41 Vt. 698 | Vt. | 1869
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Upon the facts reported by the referee, two question arise: first, whether the debtor has the right to select from his oxen or steers the yoke of oxen or steers he would keep exempt from attachment; and second, whether the plaintiff’s declarations to Bennett, on the 23d of November, as to the attachable property then owned by the plaintiff, should estop him from claiming exemption of the • red oxen against Bennett’s attachment. In regard to the first question, it appears that the plaintiff, on the 10th of November, owned a yoke of stags and a yoke of oxen, and one yoke of them were exempt from attachment. On said 10th of November, the stags were attached by Wheeler, and the plaintiff procured them receipted, retaining pos
It is said by the defendants’ counsel that if the debtor is allowed to make the selection, a practical difficulty might arise in
It is insisted by the defendants that the plaintiff, by his declarations to Bennett as to his property, is estopped from setting up a claim that the oxen were exempt from attachment. It appears that the plaintiff, on the 23d day of November, was requested to make payment to Bennett of a debt the plaintiff owed him, and the plaintiff on that occasion told Bennett that he had as much as 15000 of property, that he had two yoke of oxen and other' property that could be attached, and that he should pay Bennett soon. Upon the facts reported by the referee, we think it is clear that the plaintiff, by his declarations to Bennett as to his attachable property, did not waive his right to claim exemption of the oxen. In order to entitle the defendants to prevail on this point, it should appear that the declarations of the plaintiff in respect to his property were such as would justify the defendants in attaching property exempt from attachment, and that by reason of those declarations the defendants made the attachment. It appears that the plaintiff on that occasion spoke generally of his
The judgment of the county court is reversed, and judgment for the plaintiff for the sum reported by the referee, with interest since last December term.