85 Iowa 276 | Iowa | 1892
In 1888, Lyman Ditson died intestate in Lee county, Iowa, seized in fee of one hundred and
The defendants deny that the plaintiff is entitled to the possession of the homestead, admit the execution of the deed to Jesse Ditson, deny that the same was procured by threats, and aver that she executed it freely, voluntarily, and for a valid consideration, and that she was in condition to • transact business. They deny that they prevented her from seeing an attorney. They also aver that Lyman Ditson, prior to his marriage with the plaintiff, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Eogers, on October 13, 1873, entered into an ante-nuptial contract whereby all property questions were settled between them, and providing therein that each of the parties, after the marriage and during the lifetime of both, were to have control of their individual estate, and to control, sell, and dispose of it as each might deem proper, also providing that the plaintiff should receive a legacy out of his (Lyman Ditson’s) estate of one thousand dollars, with the addition of one hundred dollars each year after eight years from said marriage (if said Ditson be then living), as long as he lived after eight years from said marriage, to be first paid out of his estate, which the plaintiff accepted in full as her
The plaintiff filed an amendment averring that the deceased, at the time of his death, possessed eighteen thousand dollars in personal property, and that she, as a widow, was entitled to one-third thereof as her distributive share, and states that all of said personal property has been converted by the defendants to their own use; that she was induced to execute the deed by threats, undue influence and fraud. Replying to the defendant’s answer, the plaintiff admits the execution of the ante-nuptial contract; denies its legal effect as
I. This appeal raises for our consideration the plaintiff’s right to recover her distributive share of the per-
“That, upon the marriage of said parties, said Elizabeth Rogers is to have full control and management of all the property belongingto her atthetimeof saidmarriage, said Ditson to have full control of his estate, both real
The defendants contend that under this contract the plaintiff is barred from all interest in Lyman Ditson’s estate, real or personal, except the legacy provided for therein. The plaintiff, on the other hand, insists that the word “dower,” used therein, indicates that the plaintiff simply surrendered her right to an interest in the lands of her husband after his death. It is claimed that because the estate of “dower” is abolished in this state, and the widow’s interest in the real estate'of her deceased husband is called her “distributive share,’’that that was evidence that the parties had not used the word with reference to an interest in real estate alone. Code, sections 2440,2441. We think this contention is entitled to but little weight. It will be observed that the word “dower,” as applied to the share of the widow in her
It is said in Field v. Schricher, 14 Iowa, 122: “And while it is true, as claimed by the appellants, that, in construing a paper, we are to look to the paper itself, and cannot look to surrounding circumstances, to make that uncertain which'is plain, it is equally true that what a contract means is a question of law; that in giving it a construction the first point is to ascertain what the parties meant. * * * The subject-matter
Applying these rules of law to the contract in controversy, we hold that the legacy provided for the plaintiff therein was intended to cover all her interest in the decedent’s estate, both real and personal. Let us look at the circumstances surrounding the execution
Again, we have seen that the construction put upon the contract by the plaintiff must have some weight if there be any doubt as to the meaning of it. The plaintiff, after her husband’s death, had a settlement under the contract ‘ with the defendants. The great preponderance of the evidence shows that when she was paid the sum due thereunder, and the life lease executed to her of the home farm, she expressed herself as satisfied, and said it was more than she had expected; that she had Jesse fix it up just to suit her. It appears from her conduct then, as well as some time after-wards, that the claims she now makes were not thought of by her at the settlement and that she then thought she had received more even than she was legally entitled to. These matters are only material as they tend to show the plaintiff’s construction of the contract, and hence the intention of the parties at the time it was executed. Not until about a year after the settlement did she change her mind. The case of Mahaffy v. Mahaffy, 61 Iowa, 679, and 63 Iowa, 55, is relied upon by the plaintiff, with much confidence, as decisive of the questions involved, arising out of the construction of the ante-nuptial contract. We cannot reach the conclusion that it should have that effect. In that case the contract was materially different from that in the case at bar. In the Mahaffy Case the meaning of the word “dower,” as used in the contract, was rendered certain by the other words used, “or right of inheritance,” and the fact that the right of the wife to an allowance, and to occupy the homestead, not having been acquired by her “inheritance,” renders it certain that the contract could not have been intended by the parties to have included an allowance for support, or the
II. The conclusion we have reached precludes any recovery by the plaintiff in this case. While we are
III. It is contended that the deed executed by the plaintiff was procured by threats, undue influence and fraud, and that, by the same means, she was induced to lease the property; that she was not in a proper mental condition to do business; that the defendants prevented her from seeing an attorney; that the said instruments were unconscionable. We cannot review the evidence relating to these matters. It is voluminous. It is sufficient to say that it does not in any way süstain the plaintiff’s contention. There is no question in our minds that she knew just what she was doing when she executed these instruments; that she was satisfied with what she had done until long afterwards, when
Several other questions are raised by the defendants, but as what we have said will, in any event, dispose of the case, we need not consider them. The judgment of the district court is- reversed, and judgment will be rendered in this court for the defendants, and against the plaintiff for costs. Reversed.