Whetstone v. Coslick, Et Vir.

157 So. 666, 117 Fla. 203, 96 A.L.R. 455, 1934 Fla. LEXIS 1228
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedNovember 9, 1934
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 157 So. 666 (Whetstone v. Coslick, Et Vir.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Whetstone v. Coslick, Et Vir., 157 So. 666, 117 Fla. 203, 96 A.L.R. 455, 1934 Fla. LEXIS 1228 (Fla. 1934).

Opinion

Buford, J.

The appeal here is from a final decree after testimony taken dismissing the bill of complaint.

On May 19, 1925, Mrs. A. G. Porter entered into a certain land sales contract with one Gallemore and on June 3, June 30 and July 3, 1925, Mrs. Porter entered into like contracts in connection with the sale of certain other lots to one Whetstone. Gallemore and Whetstone are appellants here.

Gallemore and Whetstone each paid large sums of money on the respective contracts between the dates thereof and the first of April, 1926. In March, 1926, both Gallemore and Whetstone discontinued payments' on their respective contracts because of the alleged breach thereof by Mrs. Porter. Afterwards they filed suits against her on account of such alleged breach of contract.

On April 1, 1926, the record shows that each of the said contract holders was by reason of such breach on the part of Mrs. Porter the creditor of Mrs. Porter each in the respective sum which he had paid to her under the contract. And it, thereupon, became her legal duty to repay to each the sum which he had paid over to her and each was her creditor in the sum of the amount paid up to that time. The existence of this condition is established by a judgment in favor of Gallemore and a judgment in favor of Whetstone, the records' of which are included in the record here. Each sued Mrs. Porter and each recovered judgment against her dated November 25, 1927. The suits were filed against *205 Mrs. A. G. Coslick, formerly Mrs. A. G. Porter, joined by her husband, George M. Coslick.

At the time the contracts were executed Mrs. Porter was ■unmarried. Mrs. Porter married Mr. Coslick on June 2, 1926. At the time of her marriage, and prior thereto, Mrs. Porter was the owner of'a certain parcel of land. On November 14, 1926, while, as is shown by the record of the judgments herein, she was indebted to Gallemore and to "Whetstone, she, joined by her husband, conveyed that certain parcel of land to one Mary McDonough and as consideration for such deed of conveyance Mary McDonough ■conveyed a certain tract of land described as follows:

“The Northwest Quarter (NWj^) of the Southwest Quarter (SWj4) of Section Ten (10), Township Thirty (30) Range Fifteen (15) less á tract beginning at the Southwest corner of said described lahd, and run North Six Hundred (600') feet, thence East Six Hundred Sixty (660') feet, thence South Six Hundred (600') feet thence West Six Hundred Sixty (660') feet to point of beginning,” to Annie P. Coslick, who is the same person as Mrs. A. G. Porter and Mrs. A. G. Coslick and her husband. She is described throughout the pleading interchangeably as Mrs. A. G. Coslick, Mrs. A. G. Porter and Annie P. Coslick.

The record shows that while the deed was made to Anna P. Coslick and her husband, George M. Coslick, that the conveyance of the property belonging to Arina P. Coslick to Mary McDonough was the sole and entire corisidération for the conveyance of the above described property to Anna P, Coslick and George M.' Coslick and that George M. Cos-lick'contributed nothing whatever toward the consideration passing for this conveyance. It is clear from the record that the conveyance was so made to Anna P. Coslick and her husband, George M. Coslick, for the purpose of creating an estate by the entireties which could not be reached by the *206 creditors of Anna P. Coslick. The record further shows that prior to the marriage of Mrs. Porter to Mr. Coslick an ageement was entered into between them by which it was agreed that each should so convey their respective real estate after marriage that it would all be vested in them as estates by the entireties, but the record further shows that this was a sort of unilateral agreement because Mr. Coslick had no real estate to contribute to this laudable purpose. Therefore, Mrs. Coslick was the sole contributor.

The appellants in 1933, learning of these transactions', filed a creditor’s bill for the purpose of procuring a decree adjudicating the title which passed from Mary McDonough to Anna P. Coslick and George M. Coslick to have conveyed the title in trust for the benefit of Anna P. Coslick and to impress the lien of the judgment upon that land.

In view of the former decisions of this Court we think it clear that complainants in the court below, appellants here, were entitled to relief prayed. In the case of McGill v. Cockrell, et al., 81 Fla. 463, 88 Sou. Rep. 268, we held that a married woman may be sued at law for breach of her antenuptial contract by joining her husband as defendant, and we also held:

“The antenuptial contract of a married woman is not annulled nor rendered unenforceable by her marriage. Upon the obligation created by contract an action may be brought for a breach of it by her by joining her husband as a defendant and the judgment, if any, is obtained, must be satisfied out of her property.”

It will be borne in mind that there is no effort here to annul the conveyance from Mrs. Coslick and her husband to Mary McDonough but the purpose is to impress the lien upon that property which Mary McDonough conveyed in consideration for the conveyance of the other property to her.

*207 In Weathersbee, et ux., v. Dekle, 107 Fla. 517, 145 Sou. 198, we said: “A ‘creditor’ within the meaning and intent of the statute against fraudulent conveyances' (Section 5771 C. G. S., supra), and one also as to whom a fraudulent conveyance from husband and wife is expressly declared to be void by Section 5670 C. G. L., 3797 R. G. S., when made to avoid the payment of any legal debt or claim, is not necessarily one who has a demand for money which is' due, or running to maturity, or who has an existing cause of action. Whoever has a legal claim or demand of a contractual nature in existence at time when an alleged fraudulent conveyance is made is a ‘creditor’ within the meaning of the statute against fraudulent conveyances. 122 R. C. L. 492. The holder of a contingent claim is' as fully protected by the statute as one that is absolute, and in cases of contingent liability, the liability whenever happening relates back to the. date when it was originally incurred. Lyon v. Bolling, 9 Ala. 463, 44 Am. Dec. 444; Cook v. Johnson, 12 N. J. Eq. 51, 72 Am. Dec. 381; Sallaske v. Fletcher, 73 Wash. 593, 132 Pac. 648, Ann. Cas. 1914 D 760, 47 L. R. A. (N. S.) 320; Carr v. Davis, 64 W. Va. 522, 63 S. E. 326, 16 Ann. Cas. 1031, 20 L. R. A. (N. S.) 58; Amos v. Dorroh, 76 Miss. 187, 23 Sou. Rep. 768, 71 A. S. R. 522. See also note in 52 Am. Dec. 117.”

The conveyance from Coslick and wife to Mary McDonough was not a voluntary conveyance but the conveyance from Mary McDonough, insofar as it applied to George M. Coslick, was a voluntary conveyance. That is, he received, if the conveyance was valid, a consideration for which he paid nothing.

There was no marriage settlement between the parties which would constitute a valid consideration because there is no evidence in the record which supports that theory. Besides, there is no marriage settlement pleaded in this case. *208 It is' well settled that a trust results from the payment of a purchase price by one and the taking of title in the name of another. Dewhurst, et al.,

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Bluebook (online)
157 So. 666, 117 Fla. 203, 96 A.L.R. 455, 1934 Fla. LEXIS 1228, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/whetstone-v-coslick-et-vir-fla-1934.