35 A.2d 292 | Pa. | 1943
M. E. Lunnen filed his bill against George D. Hunter and Edward H. Hunter, to set aside, as fraudulent, a conveyance of land for a nominal consideration,1 made February 9, 1935, by George D. Hunter and his wife who held by the entireties. Mrs. Hunter died in November, 1936. The property had been conveyed to the husband and wife for a consideration of $2,600 by a deed dated and recorded May 25, 1920. On June 5, 1920, Hunter borrowed $1,800 from the Derry Building Loan Association secured by a mortgage on the property dated May 25, 1920, executed by him and wife. This loan was repaid by the maturity of the building association stock and the mortgage was satisfied May 4, 1931.
The plaintiff, Lunnen, was in the grocery business and supplied Hunter and his family with groceries on credit. Beginning November 23, 1923, Hunter fell back in his payments on the account to the extent that when Lunnen brought this suit he had judgment against Hunter for $4,035.91. Hunter dealt with Lunnen from 1921 and paid his bills until November 23, 1923.
Hunter was a workman employed by a railroad company earning good wages.2 Lunnen frequently requested payment of his bill but was put off by promises. *404
The learned chancellor filed an adjudication holding thatC. I. T. Corporation v. Flint,
We think the learned chancellor's first conclusion was right and the second wrong. It is of course true that a deed conveying an estate by the entireties may be the means of defrauding creditors and for that reason, may be set aside.3 But there is nothing in this case to suggest that George Hunter was insolvent when he and his wife took title in 1920 or that there was anything fraudulent in the transaction.
In C. I. T. Corporation v. Flint et al.,
". . . As long as the title was held by entireties it was not an asset of Flint available for his creditors. They could not have attached it or his interest in it. It could have been conveyed by him and his wife so as to be forever beyond their reach. They could seize upon it only if, on the death of the wife, it had not been conveyed and the husband survived. He was not under a legal duty to see that this possible interest was preserved for the benefit of his creditors." See alsoMurphey v. C. I. T. Corp.,
In sustaining the exceptions to the adjudication, the court proceeded on the theory, if we understand it correctly, that though the deed to husband and wife was delivered and recorded May 25, 1920, title to the property did not vest in them until May 4, 1931, when the *406
mortgage was satisfied; that after November, 1923, Lunnen was a creditor and that George D. Hunter who furnished the consideration for the purchase and payment of the mortgage was insolvent. The difficulty with the theory is that title vested May 25, 1920, when the deed was delivered to them (Chambley v.Rumbaugh,
In Shaver v. Mowry,
The plaintiff testified that he did not know the title was held by Hunter and wife, though their deed was recorded, and that he trusted Hunter's promises from time to time to pay. It may be that Hunter deceived him in making those promises, but Hunter's deception in this respect will not render the conveyance by both in 1935 fraudulent.
As the decree destroyed the interest of Edward H. Hunter, the grantee, we have treated the appeal as his alone.
Decree reversed and bill dismissed at plaintiff's costs.