211 Mass. 37 | Mass. | 1912
The trustee in bankruptcy of James A. Wood brings these suits against Caroline A. Wood and Mercy L. Wood, who are respectively the wife and daughter of the bankrupt, to set aside certain conveyances alleged to have been fraudulently made by him, to Mercy L. Wood of his interest in three parcels of real property, and for such further relief as may be necessary to vest the title in the plaintiff. By the statute the assignment conveyed the property of the bankrupt, and, although the conveyances in question were made nearly two years before the date of bankruptcy, the plaintiff was clothed with the rights of creditors to reach as assets of the estate property fraudulently conveyed at common law. U. S. St. 1898, c. 541, § 70. Knowlton v. Moseley, 105 Mass. 136.
The mortgages which were assigned by the conveyances were found by the master to have been at her death the sole property of Sarah B. Wood, a sister of the bankrupt, who was her only heir at law and upon her decease was duly appointed administrator of her estate. If through inheritance he took the property charged with a trust, and the conveyances were in performance of the trust, and for no other purpose, it could not have been seized by creditors, and the plaintiff has not succeeded to any enforceable interest. Sibley v. Quinsigamond National Bank,
It is important to a clear understanding of the nature of the bankrupt’s title to refer to the master’s explicit findings, to which on this question no exceptions were taken. Sarah B. Wood for many years was a member of his household, and during the four or five years immediately preceding her death frequently expressed to him a desire that whatever property she might leave should go to his wife and two children. But, being an invalid, she could not anticipate how much of her savings might be required for her comfortable support, and for this reason was averse to making a testamentary disposition of the estate, while she fully realized that upon intestacy he would come into possession as her heir. It was during these interviews that she requested him to distribute the estate between his wife and children in such proportions as in his discretion he deemed advisable. The master’s conclusions, that a definite understanding and agreement were reached that she should not make a will, but that the property was to pass by descent to be distributed between his wife and children, and that she refrained from making a will in their favor, relying upon his assurance that, if he survived, distribution would be made as she had requested, are decisive as to the facts. The intention of the parties, that when received the property was to be disposed of in a particular way and for the sole benefit of those who had been designated as beneficiaries, being manifest, no precise form of words was necessary to create a trust, and the terms “ trust ” and “ trustee ” were unessential. Packard v. Old Colony Railroad, 168 Mass. 92. Sawyer v. Cook, 188 Mass. 163, 165. Nor was it necessary to inform the beneficiaries that a trust existed in their favor, as they would have been clothed with the equitable, when he became vested with the legal title. Woodward v. James, 115 N. Y. 346, 356. Fletcher v. Fletcher, 4 Hare, 67, 74. It has been held under R. L. c. 74, § 1, cl. 4, and c. 147, § 1, that an express trust concerning land, if executory, must be evidenced by an instrument in writing, or it cannot be enforced. Tourtillotte v. Tourtillotte, 205 Mass. 547. Kennerson v. Nash, 208 Mass. 393. And if the oral agreement had been reduced to writing and signed by the parties, or if at her death he had executed and recorded a
We cannot accede to the further contention of the plaintiff, that if Wood was insolvent the conveyances necessarily must be treated as fraudulent. The bankrupt’s insolvency at the date of the transfers must be determined from all his indebtedness, both primary and contingent, and from the very full statements in the master’s report we have no doubt that he was unable to meet
In the last two suits at bar it appears that all the property transmitted came originally from Sarah B. Wood, and the plaintiff’s exceptions to the master’s report having become immaterial by our decision, they must be overruled, and the bills severally dismissed with costs.
But in the first suit, while the first mortgage was properly assigned to the defendant Mercy L. Wood, the conveyance to her of the equity of redemption was not in execution of the trust. The effect of the sale for non-payment of taxes upon this title need not be considered, as the conveyance of the tax title to the defendant Caroline A. Wood before the period of redemption expired, the master apparently finds, was only to protect the outstanding mortgages, which would have been extinguished if the tax title had been permitted to ripen. Abbott v. Frost, 185 Mass. 398. By the foreclosure of the second mortgage James A. Wood therefore acquired title to the equity of redemption, and, Caroline A. Wood not having retained any adverse interest, the bill as to her must be dismissed with costs. It is sufficiently plain that by reason of the
Decree in each case accordingly.