Van Rees v. Witzenburg

83 N.W. 787, 112 Iowa 30
Supreme Court of Iowa·Decided October 5, 1900·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

Deemeb, J.

2 The issue tendered by the objections filed to the reports of the guardian is not presented on this appeal, and the case will be considered only in so far as it relates to the equitable issues presented by plaintiff’s pet-ition and the answer thereto. Defendant pleaded a settlement with plaintiff and his assignor, made after [32] the wards arrived at age; that this settlement was made in the presence of plaintiff’s mother and step-father and was fair and equitable. He also pleaded that he invested a small aipount of their funds with the firm of E. R. Cassatt & Co., a reputable and solvent institution; that at the time of the settlement the said firm had become insolvent, and it was agreed between two of the wards and defendant that the firm notes should be taken by plaintiff and his assignor at a large discount, provided they could get the remainder of their funds and obligations against others at once, and that tire guardian should charge nothing beyond what he had already received as compensation for his services. The settlement is attacked by plaintiff for fraud. Borne other issues are presented that need not be noticed.

3 Before going - to the merits, it is well to note some points of practice made by the appellee. The case was tried as in equity, and is before us de novo. Appellee says that. the abstract does not purport to contain all the evidence adduced on the trial, and affirmatively shows that it does not contain all of it. With reference to the first contention, it is expressly held in McGillivray v. Case, 107 Iowa, 17, that printed abstracts will be presumed to contain the record, unless denied or corrected by a subsequent abstract. Appellee has filed an amended abstract containing some denials that are not as specific as our rules require, and these denials will be disregarded, under the rule announced in the McGillivray Case, supra. Moreover, appellant has filed an amended abstract in which he states that the original contains all the evidence offered and introduced upon the trial between plaintiff and defendant. He admits that the evidence adduced in support of the objections filed by Lena Van Rees is not included, but, as these objections tendered an issue in no manner related to- the issue involved in the equitable suit, there was no- necessity for including that evidence for the purpose of a trial da novo.

[33] 4 Defendant moved to transfer the cause to the probate docket trial. His motion was overruled, and of this complaint is made. The action is in equity, to set aside the alleged settlement, and for an accounting by the 'guardian, and was properly brought in equity. The motion was properly overruled. Thereafter, on its own motion, the court ordered the case consolidated with the objections filed in probate. To that order defendant excepted, but afterwards agreed that the two matters might be tried together. In view of this agreement, there was no error in ordering the consolidation.

5 The settlement made out of court between defendant and his wards was, as we have seen, attacked by the plaintiff, who claimed that it-was obtained through fraud and misrepresentation. The fraud alleged is that defendant, with knowledge of the worthless character of the Cassatt notes, represented that they belonged to plaintiff and his assignor, and all they could get, and insisted that they should take them in settlement of the balance due, and that he was not liable for the money represented thereby; that defendant is a relative of plaintiff, and that plaintiff and his assignor relied upon him for business counsel and advice, and were induced by his representations to accept the notes in part payment of the amount due them. As defendant had no authority from the probate court to invest the money of his wards in notes or securities of any kind, he was responsible to his wards for any loss that occurred by reason of such investments. At common law he might have been protected had he exorcised reasonable care and judgment in the investment of funds belonging' to his wrards, but under our statute he is not, unless he acts under the direction of the court. Easton v. Somerville, 111 Iowa, 164. When defendant made his settlement out of court, he knew that he was liable for the amount of the' Cassatt notes-; but he refused to settle unless plaintiff and his assignor would accept the notes as part payment of the [34] amount due, and informed Ms wards, they being ignorant of the fact that they were entitled to the full amount, that unless they accepted they would have to resort to legal proceed • ings. Settlements by a guardian with his ward out of court are not favored, and one who relies on such a settlement must clearly show that he made full disclosure of everything, and that the ward knew and understood that he was making a full and final settlement. Settlements between guardian and ward may be impeached for fraud or mistake, like any other settlements, but, as -the guardian occupies a fiduciary relation to his ward, he must show that it was full and fair and in good faith. Every reasonable intendment is to be made in favor of the ward. Richardson v. Linney, 7 B. Mon. 571; Stark v. Gamble, 43 N. H. 465; Voltz v. Voltz, 75 Ala. 555 ; Spalding v. Brent, 3 Md. Ch. 411; Tucke v. Buchholz, 43 Iowa, 415. Tested by these cases, we think the settlement made by defendant with his wards should be set aside. With this out of the way, the correctness of the finding of the trial court as to the amount due the plaintiff is conceded. •

IT. The objections filed by Lena Van Rees were to various items found in defendants reports relating to the renting of the real estate. The issue raised by them was entirely different from the issue tendered by the petition in equity. . Just what was done with these objections does not appear from the record before us, although some of the motions' filed seem to indicate that the objections were overruled.

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

Van Rees v. Witzenburg, 83 N.W. 787, 112 Iowa 30 (iowa 1900).

83 N.W. 787 (Van Rees v. Witzenburg) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

In Re Guardianship of Fisher
284 N.W. 821 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1939)
Harper v. Taylor
193 F. 944 (Eighth Circuit, 1911)
State v. Steidley
113 N.W. 333 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1907)
Woerdehoff v. Muekel
108 N.W. 533 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1906)