84 Miss. 612 | Miss. | 1904
delivered the opinion of the court. The facts of this case, briefly stated, are as follows: One R. A. Crump, Sr., in his lifetime, was the owner of certain real estate in Lowndes county, Miss., consisting of houses and lots in the town of Artesia,. and certain- country property. He had been engaged in the mercantile business, and became heavily embarrassed financially, and in 1887 executed a deed of trust on the property in controversy in this suit to secure J. L. Smith an indebtedness of about $2,700. Shortly before the death of E. A. Crump, Sr. (about two years), which occurred in November, 1889, finding himself hopelessly involved financially, the property in question was sold under the trust deed, and purchased by C. E. Smith, who was a friend of, and had business dealings with, R. A. Crump, Sr. R. A. Crump, Sr., represented to C. R. Smith his condition; told him he would be unable to redeem the property, but stated to Smith that his daughter and oldest child, Mrs. Mattie Bryan, had money, and would purchase the property, and Smith agreed to let Mrs. Bryan have the property, she to pay the amount, with 10 per cent interest. A conveyance was shortly afterwards made by C. R. Smith to Mrs. Bryan. As above stated, R. A. Crump,
It may be said, in passing, that the suit was dismissed as to Gaius Whitfield. There had been a partition proceeding, as above set forth, after the death of Mrs. Bryan — the property being sold — and Gaius Whitfield was the purchaser of a piece of the property at this sale.
We have given the case repeated and most painstaking investigation, and the result of our deliberation is that the decree "of the chancellor must be reversed.
The evidence by which it was attempted to establish the trust, with the exception of one immaterial and unimportant particular, was by parol. The complainants (appellees here) invoke the well-established and well-recognized doctrine that, where a grantee or devisee obtains the possession and title to land intended for another by actual fraud, on proof of the fraud a trust will be raised in favor of the latter,' and that the trust may be established by parol. The doctrine finds its most frequent illustration and application in the case of devisees preventing a testator from making intended provision by "will for another, and like cases. The doctrine is clearly set forth in the familiar case of Ragsdale v. Ragsdale, 68 Miss., 92 (8 South., 315; 11 L. R. A., 316; 24 Am. St. Rep., 256). Judge Campbell, delivering the opinion of the court, says: “There is no dissent from the proposition that one who is active in preventing a testator from making an intended provision by his will for another, and where, but for such intervention, the intended provision would have been made, will be held to be trustee of any devise to himself, to the extent it would have been for such other if it had not been intercepted by him, and will be compelled to respond to the claim of the intended beneficiary. Intercepting a bounty intended for another, and diverting it to one’s self, is held to be fraud, from which a trust arises by operation of law, and not within the statutes of frauds
But the case must fall under the proof which is made by the complainants’ own witnesses. The first testimony offered was that of C. B. Smith, who was the only living witness to the transaction. He testified that he bought the property at the trustee’s sale, in perfect good faith, as an investment, without any understanding whatever that he was to hold the title for the benefit of Mr. Crump or that it was to be held for the ben
In addition to this, the chancellor admitted — we think, erroneously — the testimony of the complainants. The admission of this testimony was objected to upon the ground that it was incompetent, as it was the testimony of parties to establish their own claim against the estate of a deceased person, which arose in the lifetime of the deceased. However, although this testimony should have been excluded, it does not make out a case of fraud. On the contrary, Roland A. Crump, Jr., testified that Mrs. Bryan let her father have $1,400 for the purpose of paying this very debt. In addition to this, it is shown that Mrs. Bryan did have the money, derived from several sources. Her bank book was offered in evidence, showing she had $1,300 in the bank, which she had drawn out at the time of this transaction. Various witnesses were introduced, all of whom testified that Mrs. Bryan was looked upon as the owner of this property. She was in possession of it, managing and controlling it. Thomas Grant, who was a tenant on the country property, testified that Mrs. Bryan owned the property; that he had been in the habit of getting rations from Mrs. Crump, but a short time be
We are of the opinion that, under the facts disclosed by the transcript, the defendants to the cross-bill are barred as to any claim that they might have had to any interest in the north half of said section. Had they asserted their claim at any time within the statutory period, under the facts disclosed in this record, we think, manifestly, a court of equity would have reformed the instruments purporting to convey the west half, and carried out the intention of the parties, but no such claim was asserted. Although the cross-bill is not a bill seeking the reformation of the deeds, it does conclude with a prayer for
-Our conclusion is that the decree of the chancellor be reversed, and a decree entered here dismissing the original bill, and, further, declaring the claim of Roland A. Crump, Jr., Mrs. Annie M. Gladley, J. R. Moore, and Mrs. Ruby Noffsinger, defendants to the cross-bill, forever barred as to the northeast quarter and the east half of the northwest quarter of section 18, township 18, range 16 east.
Reversed, and decree here.
Chief Justice Whitfield, being disqualified, recused himself, and J. B. Harris, Esq., a member of the supreme court bar, was Appointed in his place and presided as such.