Schwind v. O'Halloran

142 S.W.2d 55, 346 Mo. 486, 1940 Mo. LEXIS 416
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedJuly 3, 1940
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 142 S.W.2d 55 (Schwind v. O'Halloran) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Schwind v. O'Halloran, 142 S.W.2d 55, 346 Mo. 486, 1940 Mo. LEXIS 416 (Mo. 1940).

Opinions

* NOTE: Opinion filed at September Term, 1939, May 4, 1940; respondent's motions for rehearing and to transfer to Court en Banc filed; motions overruled at May Term, 1940, July 3, 1940. This is an action by Elizabeth Schwind, the widow of Charles A. Schwind, against Anthony A. O'Halloran, as Administrator pendente lite of the estate of Charles A. Schwind, deceased, and Ferdinand Schwind and Eugene Schwind. Plaintiff seeks to establish the interests of herself (and her transferees, her sons, the codefendants Schwind) in eight certain notes of the aggregate face value of $40,000, secured by deeds of trust, as property held by her husband and herself during his lifetime by the entirety (as well as to payments thereon made subsequent to his death), and to restrain said Administrator from interfering with the rights of herself and her said transferees in and to said property. Plaintiff's petition alleged, as does the joint answer of defendants Ferdinand and Eugene Schwind, that plaintiff transferred said notes and deeds of trust to said defendants, subject to plaintiff's reservation of the income therefrom for life, in consideration of said defendants' agreement to support and maintain her for the remainder of her life. Defendant O'Halloran contends, briefly stated, that said notes and deeds of trust constitute part of the estate of Charles A. Schwind, deceased; that, if ever held by the entirety, laches and estoppel are fatal to plaintiff's cause; and said defendant seeks to have the same turned over to him as Administrator aforesaid and to restrain plaintiff and his codefendants from interfering with his rights as such Administrator therein. Judgment and degree nisi for defendant O'Halloran, as Administrator aforesaid; and the Schwinds, plaintiff and defendants, appeal. The record affirmatively establishes that the amount involved exceeds $7,500. Facts developed with respect to the notes and deeds of trust subsequent to the death of Mr. Schwind are not important here and are omitted.

Charles A. Schwind died testate March 10, 1935. So far as having any bearing on the instant issues, he gave, devised and bequeathed all of his estate, after the payment of his debts and funeral expenses, to his widow, Elizabeth Schwind. They had lived together as husband and wife for fifty-seven years. Other than his widow, his heirs at law were Ferdinand Schwind, Eugene Schwind, Edna Koch, Mattie Feger, their children, and Charles A. Schwind, the son of a deceased son. Defendant O'Halloran was appointed Administrator upon the institution of a will contest.

Between 1906 and 1918, Mr. and Mrs. Schwind acquired title to 1220-1224 Russell avenue, 5229-5233 Gravois avenue, 5401 Gravois avenue, and 5027-5029 Louisiana avenue, all in the city of St. Louis Missouri. In each instance the warranty deed conveyed the real *Page 491 estate to "Charles A. Schwind and Elizabeth Schwind, his wife," as grantees, and recited that the consideration had been paid by "the parties of the second part" — said grantees.

Mr. and Mrs. Schwind, by warranty deed dated March 27, 1922, conveyed 5401 Gravois avenue for the recited consideration of "$100 and other valuable considerations to them paid." The actual consideration was $19,500 and was paid by a check issued to Charles A. Schwind.

They, by warranty deed dated May 29, 1922, conveyed 5229-5233 Gravois avenue for the recited consideration of "$100 to them paid." The actual consideration was $19,000 and was evidenced as follows: $6,000 cash; a $9,000 note secured by a first deed of trust and a $4,000 note secured by a second deed of trust on the property.

They, by warranty deed dated November 3, 1923, conveyed the Louisiana avenue property for the recited consideration of "$100 to them paid." The actual consideration was $15,000; of which $6,500 was cash; and $8,500 was evidenced by two notes — one for $6,000 and the other for $2,500 — secured, respectively, by a first and a second deed of trust on the property.

The aforesaid notes and deeds of trust named Charles A. Schwind as the sole beneficiary and each of said deeds of trust recited that it was given as security for part payment of the purchase price of the property.

In 1924 Mr. Schwind erected a home at 3941 South Grand avenue at a cost of about $15,000. This property also was held by Mr. and Mrs. Schwind by the entirety.

They, by warranty deed dated January 25, 1928, conveyed the Russell avenue property for the recited consideration of "$100 and other valuable considerations to them paid." The actual consideration was $18,000, consisting of a $12,000 note secured by a first deed of trust on the property and $6,000 cash, which cash was evidenced by a check, after adjusting certain items, for $5,564.05 payable to a Mr. Feger, mentioned infra. Mr. and Mrs. Schwind were named as payees in this note and as beneficiaries in this deed of trust.

Mr. Schwind retired from business in 1921. He was still paying on one or two of the properties. He did not pursue any gainful occupation thereafter. Mrs. Schwind's time was taken with household duties and the raising of a family. She had no other occupation. The only affirmative testimony of record on the issue is that Mr. and Mrs. Schwind, after Mr. Schwind's retirement, lived off of the rentals and the proceeds from the sale of the real estate and interest from the secured notes.

The amounts involved in the foregoing transactions total $38,000 cash and $33,500 in notes and deeds of trust. Mr. Feger, a son-in-law of Mr. Schwind, was engaged in the real estate business and handled or assisted the Schwinds in the foregoing transactions, *Page 492 drafting the conveyances, taking acknowledgments, etc. He testified that by 1924 or by 1925 Mr. Schwind was dealing in — buying, selling, exchanging, etc. — deeds of trust through the witness; that Mr. Schwind possibly began buying deeds of trust in a small way in 1922; that Mr. Schwind handled and directed all the transactions, including the collection of the principal and interest; that Mrs. Schwind did not assume any control over such matters; that, for instance, Mr. Schwind instructed the witness in 1927 to turn over to Mrs. Schwind payments thereafter made on a certain $2,250 secured note, and in 1932, payments made on a secured note having an outstanding balance of $1,400 but, for some reason undisclosed of record, thereafter had the last check covering a balance of $377.70 due thereon issued to himself; that the witness frequently called at the Schwind home on business matters, which were transacted with Mr. Schwind, and that when the home was erected in 1924 Mr. Schwind had the witness attend to the payment of all the construction bills. The $12,000 note and deed of trust standing in the names of Mr. and Mrs. Schwind, secured by the Russell avenue property, were handled by Mr. Schwind as his individual property, the same as were the other secured notes and the cash derived from the sale of said real estate.

At the time of Mr. Schwind's death none of the original deeds of trust remained in his possession. The only property in which he had an interest, according to the record, was the home place and the secured notes here involved. The proceeds derived from the sale of the real estate, cash and secured notes, were not directly traced to the notes and deeds of trust involved in this litigation; except the aforesaid $12,000 note, which together with two $2,500 secured notes (the source of which is not directly shown of record) were exchanged for three of the secured notes, aggregate face value $13,500, here involved, $1,500 cash and a $2,000 account receivable.

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Bluebook (online)
142 S.W.2d 55, 346 Mo. 486, 1940 Mo. LEXIS 416, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schwind-v-ohalloran-mo-1940.