242 F. 909 | 2d Cir. | 1917
The bankrupt, Cauchois, married in 1887;: his wife inheriting shortly before and shortly after the marriage some $6,000 from various relations, which she handed over to him and he used in his business, no formal account being kept between them. Cauchois from that time down to 1910, or thereabout, was solvent and increasingly prosperous. January 30, 1895, Mrs. Cauchois took title to premises at Watermill, Long Island, costing $1,000, on which she caused to be erected a house, stable, and windmill, at a cost of $3,100; all being subject to a mortgage of $2,000. The payments were made by her husband’s checks. In February, 1896, she being in a delicate condition and there being a dispute with a neighbor about an encroachment on his property, Mrs. Cauchois conveyed the premises to her husband. From that time the place remained the family summer home; title standing in Mr. Cauchois until September, 1911, when he reconveyed to her. This was at a time when he was insolvent, and within four months of the filing of the petition against him upon which he was adjudicated a bankrupt January 16, 1912. Mrs. Cauchois died June 4, 1913, leaving a will dated January 26, 1891, and codicil dated February 18, 1894, giving all her property to her husband. Four'children were born after the date of the codicil, as to whom, under the law of New York, Mrs. Cauchois died intestate. Decedent Estate Law (Consol. Laws, c. 13)-§26._
We discover no evidence whatever to sustain this charge. If the trustee has any ground of recovery, it is because the conveyance was made to hinder, delay, and defraud the creditors, within section 67e of the Bankruptcy Act (Comp. St. 1916, § 9651). Mrs. Cauchois being dead at the time of the trial, there was no evidence but Mr. Cauchois’ testimony and the documents. The District Judge found as matter of fact that Mrs. Cauchois did not convey the property to her husband as a gift; that the consideration of the conveyance was his promise to hold for her use and benefit; that he reconveyed it to her, not for the purpose of putting the property out of the reach of his creditors, but because he considered that it was hers. We cóncur in these findings, and conclude as matter of law that, between him and his wife, it was the bankrupt’s moral and legal duty to reconvey to her.
The decree is reversed, but, under the circumstances, without costs.