Maders v. Whallon

26 N.Y.S. 614, 81 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 372, 56 N.Y. St. Rep. 327, 74 Hun 372
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 6, 1893
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 26 N.Y.S. 614 (Maders v. Whallon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Maders v. Whallon, 26 N.Y.S. 614, 81 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 372, 56 N.Y. St. Rep. 327, 74 Hun 372 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1893).

Opinion

MAYHAM, P. J.

The plaintiff brings this action as receiver of the property and effects of the defendant William I. Whallon, by virtue of an appointment made in a proceeding supplemental to execution on a judgment against the defendant Whallon. The complaint alleged the recovery of two judgments against the defendant William I. Whallon,—one in favor of Minnie Whallon in the county court of Essex county, for about $82, which was entered and docketed in that county on the 1st of July, 1889, and one in justice’s court, of Henry S. Fletcher, for about $36, a transcript of which was filed and docketed in the Essex county clerk’s office on the 15th day of June, 1889; and that an execution was duly issued on the last-mentioned judgment, which was returned wholly unsatisfied on the 5th day of August, 1889; and that, after the return of such execution, proceedings supplementary to execution were instituted [615]*615on the judgment, which resulted in the appointment of the plaintiff as receiver, who, as such, duly qualified and entered upon the discharge of his duties on the 14th day of December, 1889, which receivership was subsequently, by an order of the court, extended to the judgment against the defendant William I. Whallon in favor of Minnie Whallon, above referred to. The complaint also alleged that on the 23d day of November, 1888, William I. Whallon was the owner in fee and in possession of two farms or pieces of land situate in Essex county, one of 189 acres, and one of 100 acres, together of the value of $6,000, free of liens or incumbrances except a mortgage of $1,050, and that on that day he made, executed, and delivered to the defendant William J. McAuliff a deed of conveyance of such lands, in which his wife, who is named herein as defendant, joined; that the consideration expressed in such deed was $5,000, to secure the payment of which to the defendant Wiliam L Whallon, the defendant McAuliff executed and delivered to him his bond for that sum, payable in annual installments of $500 each, with annual interest, and, as collateral to such bond, also executed- and delivered a mortgage on said lands, conditioned for the payment of such sum of $5,000 and interest, which bond and mortgage the defendant William I. Whallon still owns and holds, and that no part of the same has been paid or satisfied. The complaint charges that such conveyance of the lands therein described was made by the defendant William I. Whallon, and received and accepted by the defendant William J. McAuliff, for the purpose and with the intent of hindering, delaying, and defrauding the creditors of the deféndant William I. Whallon, and that since the execution, and delivery of such deed of conveyance the defendant William L Whallon has continued in the possession of the lands conveyed» The relief asked for in the complaint is that the conveyance to Mc-Auliff may be adjudged fraudulent and void; that the defendants- and each of them may be adjudged to account for the property received by them under such conveyance; that the premises may be sold to satisfy such judgments and costs, and the cost and expenses of the receivership, subject to the inchoate right of dower of the-wife of the defendant William I. Whallon. The defendants answered separately, denying the alleged fraud. This action was once tried, and the trial resulted in a decree of foreclosure of the mortgage given by McAuliff to the defendant William I. Whallon, which decree was reversed by this court on the ground that a decree in. foreclosure was not authorized or proper under the complaint. Maders v. Whallon, (Sup.) 19 N. Y. Supp. 638.

On this trial the objection was made, at the opening of case:, that the complaint failed to state a cause of action, and should for that reason be dismissed. The plaintiff thereupon moved to amend the complaint by inserting therein, after the words “has no property,” the words “and had no other property subject to levy and sale on execution at the time of or since the date of said conveyance, or since the rendition of the judgment.” The defendant duly-objected to the allowance of the amendment, and the court overruled [616]*616the objection, and allowed the amendment, to which the defendants excepted. It is now insisted that the complaint was not in fact amended, as the amendment does not appear in the complaint as incorporated in the judgment roll, and that the case, on this ■appeal, must be treated as if no amendment had been allowed by the trial judge. We cannot agree with the learned counsel in this contention, but we think we must treat the case the same as though the proposed amendment had been actually written in the complaint.

But it is further insisted that the court, at the trial, had no power or authority to allow the amendment at the trial, as the original complaint contained no cause of action, and the amendment therefore introduced into it a new cause of action, which it is insisted can only be done on a motion before trial. Section 723 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides that “the court may, upon the trial, * * * amend any process, pleading or other proceeding, * * * by inserting an allegation material to the case; or, when the amendment does not change substantially the claim or defence, by conforming the pleading or other proceedings to the facts proved.” This section seems to provide for an amendment upon the trial in two classes: First. When the amendment is made before the evidence is in, the court may allow an amendment “by inserting an allegation material to the case.” Second. After the evidence, is taken, “when the amendment does not change substantially the claim or defense, by conforming the pleadings to the facts proved.” In the first class the power to amend is only limited to cases where substantial justice is promoted by the amendment; the second has the further limitation that it shall “not change substantially the claim or defense.” The disjunctive “or” between these two classes seems to indicate that they are governed by different rules. In the case at bar, the amendment was made before the evidence was offered or taken. The cases cited by the appellant do not conflict with this interpretation of section 723 of the Code. In Barnes v. Seligman, 55 Hun, 349, 8 N. Y. Supp. 834, evidence was received under objection that it was not authorized by the pleadings, and it was held that the pleadings could not be amended, after trial, to conform to the proof. In Rutty v. Fruit-Jar Co., 52 Hun, 492, 6 N. Y. Supp. 23, it was held that pleadings cannot be conformed to the proof when objection is taken in due form to the sufficiency of the complaint to authorize the proof, and that only when the proof was received without objection an amendment at the close of the trial, conforming the pleadings to the proofs, was proper. In Shaw v. Bryant, 65 Hun, 57, 19 N. Y. Supp. 618, the referee allowed an amendment on the trial, changing the complaint from one in equity to an action at common law, charging the defendant with a personal liability; and the court, on appeal, held that such an amendment was not authorized under Code Civil Proc. § 723. The difference between that case and this is that in that case the amendment changed the entire nature of the action, whereas in. this the amendment only “inserted an allegation material to the case.” In [617]*617that case it does not appear at what precise stage of the trial the amendment was made, but it does appear that it was after much time had been spent in the trial. I am therefore inclined to the opinion that the court did not transcend its powers in granting this amendment at the commencement of the trial, and that such amendment was authorized under section 723 of the Code.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
26 N.Y.S. 614, 81 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 372, 56 N.Y. St. Rep. 327, 74 Hun 372, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/maders-v-whallon-nysupct-1893.