Springer v. Young

12 P. 400, 14 Or. 280, 1886 Ore. LEXIS 100
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 10, 1886
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 12 P. 400 (Springer v. Young) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Springer v. Young, 12 P. 400, 14 Or. 280, 1886 Ore. LEXIS 100 (Or. 1886).

Opinions

Strahan, J.

This suit is prosecuted by the plaintiff against the defendants, to establish an implied trust in her favor in certain lands situated in Yamhill County. The defendant Nancy S. Young is the plaintiff’s daughter, and C. W. Young is hor husband ; May Wilson is also a daughter of the plaintiff, and J. C. Wilson is her husband; and Grace Springer is a minor, a daughter of the plaintiff, and is represented by her guardian ad litem.

It appears from the facts in this case that George W. Springer, in bis lifetime, was tbe husband of the plaintiff, and that they resided together as husband and wife, in Polk County, Oregon, on and prior to June 28d, 1851; and that on that day [281]*281said Geoi’ge W. Springer made settlement on 840 acres'of unoccupied public lands in Polk County, and now included within the limits of the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation; and that said George W. Springer and the plaintiff, his wife, thereafter continuously resided on and cultivated said land for more than four years next after said settlement; that on the 4th day of October, 1858, the said George W. Springer gave notice to the surveyor general of Oregon of his said settlement upon and cultivation of said lands, in all respects pursuant to the act of September 27th, 1850, commonly called the donation law, and thereby became entitled to 640 acres of land under said act, one half to himself and the other half to his wife ; that on the 4th day of March, 1856, General Joel Palmer was superintendent of Indian affairs for Oregon; and that, on that day, acting for and in behalf of the United States, he purchased of the said Geoi’ge W. Springer and the plaintiff their said donation land claim, and paid them therefor the sum of $3,750, and that they executed to him a deed for said claim. It also appears that on the 17th day of March, 1856, the said George W. Springer and the plaintiff purchased one of the tracts of land in controversy in this suit of C. Comegys, and paid therefor $2.250 ; being a part of the same money they had received for their said donation claim ; and that on the 25th day of April, 1856, they purchased the other parcel in controversy of John Sherwooil, and paid therefor the sum of $1,500, being the residue of the sum received from Gen. Palmer by Springer and the plaintiff for tlieir said donation claim.

It further appears that at the time of said purchases, respectively, by said Springer and wife last referred to, said Springer managed said business for himself and wife, and took the deeds for said land in his own name, and not in the name of himself and the plaintiff; but thereafter, and up to the time of his death, he recognized the rights of the plaintiff in said land; and it was the understanding between the plaintiff and her said husband that he would convey to the plaintiff an undivided half of said premises at some convenient time thereafter. During the lifetime of George W. Springer, and after his death, [282]*282the matter wag-often talked over in the family, and was understood by 'all the children, six in number; and they have all since conveyed to the plaintiff what would have been their mother’s part, if the arrangement between their father and mother had been completed, except the defendants Nancy S. Young and May Wilson.

About the year 1880, George W. Springer was taken suddenly ill, and died in a few days thereafter; since which time the plaintiff has had the possession of all of said premises, except after the appointment of an administrator, using the proceeds for the support of herself and family, and in making some improvements on the farm. During his lifetime, George W. Springer always recognized the rights of the plaintiff in said land, and they appear never to have been controverted or drawn in question until since his death.

A proper solution of the questions discussed by counsel requires that we should first consider the rights of Mrs. Springer in the land in controversy, without regard to and independently of the mai'ital relation which existed between her and her deceased husband. When a conclusion shall have been reached on that point, we can the more readily determine in what manner and to what extent her rights were affected, if at all, by the marriage relation.

We think it is clear that, under the facts in this case, a trust must be implied in favor of the plaintiff. It rests upon principles of equity that have often been recognized in this state, and that are elementary. “Whenever the circumstances are such that a person who takes the legal estate in property cannot also enjoy the beneficial interest without necessarily violating some established principle of equity, the court will immediately raise a constructive trust, and fasten it upon the conscience of the legal owner, so as to convert him into a trustee for the parties who, in equity, are entitled to the beneficial enjoyment.” (Willard Eq. 599.) The same author on the same page classes constructive trusts as follows: “First, when the acquisition of the legal estate is tainted with fraud, either actual or constructive; and, second, when the trust depends on [283]*283some general equitable rule, independently o£ the existence of fraud.”

Mr. Story says: “If a joint purchase is made in the name of one of the purchasers, and the other pays or secures his share of the purchase money, he will be entitled to his share as a resulting trust.” (2 Eq. Jur., Sec. 1206.) And so it is laid down by the same author as the established doctrine, without a single exception, and as the result of all the cases, “ that the trust of the legal estate, whether freehold, copyhold, or leasehold, whether taken in the names of the purchaser and others jointly, or in the name of others without the purchaser’s, whether in one name or several, whether jointly or successively (successive), results to the man that had advanced the purchase money.” (2 Story Eq. Jur., Sec. 1201.)

Another author, very eminent in this department of the law, speaking of constructive and resulting trusts, says: “ They are of two species, ‘ resulting,’ and ‘ constructive,’ which latter are sometimes called trusts ex maleficio ; and both of these species arc properly described by the generic term implied trusts, liesuiting trusts arise when the legal estate is disposed of or acquired, not fraudulently or in the violation of any fiduciary duty ; but the intent in the theory of equity appears, or is inferred or assumed, from the terms of the disposition, or from the accompanying facts and circumstances, that the beneficial interest is not to go with the legal title. Constructive trusts are raised by equity for the purpose of working out right and justice, where there was no intention of the party to create such a relation, and often oontrary to the intention of the one holding the legal title. * * If one party obtains the legal title to property, not only by fraud, or by violation of the confidence, or of fiduciary relations, but in any other unconscientious manner, so that he cannot equitably retain the property which really belongs to another, equity carries out its theory of double ownership, equitable and legal, by impressing a constructive trust upon the property in favor of the one who is in good conscience entitled to it, and who is considered in equity as the beneficial owner.” (1 Pomeroy Eq. Jur., Sec. 155.)

[284]*284It must be apparent, that George W.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
12 P. 400, 14 Or. 280, 1886 Ore. LEXIS 100, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/springer-v-young-or-1886.