Womack ex rel. Womack v. Caldwell

349 S.W.2d 795, 49 Tenn. App. 6, 1961 Tenn. App. LEXIS 91
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedMay 22, 1961
StatusPublished

This text of 349 S.W.2d 795 (Womack ex rel. Womack v. Caldwell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Womack ex rel. Womack v. Caldwell, 349 S.W.2d 795, 49 Tenn. App. 6, 1961 Tenn. App. LEXIS 91 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1961).

Opinions

AYERY, P.J. (W.S.).

This cause was heard by the Judges of the Western Section of this Court sitting at Knoxville in the Eastern Section.

It is a bill which undertakes to set aside a conveyance executed by the defendant below, I. A. Caldwell, to his daughter, Mrs. Nora Caldwell Stone, by which he conveyed to her his home described in the original bill as follows:

“Situated in the second civil district of Hamilton County, Tennessee, being Lot Seven (7) Block Two (2), of the re-subdivision of part of Block Two (2), Brookfield Place, shown by plat recorded in Book L, Yol. 29, page 487 in the Register’s Office of Hamilton County, Tennessee.
•'“Saidlot fronts seventy-two (72) feet on the east line of Belvoir Avenue and extends back eastwardly to the east line of said subdivision on which it has a [8]*8footage of 88.3 feet, its north, line being 202.4 feet in length and its south line 200 feet in length.”

And to subject that property to a judgment rendered against I. A. Caldwell in favor of the complainants below growing out of an automobile collision which severely injured Bobby 'Womack, a minor who brought the suit by his father as next friend. There was a decree below in favor of the defendant and to which complainant saved exceptions, prayed an appeal to the Court of Appeals of Tennessee, which was granted, perfected and disposed of by this Opinion.

The parties will be referred to in accord with the respective status each sustained in the Chancery Court of Hamilton County.

The complainant was severely injured in an automobile accident involving collision with the automobile of the defendant, I. A. Caldwell, on March 8, 1959, in which collision the said I. A. Caldwell was also severely injured. Defendant, I. A. Caldwell, was carried immediately to the Erlanger hospital in Chattanooga where on March 16, 1959, he executed the deed conveying the involved property to his daughter. Title Guaranty and Trust Company is made a party defendant to the suit as trustee, as is Bossville Federal Savings and Loan Association, the holder of the secured debt originating on May 15,1959, in the amount of $5,500.

Defendant, I. A. Caldwell, is a widower, and his only child is the defendant, Mrs. Stone. Mrs. I. A. Caldwell died October 25, 1957, and in the very first part of the year 1958, at the request of her father, for the consideration hereinafter referred to and stated in the deed of [9]*9conveyance, moved into the involved property which was the homeplace of her father and deceased mother, nnder conditions recited in the decree of the learned Chancellor, and at which time there was a debt owing by her father secured by deed of trust on said real estate previously executed by her father and mother.

On November 23,1959, the complainant having brought suit charging defendant I. A. Caldwell with negligence growing out of the automobile collision, recovered a judgment against him for $15,000 compensatory damages and $7,250 punitive damages, and of which judgment only $6,000 was paid. It may be assumed that the payment was made by Mr. Caldwell’s insuror. The suit, which resulted in that judgment had not been filed at the time the deed was executed.

The bill is predicated upon the assumption and allegations that the conveyance is fraudulent, rendering the defendant, I. A. Caldwell, insolvent; that his daughter and her husband had knowledge of the collision and injury of the complainant and that the Title Guaranty Company and the holder of the secured debt also had knowledge of the pending liability of I. A. Caldwell when it issued the Title Guaranty bond and closed the loan agreement.

The defense is predicated upon the allegations that there was an oral contract and agreement between the defendant, I. A. Caldwell and his daughter, soon after the death of his wife, and her mother, by which he orally contracted with her that if she and her husband and family would move into his home — the property involved —assume the debt then against it, secured by the deed of. trust thereon, and take care of him, he would give her this property, and that the deed was executed pursuant [10]*10to and for the consideration set ont and agreed to by that oral contract. The answer sets forth the detailed defense and denies all allegations of fraud, collusion to defraud and wrongful acts on the part of each defendant.

The record shows that at the time the hill was filed or later, I. A. Caldwell was adjudged a bankrupt, one E. Blake Moore had been appointed trustee in that bankruptcy proceeding, and by the proper petition and orders had become a party to this pending cause of action, with the allegation in his petition that in event the deeds were set aside, title to the property should be vested in him as such trustee for the benefit of the creditors of the bankrupt estate.

The learned Chancellor, Honorable M. B. Finkelstein, Part II, Chancery Court of Hamilton County, Tennessee, found the issues in favor of the defendants, having filed a detailed Memorandum Opinion and decreed accordingly.

The errors assigned in this Court are:

“I.
“The Court erred in holding that a tort claimant is not considered a creditor until an action is commenced.
“II.
“The Court erred in holding that it was not necessary to pass upon the financial condition of defendant Caldwell on the date of the conveyance.
“III.
“The Court erred in holding that a parole agreement to convey real estate is good against creditors of the vendor.
[11]*11“IV.
“The Court erred in finding that a parole agreement to convey was made.
“V.
“The Court erred in holding that the conveyance - from defendant Caldwell to defendant Stone was not fraudulent. ’ ’

• Eesponding to Assignment of Error I, we do not understand the learned Chancellor to have held that a tort claimant is not considered a creditor until an action is commenced. He simply held that Scarborough v. Pickens, 26 Tenn. App. 213, 179 S. W. (2d) 585 “is authority for holding that a tort claimant is a creditor. There the tort action was filed on the same day the Chancery suit was commenced.” He also distinguished the ease of Cooper v. Cooper, 22 Tenn. App. 473, 124 S. W. (2d) 264, from the instant case by saying: “In Cooper v. Cooper, supra, the claimant actually obtained a judgment prior to the execution of the deed.”

The only cases relied upon in the brief of the complainant filed with the Assignments of Error not relied upon in the Court below, are Oliphant v. Moore, 155 Tenn. 359, 293 S.W. 541; Ashbaugh v. Sauer, 268 Mich. 467, 256 N.W. 486, and Babirecki v. Virgil, 97 N.J.Eq. 315, 127 A. 594, 39 A.L.R. 171. We have carefully read the entire record and Memorandum Opinion, with the Finding of Facts by the learned Chancellor. It seems to us to fully cover every issue necessary for our consideration and is such an excellent Opinion and Finding of Facts we have adopted it as our own, making it the Opinion of this Court, which is as follows: -

[12]*12“Memorandum Opinion
£ ‘ This is a snit to have a conveyance declared fraudulent.

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

Related

Ashbaugh v. Sauer
256 N.W. 486 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1934)
Babirecki v. Virgil
127 A. 594 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 1925)
Cooper v. Cooper
124 S.W.2d 264 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1938)
Oliphant v. Moore
293 S.W. 541 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1927)
Scarborough v. Pickens
170 S.W.2d 585 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1942)
De Mary v. Jefferson County
179 S.W.2d 584 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1943)
Mathews v. Massey
63 Tenn. 450 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1874)
Brakefield v. Anderson
10 S.W. 360 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1889)
Phillips v. Kimmons
29 S.W. 965 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1895)
King v. Coleman
40 S.W. 1082 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1897)
Cherokee Foundries, Inc. v. Imperial Assur. Co.
219 S.W.2d 203 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1949)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
349 S.W.2d 795, 49 Tenn. App. 6, 1961 Tenn. App. LEXIS 91, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/womack-ex-rel-womack-v-caldwell-tennctapp-1961.