Springfield Institution for Savings v. Copeland

35 N.E. 1132, 160 Mass. 380, 1894 Mass. LEXIS 282
CourtMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
DecidedJanuary 6, 1894
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 35 N.E. 1132 (Springfield Institution for Savings v. Copeland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Springfield Institution for Savings v. Copeland, 35 N.E. 1132, 160 Mass. 380, 1894 Mass. LEXIS 282 (Mass. 1894).

Opinion

Field, C. J.

The first suit is a hill of interpleader to determine whether certain sums of money deposited with the Springfield Institution for Savings in the names of “ S. J. and U. M. Goodenougli, subject to withdrawal by either,” amounting to $976.96, with the interest thereon, belong to the estate of Samuel [381]*381J. Goodenough or to the estate of Urania M. Goodenough, his wife.

The second suit is a bill in equity, by the administratrix with the will annexed of the estate of Mrs. Goodenough, against the administrator of the estate of Mr. Goodenough, to compel the transfer to the plaintiff of certain shares of stock and of certain bonds standing in the name of Mr. Goodenough, on the ground that they were purchased with the proceeds of the sale of securities belonging to Mrs. Goodenough.

The third suit is a bill in equity, by the administratrix with the will annexed of the estate of Mrs. Goodenough, against the administrator of the estate of Mr. Goodenough and the Springfield Five Cents Savings Bank, to compel the payment to the plaintiff of the sum of $1000, deposited in said savings bank in the names of “ S. J. and Urania M. Goodenough, either to draw whole or part,” with the interest thereon, on the ground that the money deposited was the property of Mrs. Goodenough.

The foui’th suit is a bill in equity, by the administratrix with the will annexed of the estate of Mrs. Goodenough, against the administrator of the estate of Mr. Goodenough and the John Hancock National Bank, to compel an assignment to the plaintiff of the money standing to the credit of Mr. Goodenough on the books of the bank, or to compel the bank to pay the amount to the plaintiff, on the ground that the money, although deposited in the name of Mr. Goodenough, was the money of Mrs. Goodenough.

Mr. Goodenough died intestate on December 28,1891, and his estate has been represented insolvent. Mrs. Goodenough died on January 20, 1892, leaving a will which has been duly admitted to probate. The suits were sent to a master to find the facts, and have been reserved upon his report and an agreed statement of facts.

With the exception of $100 deposited in the Springfield Institution for Savings on August 6, 1884, all the money deposited in both savings banks was drawn by Mr. Goodenough on February 18, 1890, from the deposit in the John Hancock National Bank. It is found that Mr. Goodenough “ kept an account at said John Hancock National Bank in his own name from October, 1883, to the time of his death, December 28, 1891.” On [382]*382February 1, 1890, the balance to his credit in this bank was $89.65 ; and on the morning of February 12, 1890, it was $51.65 ; afterwards, on the same day, he deposited in this bank $15,093.62, which was the proceeds of a check payable to the order of Mrs. Goodenough, given to her in part payment of the legacy to her contained in the will of Noble Maxwell. On February 18, 1890, Mr. Goodenough also deposited in this bank $360, which, on the finding of the master, must be taken to have been the proceeds of the sale of three shares of Sagadahock Bank stock belonging to Mrs. Goodenough. As we read the master’s report and the agreed facts, there is no clear evidence that any of the money deposited with this bank was ever the property of Mr. Goodenough. The greater part in number and amount of the deposits are shown to have been Mrs. Goodenough’s property. It simply does not appear whether the other deposits came from his or her property. It is agreed that from February 12, 1890, to the time of his death, he “ owned no property of any amount, except his interest in the money and securities in these suits.” It is found that there was deposited in this bank about $31,000 between February 1, 1890, and the death of Mr. Goodenough, of which about $24,500 “ came from either the income or proceeds of sale of Mrs. Goodenough’s property.” It is agreed “that prior to February 12, 1890, said Goodenough had deposited in said bank several thousand dollars of money which appears to have come from the legacy of Noble Maxwell; [and] there was no evidence that he had withdrawn any considerable part of the money deposited as aforesaid, for the use of Mrs. Goodenough, up to the time of his death.”

The first question is whether it should be inferred that Mrs. Goodenough intended to give to her husband all the moneys deposited in his name with the John Hancock National Bank. The master has found that “ apparently they were both conversant with and approved of the management of their respective financial affairs.” Mrs. Goodenough kept no bank account in her own name. It appears that they jointly “ hired a deposit box in the vault of the Springfield Safe Deposit and Trust Company, . . . each having a key thereto,” and that in this box were kept the savings bank books, the certificates of stock, and other securities standing in the name of each.

[383]*383If the law as declared in Marshall v. Jaquith, 134 Mass. 138, be applicable to a gift by a wife of her separate property directly to her husband, upon which we express no opinion, the facts in the cases now before us do not show an effectual gift of the money deposited with the John Hancock National Bank, because the husband died before the wife. See Porter v. Wakefield, 146 Mass. 25; Stimpson y. Achorn, 158 Mass. 342. In Jacobs v. Hesler, 113 Mass. 157, it is said: “When a wife with her own hand pays money of her separate property to her husband, there is no presumption that he receives it in trust for her, but the burden is on her to prove the fact. In the absence of such proof, the money must be deemed to have been given to him with the intention that it should be applied to the use or benefit of either or both of them at his discretion.” See Clark v. Patterson, 158 Mass. 388. There are also cases in which the wife has mingled her separate property with that of her husband under such circumstances that she has been held to have lost it, or lost the right to recover it. Kelly v. Drew, 12 Allen, 107. McCluskey v. Provident Institution for Savings, 103 Mass. 300. Bassett v. Bassett, 112 Mass. 99. Kneil v. Egleston, 140 Mass. 202. Woodward v. Spurr, 141 Mass. 283.

We think, however, that the most reasonable inference from the facts found or agreed in the cases at bar is that the wife intended neither to give nor to lend to her husband the money which he deposited in his own name in the John Hancock National Bank, but that she permitted it to be deposited in this manner for convenience until it should be invested, with the intention that it might be used for her own benefit or that of her husband. It is evident that the whole of the balance of $748.94 standing to the credit of Mr. Goodenough on the books of the John Hancock National Bank, together with what has heretofore been expended for the use of Mrs. Goodenough, including the deposits in the savings banks, will not make up the amount of her money which is shown to have been deposited in that bank, and that, so far as appears, all the money which remains in that bank is her money unless she has effectually given it to him.

The principles which govern a case of this kind are considered in In re Hallett's estate, 13 Ch, D. 696, and in National Bank v. [384]*384Insurance Co. 104 U. S. 54.

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Bluebook (online)
35 N.E. 1132, 160 Mass. 380, 1894 Mass. LEXIS 282, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/springfield-institution-for-savings-v-copeland-mass-1894.