Suwalski v. Suwalski

240 N.E.2d 677, 40 Ill. 2d 492, 1968 Ill. LEXIS 412
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 24, 1968
Docket41032
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 240 N.E.2d 677 (Suwalski v. Suwalski) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Suwalski v. Suwalski, 240 N.E.2d 677, 40 Ill. 2d 492, 1968 Ill. LEXIS 412 (Ill. 1968).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Ward

delivered the opinion of the court:

The circuit court of Cook County on December 1, 1965, entered a decree imposing a trust in favor of the appellant, William J. Suwalski, on title to property at 5954 West Eastwood, Chicago. Appellee, Arthur J. Suwalski, appealed to the Appellate Court for the First District contending that the decree of the trial court was against the manifest weight of the evidence and that the master’s fees allowed were excessive and should have been taxed against the corpus of the estate. The appellate court affirmed the decision of the trial court but, subsequently, granted a rehearing and on reconsideration reversed the decree of the trial court. (88 Ill. App. 2d 419.) We have granted appellant’s petition for leave to appeal.

The facts are substantially not in dispute. The appellant and his wife (now deceased) undertook to purchase a house in August, 1950, the purchase price of which was to be $15,500. They were prepared to pay $4,500 of their own funds and anticipated obtaining the remaining $11,000 from the Community Savings and Loan Association through a mortgage of the property. The association, however, informed the appellant that because of his advanced age it could give him and his wife a loan for only $9,500 and would require a cosigner on the note. Arthur J. Suwalski, the appellee and the son of the appellant and his wife, agreed to be a cosigner on the note and to furnish the additional $1500 which his parents required to acquire the house.

The appellant, his wife, and the appellee executed the appropriate real-estate contract, mortgage, and note, and on November 6, 1950, a trustee’s deed was executed naming the appellant, hís wife, and the appellee as joint tenants. The appellee at this time turned over his check for $1500 directly to the loan association and the attorney who then represented the appellant and his wife gave the association $301.53, which was required to complete the closing. The attorney was repaid by the appellant the following day.

The appellant, his wife, and the appellee moved into the house, but upon his marriage in 1953 the appellee left the residence. The wife of the appellant died in 1961 and he continued to occupy the house until 1963, when because of failing health he attempted to sell the premises. After he and the proposed buyers had executed a contract for the sale of the property, the appellant discovered that his son’s name was included in the deed as a joint tenant. He sought to pay the appellee $1,500 and asked for a conveyance. The appellee refused and when his name was added to the proposed contract as a grantor he demanded, the master found, $10,000 from the proceeds of the contemplated sale. At'this, the negotiations for sale were broken off.

In the litigation which ensued the appellant argued that it was never intended that the appellee should have a beneficial interest in the house when it was purchased and that the $1,500 paid by him was merely a loan to the appellant and his wife. It is claimed a resulting trust in favor of the appellant was created by the transaction.

The appellee however, contended that he was a purchaser for value and an owner in joint tenancy. He also counterclaimed and in count 1 of the counterclaim asserted that the appellant had severed the joint tenancy in 1963 by executing what he apparently claimed was a second mortgage and that as a result the appellant and the appellee each held a one-half interest as tenants in common. In count 2 of the counterclaim, the appellee asserted that the appellant and his wife had executed a joint and mutual will and that the will was a contract, whose terms made the appellee and his sister, Virginia Badgley, equal beneficiaries of such contract, subject to a life estate in the appellant and further subject to a legacy of $1,500 which was due the appellee.

A resulting trust is created by law and arises from the presumed intention of the parties, distilled from their conduct; it comes into being at the instant the title vests or not at all. (First National Bank and Trust Co. v. Illinois National Bank and Trust Co., 19 Ill.2d 385, 388.) As we said in West v. Scott, 6 Ill.2d 167, at 172, in describing a typical resulting trust situation: “A court of equity raises the trust when land is bought with the money of one person and title is taken in the name of another. (Kane v. Johnson, 397 Ill. 112.) It may be paid directly or indirectly to the grantor, and by or for the resulting trust claimant. (Wright v. Wright, 2 Ill.2d 246.) The burden of proof rests upon the party seeking to establish a resulting trust, and the evidence to be effective for this purpose must be clear, convincing, unequivocal and unmistakable, and must establish beyond a doubt the payment by the claimed beneficiary at the time the title was taken in the alleged trustee. Kohlhaas v. Smith, 408 Ill. 535; Hille v. Barnes, 399 Ill. 252.”

