90 Wis. 232 | Wis. | 1895
On June 2,1893, the defendant and his wife conveyed the forty acres of land mentioned in exchange for a deed of the north half of two lots, each 60 by 150 feet, in Three Lakes, then owned by the defendant’s mother, Althine Louk. The forty had no building thereon, and was worth some $500 or $600, and was so conveyed subject to a mortgage of $140. The premises so conveyed to the defendant
The question of fraudulent intent in such cases must always be deemed a question of fact, and not of law, and no conveyance is to be adjudged fraudulent as against creditor's solely on the ground that it was not founded on a valuable consideration. R. S. sec. 2323. This court has always liberally construed the exemption laws. Zimmer v. Pauley, 51 Wis. 282; Hewett v. Allen, 54 Wis. 583; Scofield v. Hopkins, 61 Wis. 370. There is no evidence that the defendant was guilty of any actual fraud. The most that can be claimed is that the effect of his exchanging non exempt property for exempt property operated as a constructive fraud upon the plaintiff. Comstock v. Bechtel, 63 Wis. 656. The mere fact that such exchange may be highly advantageous to an insolvent debtor is not conclusive evidence of an intention to defraud his creditors. Palmer v. Hawes, 80 Wis. 474. Here the plaintiff not only fails to show by a preponderance of evidence that the defendant made such conveyance with such intent to defraud, but also fails to show that the defendant was insolvent at the time of making the conveyance. In fact it does not appear that he was indebted to any one, except to the plaintiff for the small amount for which this suit is brought.
By the Court.— The order of the circuit court is affirmed.