the purchase-money for the property bought of him, by obtaining a loan from Chas. Hopkins & Co., October 18th, 1870. He paid Reavis, for the purchase from him,, through Kirksey & Carpenter, in January, 1869, and in January, 1871. There is no testimony sufficiently [200]*200explicit to connect either of these purchases with the $1,000— Mrs. Little’s distribution-money — and this line of the defense must fail.—See Hubbard v. Allen, at the present term; and Hamilton v. Blackwell, at present term.

The only remaining question we need discuss, is the charge in the bills that the several deeds were procured by Little to be made to Mrs. Little, with intent to delay, hinder, and defraud his creditors. "We have above disposed of the question of the invalidity of the deeds of Thompson, administrator of Eogers, and of the second deed by Eeavis and wife.

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

Related

W. T. Rawleigh Co. v. Barnette
44 So. 2d 585 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1950)
May v. State National Bank
28 S.W. 431 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1894)
Echols v. Peurrung Bros. & Co.
107 Ala. 660 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1894)
Wynne, Love & Co. v. Mason
72 Miss. 424 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1894)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
60 Ala. 192, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kirksey-v-snedecor-ala-1877.