Lovelace v. Free

35 P.2d 342, 140 Cal. App. 264, 1934 Cal. App. LEXIS 439
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 31, 1934
DocketCiv. No. 1284
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 35 P.2d 342 (Lovelace v. Free) 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
Lovelace v. Free, 35 P.2d 342, 140 Cal. App. 264, 1934 Cal. App. LEXIS 439 (Cal. Ct. App. 1934).

Opinion

JENNINGS, J.

The plaintiff in this action, by her original complaint, sought the aid of equity to'enforce an alleged agreement of the defendant Arthur M. Free to devise to her certain real property and to continue in force unmodified a certain joint policy of life insurance issued on the lives of plaintiff and said defendant.

The facts alleged by the original complaint are substantially as follows: On July 29, 1925, the plaintiff and said defendant Arthur M. Free entered into an agreement [266]*266whereby it was provided and agreed that during the joint lives of said persons the plaintiff would permit Free to occupy her home as his home and that she would render to him services in furnishing him with a home, board, personal care, nursing, driving him in her automobile, caring for his clothing, and rendering such other service of a similar nature as he might desire or should require and in consideration of plaintiff’s promise to perform such agreement on her part the said defendant Arthur M. Free agreed that he would treat plaintiff as a life employee and that he would transfer and convey to her all property which he then owned or might thereafter acquire and in accordance with his agreement on April 2, 1926, he did execute and deliver to plaintiff a written instrument whereby he disposed of all of his property in favor of plaintiff and thereafter in the month of November, 1931, in conjunction with plaintiff he procured a policy of life insurance in the amount of $20,000 and agreed that said policy of life insurance should belong to said parties for their joint support during their joint lives and should thereafter become the property of the survivor “and such agreement is still in force, as plaintiff is informed and believes, except as modified, without the consent of plaintiff by some provision in said policy in favor of said defendants Maude Iiawke and Florence Stockton Free”. It is also alleged in said complaint that it was agreed that the defendant Arthur M. Free would manage and preserve the principal sum of all property which he owned or should thereafter acquire and that from April 2, 1926, the plaintiff should have the same and an equal right, title, and ownership in all his property as was held by said Arthur M. Free.

The complaint further alleged that in performance of her part of the agreement the plaintiff permitted Free to move into and to occupy her residence as his home; that from April 2, 1926, she furnished him with board, personal care, nursing, automobile transportation, care of his clothing, and such other service as is generally provided in a home until November 22, 1932, when, without her consent he left her home and refused thereafter to accept further performance of the agreement by her and himself refused to perform his part of the agreement.

[267]*267The complaint also alleged that the defendant Arthur M. Free in performance of. his agreement had executed and delivered to plaintiff a will in her favor devising and bequeathing to her all of his property and had agreed that he would not revoke or modify said will, but that she had been informed and believed and therefore alleged that he had attempted to revoke the will in a manner unknown to her.

A further allegation contained in the complaint set out that the defendant Free had accepted performance by plaintiff of all terms of the agreement for more than six years; that it was a part of said agreement that said defendant would, during the joiút lives of plaintiff and said defendant, give to plaintiff the benefit of his society, comfort and companionship; that the agreement was just and reasonable as to both parties thereto and that each party had received an adequate consideration for the performance of the covenants and agreements which were to be performed by such party.

The final allegation of the complaint was to the effect that plaintiff had been informed and believed that unless restrained the defendant Arthur M. Free and the other defendants would cancel or change the policy of insurance in such manner as to defeat the rights of plaintiff thereunder and would transfer, encumber or otherwise dispose of the real property owned by the defendant Free and thereby prevent plaintiff from completely obtaining the rights therein to which she was entitled by virtue of the above-mentioned agreement; that “plaintiff has no plain, speedy or adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law; and said defendant A. M. Free will be unable to respond in damages except out of said property now owned by him, and plaintiff as above described”.

The prayer of the complaint was for the issuance of (1) a temporary injunction pending trial of the action restraining the defendants from changing or modifying the insurance policy and from revoking or modifying the will; (2) a permanent injunction restraining the defendants from encumbering or disposing of the real property owned by the defendant Arthur M. Free, without plaintiff’s consent or the consent of the court, and that the court either by injunction or by receiver preserve the real property for those [268]*268interested therein and particularly preserve plaintiff’s rights therein to which she was entitled by virtue of the agreement between her and Free and if necessary the court should divide and partition the said real property.

To this complaint the plaintiff filed three amendments. One of such amendments alleged that the value of the real property owned by the defendant Arthur M. Free, as described in the complaint, was and is the sum of $60,000. Another of such amendments alleged that it was made in compliance with section 447 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and stated that the plaintiff would rely in part upon written instruments and that two of such instruments were the life insurance policy and the will of Arthur M. Free, both of which instruments were mentioned in the complaint. The third amendment alleged that at the time when the agreement between plaintiff and defendant Free was made the plaintiff was thirty-five years of ago and had an expectancy of thirty-two years and the defendant Free was forty-seven years of age and had an expectancy of twenty-three years and that each party to the agreement was in a normal state of health; that at said time defendant Free was a competent dentist and was in receipt of an annual income of more than $5,000; that plaintiff had practically no income but was the owner of a home and that she had been trained in housekeeping, in practical nursing and as a dentist’s assistant. This amendment also contained the following allegation: “That if Arthur M. Free had performed the terms of said contract on his part and permitted plaintiff to perform the same on her part for the balance of the agreed term thereof, plaintiff would have received therefrom support and maintenance for the balance of her life, which would have been of the value of $60,000, and by reason of the acts of said Arthur M. Free, she has been deprived of said support and maintenance to her damage in the sum of $60,000.00; and the value of her services, rents, board and other matters given by plaintiff in performance which plaintiff actually rendered to said Arthur M. Free as far as he permitted her to perform were of the value of $20,000.00; and the total damages suffered by plaintiff by reason of said acts of said defendant Arthur M. Free were and are the sum of -$60,000.00. WHEREFORE, plaintiff in addition to the relief prayed for in her original complaint herein prays [269]*269judgment against defendant Arthur M. Free for the sum of $60,000.00.”

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Related

Tompkins v. Hoge
250 P.2d 174 (California Court of Appeal, 1952)
Lovelace v. Free
54 P.2d 82 (California Court of Appeal, 1936)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
35 P.2d 342, 140 Cal. App. 264, 1934 Cal. App. LEXIS 439, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lovelace-v-free-calctapp-1934.