McDonnell v. Winthrop State Bank

179 Iowa 551
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedDecember 13, 1916
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 179 Iowa 551 (McDonnell v. Winthrop State Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McDonnell v. Winthrop State Bank, 179 Iowa 551 (iowa 1916).

Opinion

Evans, J.

1' uen°Mnumiea woman do-scribed by name of husband. To put it briefly, the real question in this case is whether a judgment . ,. -. . . , , . , is valid as such when entered against a mar- . . . lied woman m lier married name, including not only the surname of her husband, but his christened name also; and this in lieu of the maiden name of the judgment defendant, either surname or christened name. The maiden name of the judgment defendant was Annie McDonnell. She married Terrance Diggins. The judgment plaintiff (defendant here) took judgment against her as “Mrs. Terrance Diggins,” the judgment being in all other respects regular.

The claim of the plaintiff is that, in order to be valid, a judgment should have been entered against her in the name of “Annie Diggins;” that, because of the failure to so enter it, the record of the judgment afforded no constructive notice to the plaintiff as a subsequent innocent purchaser of the land.

Stating the facts more fully, James McDonnell, the plaintiff herein, and Mrs. Diggins are brother and sister. The land in question was formerly owned by their father, who died in 1894. Title thereto was cast upon his children, one seventh to each. In the probate proceedings affecting the estate of the father, the name of Mrs. Diggins appeared as Annie Diggins. She continued to own her one-seventh interest in the real estate, until it was divested by a partition sale in 3912, at which sale the plaintiff herein became the purchaser. Prior to such sale, Mrs. Diggins confessed judgment in favor of the Wintiirop State Dank for $1,086. To such confession, she signed her name as “Mrs. Terrance [554]*554Diggins.” The judgment was regularly entered against her in the district court in that name and was duly indexed accordingly, both in the Judgment Record and in the “All Lien Index.” The plaintiff bid off the land at the partition sale, and afterwards paid the purchase price thereof in full, without any actual knowledge that there was any judgment against his sister, Mrs. Diggins. Before paying the purchase money, he obtained an abstract from a regular labstracter, and this abstract failed to show the judgment in question. Mrs. Diggins had been married to her husband 25 years, and was generally known as “Mrs. Terrance Dig-gins.” Her husband had recently become insane, and was confined in an asylum. She had been appointed' his guardian. She had transacted more or less business, and had often signed her name therein as “Mrs. Terrance Diggins.” She was also known as “Mrs. Terry Diggins,” and as “Annie Diggins.” She had a sister-in-law who was also “Annie Diggins.” This fact may have stimulated the use of the christened name of her husband, both by herself and by her friends, by way of differentiation. The plaintiff and Mrs. Diggins lived in the same county, though 12 or 15 miles apart. The plaintiff was entirely familiar with ihe name of his sister’s husband, and knew that she was often known as “Mrs. Terrance Diggins.” He did not, however, know that this judgment had been entered against her.

As already indicated, the plaintiff purchased the land at a regular partition sale. The record herein does not disclose whether the judgment in question was entered prior to the commencement of the partition proceedings. In support of the decree of the trial court, we assume the affirmative; otherwise, a question of Us pendens might arise as against the judgment plaintiff. We assume also that the judgment plaintiff, being such at the time of the commencement of the partition proceedings, was not a party thereto, and had no notice thereof, although the record is silent at this point.

[555]*555The basic argument for the appellant is that, because of the alleged misnomer in the name of the judgment defendant, the judgment as thus entered failed to impart constructive notice to a subsequent purchaser. We shall, therefore, confine our consideration to this proposition.

Section 3801 of the Code is as follows:

“Judgments in the supreme or district court of this state, or in the circuit or district court of the United States within the state, are liens upon the real estate owned by the defendant at the time of such rendition, and also upon all he may subsequently acquire, for the period of ten years from the date of the judgment.”

It will be noted that there is no provision of our statute requiring the holder of a judgment to give notice of his judgment, either actual or constructive. The express provision is that judgments “are liens upon the real estate owned by the defendant.” It is true, however, that the statute imposes certain record formalities as conditions prerequisite to the existence of a judgment. Until these formalities are complied with, there is no judgment, in a legal sense. There must be an actual entry of the judgment upon the proper record, and there must be a proper index of the judgment, before the judgment can be recognized as such. These formal requirements are undoubtedly intended to enable the searcher to discover the judgment. These requirements are somewhat analogous in principle to the requirements for recording and indexing instruments in the recorder’s office for the purpose of constructive notice, and the reasons and principles governing the one may very properly be followed in considering the other. The purchaser of the real estate is necessarily charged with notice of the statutory provision that the land which he purchases is charged with the lien of any judgments which shall have been entered within ten years against any record owner of the land who was or became such after the entry of such judgment.

[556]*5562- ína°Cnoupe°fIS" man^mar-in h™ or maiden name. The first question involved herein, therefore, really is whether the judgment attacked was valid as such. No question of fraud, collusion or bad faith is involved. There is no claim that the name adopted by the judgment defendant was assumed for the purpose of misleading or deceiving anyone. Beduced to its lowest terms, the question is, Was it legally permissible to obtain jurisdiction over Mrs. Diggins under the name of “Mrs. Terrance Diggins?” If yea, was it likewise permissible to enter a valid judgment against her under such name?

8. Names : assumpci names: name oilier than baptismal name: effect. The appellant necessarily contends for the negative answer io this query. There are authorities which seem to sustain the appellant’s contention at this point. Uihlein v. Gladicux, (Ohio) 78 N. E. 363. They may be controlled by statutory provisions differing from ours; if not, they do not commend themselves to our judgment. They also run counter to our former holdings. „ . . , , We can conceive of no fair legal reason why . n , , , a married woman may not be known by the name of her husband, including his christened name, where she uses therewith the designation of “Mrs.” We think it is a matter of common knowledge that married women are known to the community generally more readily by the names of their husbands than by their own maiden names, either christened or surname. The use of a husband’s name in such manner is not calculated to mislead or to deceive even a stranger.- Much, less is it calculated to deceive such of a married woman’s own near relatives as are familiar with her married name. There is no legal inhibition against the use of a name by which one is generally known.

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Bluebook (online)
179 Iowa 551, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcdonnell-v-winthrop-state-bank-iowa-1916.