69 Tenn. 416 | Tenn. | 1878
delivered the opinion of the court.
The original and amended bills in this case may be briefly summarized by saying they are intended to obtain relief by having certain purchases of property, real and personal, made under proceedings in the Chancery Court at Knoxville, declared void, and have the same set aside on the ground that George W. Churchwell, whose property was thus sold, was of unsound mind, and incompetent to . transact business at the time said proceedings were instituted and decrees made. In fact, the charge is made in the original as well as an amended bill, that he was insane, and
In this state of things it appears that George W. Churchwell had become involved in a very heavy contingent liability as endorser of certain notes in connection with the Bank of East Tennessee, amounting probably to a hundred or more thousand dollars. A suit was pending seeking to enforce this liability. At this time the land secured in the deed of trust, nine hundred and forty acres, is estimated to have been worth from thirty-five to fifty dollars per acre, and was ample security for the fund. This was in the early part of 1861. How the fund was invested does not precisely appear — probably was loaned on securities then in the hands of the trustee, and amounted, as shown by a report of the clerk and master, to about $17,000, or a little over this sum.
Under these circumstances, in January, 1861, a bill was filed in the name of the wife, service of process
It was then ordered that if the amount bid for said land should not be sufficient to pay the recovery, then an execution should issue against the property of said Churchwell. In addition, Churchwell resigned his trust, and by the same decree it was ordered that 'J. H. Armstrong, a brother-in-law of complainant, be appointed in his stead, who was authorized to buy the land, or any property that might be sold under the decree; the purchase, however to be subject to confirmation by the court at next term of the court. 'This land was sold and bid off by the trustee at $10,200, which left $7,254.63 balance, for which an execution was issued and levied upon what we take
Before proceeding to a discussion of the main question, two preliminary questions reqnire to be disposed of. It is insisted that on the statement of facts as contained in the original bill, it clearly appears that this was a fraudulent arrangement to defeat the expected recovery then being pressed by suit; and this being so, his administrator and heir are precluded by the fraudulent transaction of the intestate and ancestor from asking the aid of a court of equity to set the same aside in their behalf. The principle announced is a correct one, as has long been settled in our State, that a fraudulent conveyance is valid as between the vendor and vendee, and his heirs and distributees are bound by it. They are estopped by the act of their ancestor. The same principle would be applicable to a case like the present when the result is attained through the agency of decrees of a court. But the application of this well settled principle is avoided in this case on two grounds. First, the facts showing the pressure upon Churchwell are-merely incidentally stated as part of the history of
But a conclusive answer to this is found in the ■concluding allegations of the bill; which are, substantially, that Churchwell was at the time when appointed trustee, and at the time said proceedings were instituted and carried on, insane, and of such incapacity as to be unable to comprehend his act, or its results as well as under the controlling influence of his wife, and therefore the whole transaction was null and void. Ef this be true, whatever may have been the purpose of others, or the effect of what was done on the rights of creditors, he could not have been held responsible lor the act, nor would the principle contended for work an estoppel, either upon himself or his heirs, when seeking relief against the proceeding. ■
The other question is, that a bill similar to this had been filed before the present one was prepared for hearing, and the case taken up and probably being heard, when complainants voluntarily dismissed the same, which was decreed by the Chancellor on their motion. It seems formerly in England this decree would have been final as res adjudicatei, unless the bill had been dismissed without prejudice. But such has not been the rule in Tennessee. “ It is only a decree on the merits,” 'says this court in Hurst v. Means, 2 Sneed, 548, “that is a bar to a subsequent
We now address ourselves to the main question in the case, was George W. Church well competent to act intelligently in the transactions which we have detailed? was his mind capable of understandingly, and with reasonable discretion, performing so important a series of acts as was required in the disposition of the estate to which we have referred ? In a word, was he deranged, or at any rate of only such capacity as that while he might engage with some intelligence in small transactions, yet unfitted for comprehension of larger and more complicated ones? or was he not of such weak understanding, or in such a state of en~ feeblement, both in body and mind, that he would be readily imposed on, or be the subject of an advantage easily had, and was such advantage taken of his weakness by those having influential control of him, as to render his acts void, as not being the free intelligent deed of an independent and competent mind ? These are the questions to be solved in this case, and on which it turns. In deciding them, as a- matter of course we can have no • feeling either way as to the result, and must be guided solely by the testimony before us in the record. We have most carefully gone through with the immense mass of testimony in the case, and now give a short summary of its results. It would be too much to endeavor to present it in detail.
We find about this state of facts made out by a
He was brought home in this state, and his family physician, Dr. Baker, who had been his trusted friend
We have thus presented the salient features of the proof on the part of complainants. It points to a state of mind unmistakable. The picture, however, must be slightly modified by an undertone, or subsidiary view, to give the more accurate result, as is ¡generally the ease in arriving at precision in all our
On this rapid summary of the facts we have but to apply a few simple but well established principles of law, which we cite from an opinion of our own court, adopting the language of Mr. Justice Story, Eq. Jurisprudence, secs. 234, 235: “Contracts are utterly void (we would say’ are clearly voidable) when made by a person though not positively non compos or insane, is yet of such great weakness of mind as to be unable to guard himself against imposition, or to resist importunity or undue influence, etc. For it has been well remarked, that although there is no direct proof that a man is non compos or delirious, yet if he is a man of weak understanding, and is harrassed and uneasy at the time, it cannot be supposed that he had a mind adequate to the business which he was about, and he might be very' easily imposed upon.” He adds that equity does not, however, measure the size of men’s understandings, where the mind is sound, etc. In conclusion he says, a degree of weakness far below that which would justify a jury in pronouncing a verdict of lunacy coupled with other circumstances
Applying these principles to this case, we are inevitably led to the conclusion that these transactions cannot be allowed to stand, by any enlightened tribunal. Ve have the case of a man who was certainly laboring under a most definite derangement of his mental faculties, for all purposes of such a business, if not totally wanting in capacity, certainly of great weakness of mind. We have such a party under threatened pressure of a debt incurred by endorsement large enough to sweep every thing he owned. We have a wife, who has absolute» control over him. Under these circumstances, under the thin guise of a legal proceeding, his large estate, worth from fifty to seventy-five thousand dollars, is, step by step, sold and purchased in pursuance of an arrangement (evidently dictated and guided by others) by the trustee of that wife, and thus the whole of his property secured to
The result is, that a decree will be drawn in accordance with the result thus reached. As to the personalty, consisting largely of household furniture, farming implements, etc., we do not think it proper to take any account of .this,' as it was probably of but little if any value at the death of Churehwell, and had been jointly used by husband and wife until then.
An account of the trust fund will be taken, showing the amount up to the time of the report, with interest, annual rents being allowed up to the death of Churchwell; after that time only simple interest on the amount then due. This change is made in former opinion because, on reflection, we see the trust ceased on the death of the husband, and the wife was entitled to the corpus of the fund, and not to the in
It does not appear in what securities the fund was invested at the date of the decree. If desired, an inquiry may be had as to this, and if any of the -corpus of said fund has been received by Mrs. Church-well or her trustee from this source, the estate of Churchwell will be credited with this amount. If none, however, has been so received, then the whole fund will be chargeable to the estate. When this account is taken and balance ascertained, the home place not included in the dower, may be sold under the direction of the court to pay the same, and if not sufficient, then any other of the property, as may be ascertained to be most proper on inquiry by the court.
The case will be remanded to take proper accounts as directed, and for further proceedings. The costs of the court below and this court will be paid by Mrs. Churchwell up to the present time. The future costs as may be directed by the Chancellor.