23 Mich. 217 | Mich. | 1871
This is a bill to establish a trust in favor of complainant, in certain personal property alleged to have been conveyed by her father, Francis Smith, to the defendant, Frederick S. Crissman, who is her husband, for her use.
The averments in the bill are that the said Francis Smith, becoming aged and feeble in health, was desirous of making a proper disposition of his property, and his wife Dinah Smith, the mother of complainant, having become much weakened in mind and body, so as to be unfit to manage or control property for her own benefit or for the benefit of others, and being so deranged mentally, and childish, and nervous, that it had become impossible to please or satisfy her, the said Francis Smith, without consulting with, and without the knowledge of, his said wife as to the disposition of his personal property, concluded to make the disposition of his whole estate as follows: '
His lands and tenements were in due form of law deeded to complainant (his sole child), by deed bearing date December 31, 1863; and his personal property was transferred to said Frederick S. Crissman, in trust, for complainant, to be by him kept at interest, used and preserved as such trustee, for the use and benefit of complainant, and in case any of such property, or the proceeds thereof, should remain after the death of complainant and not disposed of during •her life, by her or for her benefit, then the remainder to go to her heirs; that such transfer of personal property was not mentioned or disclosed to said Dinah Smith, or to complainant, for the reason, as alleged by said Francis Smith, that it might create a jealousy on the part of said Dinah towards complainant; she, the said Dinah, being then in a feeble and childish state of mind, and then being unfit and incapable of managing property matters; the said Francis
This is the whole statement of the trust, but the bill proceeds to aver that said Francis Smith died intestate, May 31, 1866, and on August 11, 1866, said Frederick S. Crissman was appointed by the probate court of Macomb county, administrator upon his estate, and took upon himself that trust; that complainant is informed and believes that said Frederick S. Crissman, soon after the transfer of said personal property to him, in trust, without authority of law, returned and delivered to said Francis Smith certain portions thereof, amounting in value to about five thousand dollars; that at or about the time of the death of said Francis Smith, said Frederick S. Crissman, without the consent or knowledge of complainant, and without authority of law, delivered and entrusted to said Dinah Smith a portion of said personal property, for the sole gratification of the said Dinah Smith, under the expectation and belief on the part of said Frederick, that she would preserve and take care of the same during her life, and at her death the same would come to complainant and her heirs; that the said Frederick, further to gratify said Dinah, and without the knowledge or consent of complainant, agreed with said Dinah to employ no attorney and take no counsel in the settlement of said estate; and the said Frederick, being ignorant of his legal responsibility and duty as such trustee, and further expecting to please and gratify said Dinah, made an inventory of all the trust property and proceeds thereof, as the property and effects of the estate of said Francis Smith deceased.
The bill, after other averments that need not be here repeated, prays that -the transfer of such personal property so made by said ■ Francis Smith to said Frederick S. Crissman, may be declared to be a legal, equitable and Iona fide conveyance to .said Frederick, in trust for complainant, without power or authority of revocation, and that a re-delivery of said property, or the proceeds thereof, to the said Francis Smith, was without authority of law and' contrary to equity, and that a transfer of any of the said trust property to said Dinah Smith and by her to said Day, or to the executors named in her will, was a violation of said trust; and that said Day and such executors may be enjoined from transferring, .expending or disposing of any of the money, property or the proceeds thereof so received by them through, and by, said Dinah Smith, or since her death, except as they shall return the same to Frederick S. Crissman, and that said Frederick may be enjoined from in any way, as such administrator of. the estate of said Francis Smith, representing, inventorying or accounting with the estate of said Francis for the said property so conveyed to him in trust, as belonging to the said estate, and that complainant may have other and further relief.
In reviewing the testimony as it appears in the record, we are strongly impressed that if the case were to stand upon the testimony introduced by complainant, it would not establish such a trust as is alleged. So far from there being any reasonable pretense that the arrangement — whatever it was — was to be. kept secret from Dinah Smith, on account of her defective understanding, or for any other reason, the complainant herself appears to have taken testimony to prove that Dinah Smith understood and was satisfied with the arrangement, and there is other very conclusive evidence to the same effect. Nor would complainant’s testimony convince us that the trust, if any was created, was-to be irrevocable; but, on the contrary, it is clear enough that Francis Smith believed he had a right to withdraw from the hands' of Frederick S. Orissman any portion of the property transferred to him, at any time when he saw fit, and that when he did withdraw any, it was not in violation of any trust, but of right. And perhaps, on the ground that complainant’s testimony tends to support a different case from that made by the bill, we should be justified in affirming the decree of the court below withoiit examining the record further.
■ But we are not disposed to place our decision on any technical ground, inasmuch as we think there is no sufficient showing that any trust whatever was ever created. "Where a party undertakes to establish a trust upon parol
Crissman testifies more distinctly to a trust declared in favór of his wife. If he testifies truly, it seems to us matter of astonishment that he did not mention it to his wife for nearly three years; that he should procure himself to be appointed administrator on the estate of his father-in-law on the supposition that all this property belonged to that estate; and that he should inventory it all as pertaining to the estate. It is incredible that he could have understood in 1863 that the property was put into his hands to hold for his wife, and, without consulting with any one on the subject, could have supposed it his duty in 1866 to inventory it as the property of her father’s estate. We look in vain for any satisfactory explanation of this circumstance, though we think we are not without the means of some insight into the motives which have impelled Crissman and his wife to the course they have taken. “'I had been told,” Crissman testifies, “that the old lady could not, in any way, dispose of [the property], and I supposed it was the case.” It was only after it was ascertained that Francis Smith’s widow was entitled of right to a portion of his property, and might dispose of it by will, that Crissman advanced to his wife and to the judge of probate this theory of a conveyance to him in trust; a theory wholly inconsistent with all his actions in respect to the property, both before and since the death of Francis Smith, and inconsist
This is a most unfortunate family controversy, and we regret the necessity of having to dispose of it; but we are of opinion that the circuit court made the only decree warranted by the law and the evidence, and it must be affirmed with costs.