Law v. Law

15 F. Cas. 15, 3 D.C. 324, 3 Cranch 324

Opinion

CRAnch, C. J.

We are of opinion that the proceeds of the sale of Mr. J. Law’s equitable interest in the lot of land, in the hands of the trustee who made the sale, are equitable, not legal assets, inasmuch as the legal estate never was in him; and therefore it is not like the case of a mortgagor who has an equity of redemption; and who, upon the mortgage-money being paid, is reinvested with the legal estate without any recon-veyance from the mortgagee. It is said that a judgment creditor has a right to redeem the mortgage, and by paying the mortgage-money, the legal estate reverts to the mortgagor, so that the judgment is a legal lien upon the lands, subject to the mortgage, as in the case of Sharpe v. Earl of Scarborough, cited above.

ThRüston, J. absent.