Klein v. Farmer

160 P.2d 30, 70 Cal. App. 2d 51, 1945 Cal. App. LEXIS 1034
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 3, 1945
DocketCiv. 12829
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 160 P.2d 30 (Klein v. Farmer) 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
Klein v. Farmer, 160 P.2d 30, 70 Cal. App. 2d 51, 1945 Cal. App. LEXIS 1034 (Cal. Ct. App. 1945).

Opinion

GOODELL, J.

This is an appeal from a judgment and decree quieting the plaintiff’s title to corporate stock.

The decedent, William Otto Emerson, died intestate on *53 December 24, 1940, at the age of 85 years. Shortly thereafter the appellant caused to be transferred from decedent’s name into her own and reissued to herself certificates evidencing the ownership of 12 shares of American Telephone and Telegraph Company and 400 shares of Pacific Gas and Electric Company stock which he had assigned on the back thereof to her. A few days after decedent’s death the appellant placed on record a deed made on the 7th, and acknowledged on the 8th day of February 1933, purporting to convey from decedent to appellant a piece of real property in Hayward. In a suit brought by Dicka Klein as successor in interest of decedent’s sole heir at law, to quiet title to said real property, the judgment went against the defendant (appellant herein) and on appeal that judgment was affirmed by this court in Klein v. Farmer, 57 Cal.App.2d 542 [135 P.2d 21], where the statement of facts is sufficient to render unnecessary a repetition here.

While the instant case involves only the stock, it is intimately related to the other case for the reason that the record in that first case shows all the facts and circumstances under which the certificates of stock came into the possession of the appellant, as well as those under which the deed came into her possession. The certificates and the deed were together, the appellant received them at the same time, and whatever was said and done with respect to the deed was said and done with respect to the certificates. By stipulation the record in that case became the record in this case, and it is again before us on this appeal with but slight amplification.

The only new testimony touching on delivery or possession of the certificates was that of the appellant that immediately after decedent handed her the stock and the deed, in April, 1934, she discontinued her former business; also that on December 30, 1940, she turned over to her attorney the indorsed certificates for the purpose of having them transferred into her name and that was the first time she had consulted an attorney in this case. Also that one day about the year 1937 when she, her former husband and the decedent were in Oakland, decedent expressed a desire to visit appellant’s safe deposit box and see the envelope containing the deed and stock certificates as he wanted to be sure the envelope was in a safe place; they visited the box and showed decedent the envelope. Appellant’s former husband corrobo *54 rated this, except he fixed the time as 1938 instead of 1937. He also testified that in 1938 he accompanied appellant to her safe deposit box and saw a large envelope, on the outside of which a statement was written in decedent’s handwriting to the effect that it was to be opened at his death and placed on record. He also testified that decedent had said to him that he had transferred to appellant some stock in the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and in the American Telephone and Telegraph Co. The witness Hazel Ford testified that three days after decedent’s death appellant told her over the telephone that she had received in that morning’s mail a letter by which decedent had given her the" contents of the house. The appellant testified that this letter was included in the same envelope as the deed and the certificates. Respondent’s attorney testified that after decedent’s death appellant told him over the telephone that the letter by which decedent gave her the contents of the house came through the mail from an unknown source after the decedent’s death.

The appellant was asked on cross-examination whether during the decedent’s lifetime if she had ceased to stay with him, she would have returned the envelope and its contents to him, to which she replied that she would have on condition that she would be adequately paid for services rendered up until that time. On cross-examination the appellant testified that the decedent showed her the deed and put it in the envelope in which was some stock, the certificates for which he showed her. She knew how many shares there were but not the amount. She did not open each certificate “and look at the amount.” She said by “amount” she meant the value of each certificate. She said “In my testimony I said he handed me the envelope and showed me the deed. I said, then he took it back to his desk and sealed it and put his stamps on it. I never said he handed me the sealed envelope.” She said “The agreement was made altogether for the stock and the deed.” She testified the decedent many times told her “Florence, when I am gone you will have about $600 net income and you will have this home for yourself. You can sell your home. I want you to live right here so the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts can come here and enjoy themselves as much as they want. Don’t leave the house. With $600 a year and this home you can live nicely. ’ ’

The witness Edith Cohen testified that about 1938 or 1939 *55 decedent had said to her that he didn’t care for wills and was going to make everything right; that there would be no trouble when he left this world and he had given appellant a deed and he was going to look after things for her, what he thought was compensation for all she had done for him. A year later he repeated this—that he had given appellant a deed instead of a will.

A daughter of appellant testified that in 1938 she accompanied the appellant to her safe deposit box and saw in the box a large envelope with something written on it in decedent’s handwriting.

None of this additional testimony materially changed the testimony in the first case with respect to intent, delivery or possession.

From what has been said it would seem to follow that as far as the questions or issues of intent, delivery and possession are concerned, the trial court in the instant ease would be bound to find, on the same record, as it did, that there had been no delivery of the stock, unless the rules of law respecting the delivery of certificates of stock differ from those respecting the delivery of a deed. We are satisfied that section 330.1, Civil Code, which in 1931 replaced section 324, made no change in the law with respect to delivery. The new section as well as the old, provides that transfer of title is effected by indorsement and delivery. With respect to section 330.1 this is said at 6A California Jurisprudence, page 653, section 364: “The ambiguity of the former statute is avoided, although it must be conceded that the courts had pretty well cleared it away by construction, with the result that the Transfer Act is largely declarative of settled and general law.” And at page 656, it is said: “As was also the case under the former statute, if title is to pass by gift, it must pass by one of the legal modes.

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Bluebook (online)
160 P.2d 30, 70 Cal. App. 2d 51, 1945 Cal. App. LEXIS 1034, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/klein-v-farmer-calctapp-1945.