143 Iowa 293 | Iowa | 1909
On January 25, 1901, .Emil Lefebure was a widower and a very old man. He had five sons and two daughters, and was the owner of lands in Linn County. On the date named he entered into an ante-nuptial contract with Mary Sinnett in contemplation of marriage. On April 13, 1901, and before his proposed marriage, he conveyed all his lands in severalty to his children, reserving to himself a life estate. On April 17, 1901, he was married to Mary Sinnett, who has survived him as his widow, and, as administratrix, is a plaintiff in this case. In December, 1901, his youngest son, Charles, died unmarried, leaving the father as his only heir at law. The only property left by him was one hundred acres of land, being the same land which his father had conveyed to him in the April preceding. He left no debts, except the expenses of last sickness and funeral. Nevertheless the father took' out letters of administration on his estate, and was appointed administrator: He made an application to the probate court, regular in form, for an order to sell real estate to pay debts. This order was granted, and regular proceedings had, in pursuance of which he sold the real estate at the appraised price to his four sons. The sale was duly reported to the court, and approved; the administrator having charged himself with the receipt of the purchase price. The administrator did not in fact collect the purchase price from his sons, nor did he intend to do so. On the contrary, he paid all claims against the estate, and all expenses, and forgave to his sons the price of the purchased land. We may stop the narrative at this point long enough to say that this is the proceeding which is attacked in this case, and which it is claimed should be set aside for fraud. On January 31, 1904, the child, Agnes, was born of the second marriage. On May 6, 1905, Emil Lefebure died. He had not been- formally discharged as administrator of
We see no ground upon which plaintiffs can stand. Their petition is predicated in the main upon the charge of fraud. As already indicated, no fraud was proven, nor was actionable fraud possible under- the circumstances disclosed.
The trial court properly dismissed the petition, and its decree is affirmed.