Sims v. Gray

61 N.W. 171, 93 Iowa 38
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedDecember 17, 1894
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 61 N.W. 171 (Sims v. Gray) 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
Sims v. Gray, 61 N.W. 171, 93 Iowa 38 (iowa 1894).

Opinions

Bothrock, J.

2 II. It is insisted, however, that the statute of limitations cannot be invoked as a defense, because the contract by which the conveyance was made constituted a trust. It is true that there is evidence in the case to the effect that White was to hold the title and collect rents, and pay debts, and eventually reconvey to Gray. But this fact is not at all conclusive, especially when considered in connection with the title conveyed to Jane White. An ingenious argument is made, based upon the claim that there was a resulting trust in the property in favor of Gray. It is true that the title of a fraudulent grantee in such a case is in a certain sense held in trust for the creditors of the fraudulent grantor. But whether such a trust is capable of enforcement in equity after the bar of the statute is altogether another question. An ordinary creditors’ bill is not founded upon the idea of a resulting trust. It is based upon the ground.that the [42]*42conveyance is void. The general doctrine of trusts has no application to such a case. It is a well-understood equitable principle that a conveyance made by a fraudulent grantor cannot be impeached by the parties thereto, either in law or equity, no matter whether the fraudulent contract was an absolute conveyance or a mere transfer of the property as a protection against creditors. In all such cases equity leaves the parties in the position where they, placed themselves. In our judgment, this is a plain case of fraudulent conveyance, void as to creditors, and there is no foundation in either reason or authority for the claim that the transaction involves a trust which may be enforced, notwithstanding the statute of limitations. “The trust is in reality one' in name alone. The creditors’ right to reach the debtor’s property is in no true sense an interest in the property. It is at most an equitable lien on that property.” Pom. Eq. Jur., section 1857, note 1. That the statute- of limitations cannot be avoided upon the contention under consideration, see Stone v. Brown (Ind. Sup.), 18 N. E. Rep. 392. See, also, Musselman v. Kent, 33 Ind. 452; Wait, Fraud, Conv., section 292.

III. The claim made that Gray is the owner of an equitable interest in certain other real estate is not' sustained by the evidence, and that part of the controversy demands no further attention. It appears from the petition and an exhibit attached thereto that, before this action was commenced, a suit was pending in which Gray was plaintiff and U. H. White wras defendant, in which a large amount of money was claimed on account. The plaintiffs, in their petition, incorporated a claim in this action for a lien on whatever was recovered by Gray against White in the other action. The- defendant, U. H. White, in his answer, averred that said claim was wholly fictitious, except as to a few.items procured at Gray’s harness shop, and [43]*43consented that the court might decree that such sum, 3 if any shall be found owing Gray, might be subjeeted to- the judgments of the plaintiffs. It appears that no attention was given to this claim when the final decree was pronounced by the court, and it is now claimed that the decree of the court below should be reversed on this ground.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
61 N.W. 171, 93 Iowa 38, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sims-v-gray-iowa-1894.