The appellant to support his position that it was the intention of the parties to create a resulting trust argued, using the language of the second appellate court opinion, “that aside from the original $1,500 advanced by defendant [appellee], he has not paid any of the costs incurred in connection with the purchase of the said premises; he has not paid any of the mortgage payments on the mortgage indebtedness of $9500 and that the present balance due on that mortgage is now $724.41; he has not paid any of the taxes assessed against the premises; he has not paid for any of the repairs and improvements; he has not paid any of the water bills; he has not paid any of the insurance premiums on the premises; he has exercised no indicia of ownership or claimed any interest in the premises; he did not know until 1963 that he was in title; he has not at anytime informed the plaintiff or his mother that he has or claims any interest in said premises; that the joint last will of plaintiff [appellant] and his wife recited an indebtedness of $1,500 to the defendant. Plaintiff [appellant] also introduced testimony of Virginia Badgley, Robert Badgley and Paul Mann, corroborating his own testimony to the effect that the plaintiff [appellant] and his wife never intended to have the defendant’s name in the title. And plaintiff [appellant] testified that Attorney Klonowslci [then, the appellant’s lawyer] did not inform him and that plaintiff [appellant] did not know defendant [appellee] was in title until 1963.” 88 Ill. App. 2d at 423.

The appellee, contending that the $1,500 was not a loan, stated, again employing the language of the appellate court: “the application for a mortgage loan was signed by plaintiff [appellant] and defendant [appellee] only; the real estate contract was signed by all three persons; the note was signed by all three persons; the mortgage was signed by all three persons; the mortgage payment receipts recite funds received from William Suwalski, et al.; the trustee’s deed named all three persons as grantees, and the fact of joint tenancy was inserted three times; payment by defendant of the $1500 was directly to the Savings and Loan Association; that at the time execution of the land purchase documents on November 16, 1950, his parents were represented by experienced counsel. Defendant also calls attention to the plaintiff’s testimony to the effect that he did not execute a note to his son, did not promise to pay the $1500 and never paid any part of the $1500 or interest thereon.” 88 Ill. App. 2d at 423-4.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Hong Kong Electro-Chemical Works, Ltd. v. Less
539 F.3d 795 (Seventh Circuit, 2008)
Employers Insurance v. Ehlco Liquidating Trust
708 N.E.2d 1122 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1999)
People v. Lowery
Illinois Supreme Court, 1997
United States v. Infelise
938 F. Supp. 1352 (N.D. Illinois, 1996)
Heritage Federal Credit Union v. Cox (In re Cox)
175 B.R. 266 (C.D. Illinois, 1994)
Leicht v. Quirin
558 N.E.2d 715 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1990)
Anderson v. Ferris
470 N.E.2d 518 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1984)
Key v. Key
443 N.E.2d 812 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1982)
In Re Estate of Wilkening
441 N.E.2d 158 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1982)
Zack Co. v. Sims
438 N.E.2d 663 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1982)
Tomchin v. Braun (In re Braun)
21 B.R. 296 (N.D. Illinois, 1982)
In Re Estate of Engel
408 N.E.2d 1134 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1980)
In Re Estate of Wilson
410 N.E.2d 23 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1980)
Hocking v. Hocking
394 N.E.2d 653 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1979)
People v. Wilson
389 N.E.2d 939 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1979)
In Re Estate of McGee
383 N.E.2d 1012 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1978)
Freiders v. Dayton
378 N.E.2d 1191 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1978)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
240 N.E.2d 677, 40 Ill. 2d 492, 1968 Ill. LEXIS 412, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/suwalski-v-suwalski-ill-1968.