Menge v. Brown

342 P.2d 908, 173 Cal. App. 2d 6, 1959 Cal. App. LEXIS 1560
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 12, 1959
DocketCiv. No. 23502
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 342 P.2d 908 (Menge v. Brown) 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
Menge v. Brown, 342 P.2d 908, 173 Cal. App. 2d 6, 1959 Cal. App. LEXIS 1560 (Cal. Ct. App. 1959).

Opinion

WHITE, P. J.

Plaintiff Betty W. Menge (formerly Betty W. Brown, wife of the defendant Louis A. Brown, Jr., and at the time of trial Betty W. Chapman) appeals from certain portions of the judgment in an action brought by her against her former husband and one Robert J. Magdlen “for declaratory relief and to invalidate a trust,” of which appellant and her former husband were trustors and said Magdlen was trustee.

Prior to the trial the parties resolved most of their controversies, terminated the trust by agreement, and, in order to expedite the sale of a portion of the trust properties then in escrow, waived their respective rights to appeal except as to certain limited questions.

The portion of the judgment from which the instant appeal was taken and of which appellant, in her briefs, seeks reversal is: “Item 2a (5) of the judgment . . . that the net proceeds of the sale of Lot 34 . . . shall be divided and paid over by the Trustee equally” to plaintiff and defendant Brown.

In her action for divorce, on December 21, 1953, plaintiff and her then husband, defendant Brown, stipulated in open court that plaintiff should be awarded “The use of Lot 34 located in Palmdale, and all of the income to be derived from said real property. In the event said property is leased for commercial purposes, Mrs. Brown is to have the right to remove the main house located upon said real property and to retain title to said house as her separate property. ’ ’ (Emphasis added.) (Brown v. Brown, 162 Cal.App.2d 314, 316 [328 P.2d 4].)

The interlocutory judgment dated, signed and filed February 23 and entered February 24, 1954, provides that, pursuant to said stipulation certain specified assets are awarded to husband and wife as their respective sole and separate properties. Included in such award as the sole and separate property of plaintiff wife is “the use of said Lot 34 . . . and the residential rental income derived therefrom. In the event the said property is leased for commercial purposes . . . the right to remove the house . . . and retain title thereto as her separate property, whereupon her right to the income from said real property shall terminate.” Said judgment in the divorce action provides further that “all the balance of the property of which the parties are possessed,” listing said Lot 34 and five other items “shall be placed in trust with the trustee . . . the terms of said trust shall be reduced to writing and executed by both parties and said trust to be operated [9]*9for the benefit of the plaintiff Betty W. Brown and defendant Louis A. Brown, Jr. sharing equally in the benefits of said trust. ’ ’ (Emphasis added.)

Both the declaration of trust between the parties plaintiff and defendant Brown, as trustors, and defendant Magdlen, as trustee, and the grant deed from plaintiff and defendant Brown to said Magdlen, as trustee, are dated and acknowledged February 8, 1954 (after the stipulation made in open court and entered in the minutes of the divorce action and before the interlocutory decree was made). Said declaration of trust provides that “this trust and the terms thereof are created and made a part of that certain interlocutory decree of divorce between the trustors herein named” (plaintiff and defendant Brown in the instant action), “dated the 21st day of December, 1953” (the date of the stipulation in open court, but not the date of said interlocutory decree).

The trust property described in an exhibit attached to said declaration of trust and referred to therein includes said Lot 34 and the other items of community property ordered by the divorce court to “be placed in trust. ’ ’ By said declaration of trust it is agreed that “the trustee shall pay to or apply for the benefit of both of the trustors herein, in equal shares all of the income from the trust estate.” (Emphasis added.)

At all times since December 21, 1953, plaintiff has remained in the exclusive possession of said Lot 34, continued to reside in the main house and to collect rents for the two smaller houses thereon. Such rentals were not then, and are not now, claimed to be a part of the trust estate. Neither the declaration of trust or the deed from the Browns to the Trustee mentions plaintiff’s right to the use and/or rentals of said lot.

None of the assets awarded by the court to the parties as their separate properties are mentioned in said declaration of trust. Neither plaintiff nor defendant Brown has claimed any interest in the properties awarded to the other, except that in the instant action defendant Brown contends that the value of his interest in said Lot 34 is equal to the value of the interest of plaintiff therein.

April 29, 1957, the superior court denied plaintiff’s motion to amend nunc pro tunc said interlocutory judgment by substituting “all of the income” for the “residential income” of said Lot 34, and by striking the clause terminating her right to income from said lot in the event it should be leased for [10]*10commercial purposes. Judge Paonessa, before whom said stipulation had been made and who granted the interlocutory decree also heard said motion to amend the interlocutory decree. He then clearly stated that the interlocutory decree contained no clerical error, that the stipulation of December 21, 1953, was ambiguous, that the parties had the right to clarify it, that the interlocutory judgment upon his order was thereafter prepared by plaintiff’s counsel, examined and approved by the attorney for defendant Brown, and it expressed the intention and agreement of the parties as he then understood it. His order denying plaintiff’s motion to amend was affirmed by the District Court of Appeal (Brown v. Brown, supra, p. 317) and hearing was denied by the Supreme Court, September 17,1958.

Not only were plaintiff and defendant Brown the Trustors in said declaration of trust, but they were also the beneficiaries and at all times during their lifetime and competency retained in their own hands the right to make and control sales or exchanges of trust property and investments of trust funds, and the right, by their agreement in writing, to amend or revoke said trust.

December 18, 1957, plaintiff, defendant Brown and defendant Magdlen, their said trustee, executed an agreement providing for the disposition of the property of the trust which agreement they later stipulated “shall be incorporated as a portion of the pretrial order herein and . . . shall be made a part of the final judgment herein. ’ ’

They thereby agreed that said trust shall be terminated and dissolved and the properties distributed by order of court; that said Lot 34 is to be sold by the trustee and the funds remaining after payment of the expenses of sale shall be distributed by court order, it being expressly agreed that such sale “shall in no way prejudice any of the rights” of plaintiff “over and above the one-half interest in said Lot 34 or proceeds thereof.”

“ (b) That in the present action, at the trial of said action, it shall be determined by the court, the interest of Chapman (plaintiff) in and to Lot 34 according to the terms of the interlocutory decree between Chapman and Brown dated the 23d day of February, 1954. If it is determined that said Chapman has only a one-half interest in Lot 34 and no, more, then the proceeds allocated to said Lot 34 shall be divided equally between Chapman and Brown.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
342 P.2d 908, 173 Cal. App. 2d 6, 1959 Cal. App. LEXIS 1560, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/menge-v-brown-calctapp-1959.