4 Barb. 376 | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | 1848
So far as the bill charges positive and actual fraud on the part of the defendant in obtaining the deed, it is not sustained by the proof. The allegation that the defendant concealed from the plaintiff the provisions of his grandfather’s will in his favor, is explicitly denied in the answer, and the proof shows that, if the defendant was ignorant of the extent of his interest, it was his own fault. Judge Hoi
It is also true, that it is not enough to induce even a court of equity to interfere, that a bargain is hard and unreasonable. Every man is presumed to be capable of managing his own affairs ; and whether his bargains are wise or unwise, is not, ordinarily, a legitimate subject of inquiry, in a court either of legal or equitable jurisdiction. No principle is better settled than that mere inadequacy does not form a distinct ground of equitable relief. And vet there-areleases, where there is no positive evidence of fraud, in which the inequality of the bargain is so gross, that the mind cannot resist the inference, that though there be no direct evidence of fraud, such a bargain mus’tliaA'e beenrin some wayrimpinperlv obtained. In such cases, a court of equity will avoid a bargain, not merely on account of its gross inequality, but because that inequality furnishes “ the most vehement presumption of fraud.” The cases of such interference are, however, very few. In most of the instances in which a party has been relieved from his own improvident bargain, there have been some circumstances of a suspicious character connected with the transaction, or there has been something in the relation which the parties sustained to each other, which rendered it inequitable that the party, against whom relief was sought, should retain the advantage he had acquired by his bargain. A brief reference to the case before the court, will show whether it contains any of the ingredients which have been regarded as sufficient to induce a court of equity to interfere.
The property devised to the parlies as tenants in common is alleged in the bill to be worth §3000. The answer states the value to be about §1400. From the opinion of the witnesses examined on the subject, I think it may be fairly estimated at about §1800. An undivided half of this property, the defen
But after all, the extenuating circumstances which the case presents, do not, in my judgment wholly overcome the inequitable features of the transaction. There was, to say the least, a very great inadequacy of price. In taking the deed, the defendant knowingly defeated the expressed object of his grandfather, whose munificence he was himself enjoying, while others, not interested in. the estate, had refused to purchase on account of the provisions of the will. The double relationship in which they stood to each other as kinsmen and joint recipients of their grandfather’s bounty, should have prompted the defendant, instead of profiting by the recklessness and improvidence of his cousin, to take measures more effectually to secure the property for his benefit.
It is not unusual for a court of equity, where the proof of actual fraud is not clear and satisfactory, to make the conveyance subservient to the whole equity of the case; while it refuses to declare the deed absolutely void, it will direct that it shall only stand as a security for the sum actually due. It seems to me, that the circumstances of this case are eminently adapted to
The decree appealed from must be modified so as to conform it. to the views expressed in this opinion. And there must be a reference to state an account between the parties upon the principles stated in the decree. All further directions, and the question of costs, to be reserved until the coming in of the report.