61 Tenn. 194 | Tenn. | 1872
delivered the opinion of the Court.
In 1845 Nathaniel Cheairs made his will, and shortly thereafter died. Testator devised to his daughter, the complainant, then the wife of Constantine Perkins, a tract of land in Maury County, containing about 400 acres, during her life, and then to her heirs; but if she should die without heirs of her
In view of these facts, it is alleged in the bill, “that said Constantine Perkins approached the four brothers and proposed to each of them to purchase .their several and respective interests in and to said tract of land, so devised to complainant and them, stating and agreeing that if they, ‘the said John W., Martin T., Thomas D. and N. E. Cheairs would, for a nominal sum,’ convey to him their respective interests in said tract of land, he, the said Constantine Perkins, Avould give and settle the entire estate upon their sister, the wife of said Constantine Perkins, so as to invest her with an estate in fee to said tract of land.” The bill further alleges that the conveyance was made by three of her brothers, for a nominal consideration, expressed in the deed, of $1,000 paid to each, and upon the further consideration and trust that the said Constantine Perkins would, as he proposed and agreed to do, settle the entire estate upon complainant. Thomas D. refused. to convey his interest, and the bill alleges that the registration of the deed was delayed in the hope and expectation that he would convey, and this is stated as one of the reasons why the completion of the settlement of the land upon her by her husband was delayed.
It is alleged that, the interests of her brothers in the land were worth greatly more than $1,000 each, and that the conveyance to her husband .was made
Complainant further states that she can not doubt, from the evidence before her, that her husband had made provision for her, settling by will upon her the said tract of land. The heirs at law of her husband, and the three brothers who conveyed to him, are made defendants to the bill. The heirs of Perkins answer, and deny that the land was bought by said Constantine, charged with any trust, in favor of complainant, or that any such trust as alleged can be enforced, and claiming, as heirs at law of said Constantine, his interest in the land.
The Chancello].’ decreed the complainant the relief prayed for, and the heirs at law of Perkins have appealed to this Court. /
Nathaniel T. states in his examination as a witness that he agreed, as did his brothers, to sell to Perkins, upon condition that he would settle the land upon complainant, “by deed, in fee simple, with right of disposal as she pleased, reserving his right to live on it.” That his object, and that of his brothers, was to secure the place to his sister, Nancy
M. T. and John W. Cheairs make substantially the same statements as to the conveyance to Perkins.
J. T. Fleming states, that in December, 1862, he traveled from Arkansas to Maury County, Tennessee, with Constantine Perkins, and that he told him he had bought of the Cheairs’ “a life-time interest in the place,” upon condition that it was to be his wife’s- at his death; that he gave $1,000 for each share. He said lie' always kept his will, and he had given all his property by his will to his wife.
Other witnesses detail . statements made by Perkins in his life-time, showing that he claimed a life estate in the land, and recognizing and calling it his wife’s land. It may, therefore, be assumed that the statements in the bill, as to the agreement of Perkins to settle the land upon his wife, are clearly and satisfactorily established by the evidence.
For complainant it is insisted that this transaction created a resulting trust in her favor; that the surrender or gift by the brothers of the assumed and
Lord Hardwicke divided resulting trusts into three classes: 1. Where an estate is purchased in the name of one person, but the money or consideration is paid by another. 2. When a trust is declared only as to part, and nothing said as to the rest, what remains undisposed of results to the heir at law. 3. When transactions have been carried on mala fide.
Brown on Frauds, § 84, says: To constitute a resulting trust of the first class in real estate, it is necessary that the consideration money upon the purchase should have belonged to the cestui que trust, or that it should have been advanced by some other person as a loan or gift to ' him, or for his benefit. Tiffany and Bullard on Trusts, 31; 2 Johns. C. B., 408. However, it is held that if the party who sets up a resulting trust has made no payment, he can not be permitted to show by parol proof that the purchase was made for his benefit, or on his account. See also 7 Ind. B., 310. It is because of the payment of money or other valuable thing, that a trust results, and where part only of the purchase money has been paid by the cestui que trust, the trust results pro tanto, or for a part of the estate, propor
These resulting trusts do not arise or depend upon any agreement of the parties, but are mere implications of law, from the fact of the purchase with another’s money, or the fact of declaration of trust as to part of the estate only, and silence as to the remainder; or the fact of fraud in procuring the legal title. They arise upon thfe actual conveyance of land, and not upon an executory contract, to hold land in trust. Even where the contract or agreement to hold the land in trust is the means of obtaining the legal title, -the trust is not created by the contract, but results, or is implied from the fraud. Brown on Frauds, § 184.
The deed to Constantine Perkins recites upon its face a consideration of $3,000, paid by him, and no other. The proof shows that he paid this sum, or bound himself to pay it, and no other consideration appears from the deed. But it is shown in the evidence that Perkins promised the vendors that if they would convey to him he would, at some future time thereafter, settle the property on his wife, and that upon' this promise of Perkins, and the money consid
At the time of this conveyance the Cheairs brothers, under the will of their father, were to take the remainder in fee of the land, if their sister, who had the life estate, died without issue of her body. Perkins, under the parol contract, could take only a life estate, after the termination of his wife’s estate for life, if she left no issue of her body. If she had issue, the interest of the brothers would be defeated, and of course Perkins would get nothing.
Can it be said that complainant paid any definite part of the consideration of the land to her brothers, or that they advanced for her any definite sum or proportion of the price of the land? True, they say he, Perkins, agreed, or promised that he would convey or settle the land upon her, retaining a life estate; but aside from the uncertainty of the interest of the vendors, and its indefinite value, the resulting trust does not arise upon the contract by parol of the parties, in the absence of fraud, but alone upon the payment by the cestui que trust of the purchase money, or some aliquot or definite part .of it, and in cases unaffected by fraud, the parol testimony is admitted not to show an agreement to purchase for another, or that he promised to convey an interest in the land purchased to another, but to show that the purchase money was paid by the party claiming, notwithstanding the deed was taken in the name of another person. Brown on Frauds, § 96.
It is likewise insisted in the argument that the brothers consented to convey to Perkins only in consideration of his promise to settle the property on his wife, and that his failure to do so was a fraud upon her rights, and that he or his heirs will be treated in equity as holding the legal title in trust for her.
The fraud which suffices to lay a foundation for such a trust is not simply that fraud which is involved in every deliberate breach of contract. But there must have been an original misrepresentation, by means of which the legal title was obtained, and an intention to circumvent, by means of the confidence imposed. Brown on. Frauds, § 94; 13 Ill., 235-6; 2 Am. Rep., 310; 51 Ill., 458. And the fraud should be distinctly charged in the bill, and clearly proved. Brown on Frauds, § 96. In this • case there is no allegation of fraud, nor is there any proof of it.
The result is, that we are of opinion that the complainant is not entitled to the relief prayed for, and we reverse the decree of the Chancellor, and dismiss the bill with costs.