Waddell v. Waddell

104 P. 743, 36 Utah 435, 1909 Utah LEXIS 84
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 22, 1909
DocketNo. 2008
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 104 P. 743 (Waddell v. Waddell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Waddell v. Waddell, 104 P. 743, 36 Utah 435, 1909 Utah LEXIS 84 (Utah 1909).

Opinion

McCARTY, J.

(after stating the facts as above).

We think the finding- of the court that William M. Wad-dell came rightfully into the possession of the deed to the Idaho land, and that he destroyed the same, believing that he had a right to do so, is against the weight of the evidence, and therefore erroneous. The facts' and circumstances leading up to and surrounding the destruction of the deed, when considered in connection with the testimony of plaintiff, tends to show that respondent William M. Waddell must have known that he had no right to destroy the deed. Plaintiff testified that, soon after the death of Isaac M. Waddell, she saw the deed at her home, and heard it read in connection with the last will and testament of the decedent; that, after the documents were read, the deed was put into a desk with other private papers of Isaac M. Waddell; that she afterwards searched for the- deed, but could not find it. Respondent William M. Waddell testified that he obtained possession of the deed in the presence of his father about two weeks before his father’s death; that on the same day he got possession of the deed he took it to his private office [441]*441in the Templeton Building, tbis city, and there destroyed it; that he destroyed it because he thought it belonged to him. Why he did not destroy the deed at his father’s residence when he first got possession of it does not appear. The fact that he took it to his office in the Templeton Building before destroying it is at least a circumstance tending to show bad faith on his part. • He knew that he had sold the property covered by the deed to is father for value, and that his father had taken possession of it. Furthermore, his father in his will bequeathed all his property, including the land in question, to plaintiff, which shows conclusively that he did not intend to give it to respondent William M. Waddell.

It is contended on behalf of respondent that the testimony of plaintiff wherein she says that the deed to the Idaho land was among the private papers of her husband after his death is discredited, and ought not to be believed, because she never discussed the matter of the missing deed with William M. Waddell until one year and six months after she discovered that it was lost or had been taken away, and that one year and seven months after her husband’s death she “deeded to the defendant William M. Waddell a portion of the old homestead lot which had been distributed to her.” The evidence shows that respondent William M. Waddell lived with plaintiff — was one of the family — from the time he was thirteen until he was nineteen years of age. When he returned from college, he again made his home with plaintiff and her husband, and was living with them at the time of his father’s death. The record also shows that plaintiff was very much attached to William M. Waddell, and had great confidence in him. When he went into business for himself, she mortgaged property and enabled him to borrow one thousand dollars with which to purchase furniture and fixtures for his office. This debt she was compelled to pay. She gave him the land upon which he built his residence. His testimony wherein he states that- plaintiff let him have this piece of ground as a part of his share of his father’s estate is entitled to but little, if any, weight. At the time'this conveyance was made, William 34. Waddell had been advised of the terms of [442]*442bis father’s will, and knew that he had no interest what- ' ever in the estate. Therefore the contention that plaintiff gave him this land as a part of his interest therein is wholly untenable. On July 17, 1904, two weeks after 'plaintiff conveyed to respondent Waddell a part of the homestead lot mentioned, shei wrote him a. letter, which was introduced in evidence by respondent. In that letter she addressed him as “My Dear Boy,” and used other endearing terms, showing that as a man he stood high in her estimation. On cross-examination she testified in part as follows: “I have always trusted him. ... I had taken and befriended him as a mother, and I never looked forward to him doing any such dishonorable act. Q. You never thought he was dishonorable, did you? A. I never thought he was; never thought of such a thing. I didn’t want to think any such a thing. Q. You thought he was an honorable man, didn’t you? A. I did.” And she no doubt believed, as she says further along in her testimony, that “he would make things right,” and that she would eventually recover her land without litigation. On the other hand, the whole course of conduct of respondent Waddell towards plaintiff from the time he borrowed the one thousand dollars with which to furnish his office, which he has never repaid, until the trial of this case, has been one of bad faith on his part. Therefore these delays, under the circumstances, ought not to discredit the testimony of plaintiff, but the advantages taken of them by respondent Waddell to defraud her of her property and to dissipate and squander it in such a way as to render it impossible for her to recover but a small portion thereof, and that, too, during a period when, according to his own testimony, he made two thousand dollars on real esate deals and was earning from two hundred and fifty to seven hundred dollars per month in his profession as a dentist, tends to weaken the effect of his. testimony rather than that of the plaintiff. We remark, in concluding the discussion of this branch of the case, that the record does not disclose a fact or circumstance, that would justify a belief on the part of the respondent Waddell that he owned the Idaho land, or [443]*443that he had a right to destroy the deed in question; but, on the contrary, the only reasonable deductions that can be drawn from the evidence as a whole on this point are: (1) That he came into possession of the deed 1 wrongfully, and tora it up for the purpose of destroying evidence of title and thereby enable him to defraud the estate; and (2) that he fraudulently misappropriated the money to his own use which he received for the land covered by the deed.

Counsel for respondent Waddell admit that the $2250 realized by him from the sale of the Idaho land constituted a trust fund of which appellant, plaintiff, was the sole beneficiary. Appellant contends that at least some of this fund was expended by respondent in making improvements on that part of the old homestead lot which she deeded to him, and that he took a portion of the trust fund and paid at least sixteen monthly installments of $22.80 each as they became due on the loan of $2250 which he obtained from the Union Savings & Investment Company with which to pay for the construction of the dwelling house mentioned, and that she is therefore entitled to a lien on the dwelling house and the land upon which it was erected, also on the two dogs herein-before mentioned for that portion of the trust fund so' expended, and that the findings of the court on the issues involving these questions are erroneous. As we have observed, the land upon which the dwelling house and the improvements -mentioned were constructed was conveyed by appellant to respondent William M. Waddell July 2, 1904, and the loan of $2250 from the Union Savings & Investment Company with which to pay for the construction of the house was obtained October 7, 1904, and the evidence without conflict shows that the house was practically completed by June, 1905, several months prior to the sale of the Idaho property.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
104 P. 743, 36 Utah 435, 1909 Utah LEXIS 84, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/waddell-v-waddell-utah-1909.