28 Ind. App. 250 | Ind. Ct. App. | 1902
The appellant is the widower of one Huldah Roach, deceased. His deceased wife was in her lifetime the owner of the land in controversy, and died the owner of said land. She had purchased the land for $5,350, and had executed her notes for the entire purchase money, secured by a mortgage upon the land, in the execution of
This was an action to partition real estate. Appellant, who began the action, alleged that he was the owner of the undivided one-third, and that the appellee, John Clark, was the owner of the undivided two-thirds of the real estate oij which partition was sought. Appellee, Anna Clark, is the wife of her co-appellee, John Clark. Appellee, John Clark,' answered in three paragraphs. The first was a general denial; the second, that appellant’s rights in the land was' barred by the proceeding brought by the administrator of his deceased Avife’s estate to sell the land to pay debts, to which proceeding appellant was made a party defendant as his deceased Avife’s heir, and which proceeding resulted in the sale of all said real estate, and the conveyance of the •same, pursuant thereto, to this appellee. In this answer all the facts and all the proceedings which led up to the sale of the land by the administrator of Huldah Roach are set out Avith great particularity.
In appellee’s third paragraph of answer all of the facts and proceedings as set forth in the second paragraph are again set forth at length, and the following additional averments are made: That appellant knew all of the facts connected with the estate of his deceased wife; that, prior to the
The court made a special finding of facts, and stated its conclusions of law thereon. In this special finding of facts •every material allegation of both the second and third paragraphs of answer are found to be true. The court stated its ■conclusions of law as follows: (1) “That the plaintiff is not ■entitled to partition, and partition is denied; (2) that the ■defendant, John Olark, is the owner of said real estate described in the complaint, in fee simple; (3) that the plain1 tiff is estopped from asserting title to any of the real estate' described in the complaint.”
All of the material allegations of both paragraphs of appellee’s answer having been found to be true, it follows that the court did not err in rendering judgment for appellee if either of said answers were sufficient, because it would affirmatively appear that a good defense had been fully established. Neither was there error in the ■ conclusions of law. "We will therefore confine this opinion to a decision of the questions arising upon the action of the trial court in overruling appellant’s demurrer to the third paragraph oí appellee’s answer.
In Anderson v. Hubble, supra, the Supreme Court say: “In the American notes to the Duchess of Kingston’s case, 2 Smith Lead. Cas. (7 Am. ed.) 737, it is said: Tt has, in like manner, been long and well established in equity, and is now held in most courts of law, that eA^ery one who encourages, or stands by and sanctions the acquisition of land by another, will not only be estopped from invalidating the interest thus acquired, by the subsequent assertion of any title which he held with full knowledge at the time, but may be compelled to execute a conveyance to the purchaser.’ In our own case of Fletcher v. Holmes, 25 Ind. 458, the rule is more broadly stated, but not more broadly than the authorities warrant. The language of the court in that case was this: ‘A mere failure to give notice of a right, where another, without knowledge of the facts, is investing his money, and where it may be fairly concluded that he would not do so if informed of the facts, will generally preclude a subsequent setting up of the claim thus concealed.’ The opinion in Junction R. Co. v. Harpold, 19 Ind. 347, quotes with/approval the following: Tf a man, having title to an estate, which is offered for sale, stands by and encourages the sale, or does not forbid it, and thereby another person is induced to purchase the estate, under the supposition that the title is good, the former, so standing by, and being silent, shall be bound by the sale; and neither he, nor his
It is not necessary, in order to the existence of an equitable estoppel, that there should exist a design to deceive or defraud. The person against whom the estoppel is asserted must, by his silence or his representations, have created a belief of the existence of a state of facts which it would be unconscionable to deny; but it is not essential that he should have been guilty of positive fraud in his previous conduct. The cases on this subject were thoroughly reviewed in Continental Nat. Bank v. National Bank, 50 N. Y. 575, and it. was affirmed that there need not be a purpose or intent to deceive or defraud. In Blair v. Wait, 69 N. Y. 113, it was said: “It is not necessary to an equitable estoppel that the party should design to mislead.” A very strong opinion is that in Stevens v. Dennett, 51 N. H. 324, where it is said: “Thus, negligence becomes constructive fraud, although,
The case of Wire v. Wyman, 93 Ind. 392, was an action for partition brought by the widow of a decedent (the administrator of whose estate had sold the whole of a tract of land to pay the debts of the decedent) against the purchaser of the land at the administrator’s sale. The case was before the court upon the sufficiency of an answer, which the Supreme Oourt held good, and, in deciding the case, say: “If the facts alleged in this paragraph are true, and the demurrer admits their truth, the appellee is estopped from asserting any title to, or interest in, the real estate described in her complaint, as against the appellant or any one claiming under him. It is not shown that the appellee was under any disability, and, in the absence of such a showing, it must be assumed that she was not, at the time the facts occurred which are stated in the answer. We need not decide, whether the order of the court upon the administrator’s petition, 'or the administrator’s sale and conveyance of the real estate to the appellant, were or were not sufficient upon the facts stated to devest the appellee, as the decedent’s widow, of her title to or her interest in such real estate. It is enough to say that no one, not under disability, can stand by during the sale of real estate and by silence, speech or ads, induce another person to become the purchaser of such real estate, and afterwards be permitted to claim, in a court of justice, as against such purchaser or those claiming under him, that he or she was at the time of such sale the owner of any share or interest, not then asserted, in the real estate sold.”
This is strong language. It meets our hearty approval.
We find no error. Judgment affirmed.