129 Ky. 138 | Ky. Ct. App. | 1908
Opinion op the Court by
— Affirming.
The appellant’s cause of action is stated in the following excerpt from her petition: “Plaintiff says: That the estate of David Brown, her father, is indebted to this plaintiff in the sum of $500. That the claim arises in this wise: That during the lifetime of plaintiff’s mother, now deceased, her said mother was the owner of two slaves. That with her consent David Brown sold said slaves about 1847 to 1848 for the. sum of $500, and invested the proceeds thereof for the use and benefit of this plaintiff’s mother in a tract of land, taking the deed to himself. That during the lifetime of plaintiff’s mother the decedent, David Brown, recognized the claim of his wife, this plaintiff’s mother, for the said sum of. $500, and claimed to hold the same in trust for her. That this plaintiff’s mother died many years ago intestate, leaving this
We are of opinion that the trial court.was correct in sustaining the demurrer. Appellant’s father, David Brown, died in 1905. He sold two slaves belonging to his wife in 1847 or 1848 for $500, which he invested in land, taking the title to himself. The money belonged to him as the law then stood. We think the allegations of the existence of a trust in regard to the money are entirely too vague to be enforceable. It had been a part of the estate of the father for 57 years. It does not appear that he accounted either to the mother or daughter for any interest on the money invested, and the fact that he gave it out in oral statements that he recognized the $500 as constituting a trust fund in his hands, first for the benefit of the mother and afterwards for the daughter, at best amounts to a verbal promise to pay that sum- to them at some future time, and thus constitutes an unexecuted promise, which cannot be en-.' forced as a trust. The rule is well settled that the subject- of the supposed trust, as well as the cestui que trust, must be definitely ascertained in order to
Judgment affirmed.