174 Iowa 583 | Iowa | 1916
“In consideration of this deed, the parties of the second part, Emma Schutt and C. A. Schutt, hereby relinquish all their rights and interests in the Christian Schutt estate.”
There is evidence tending to show that at the time of the conveyance the land was of the reasonable value of $20,000. There is nothing in the record tending to show that, prior to said conveyance, the judgment debtor or his wife had any right or interest, legal or equitable, in the land in controversy, and whatever title they or either of them now have is referable to the deed above mentioned. The grantor is a man of foreign birth, and his testimony respecting the circumstances of the conveyance is somewhat confused by his inability to freely express himself in English words; but fairly construed, he says that he offered to sell the land to his son’s wife for considerably less than it was worth, and expressed his willingness to convey it to her for $13,000. The son, C. A. Schutt, said he could not buy it, for he had no money; but his wife asked and was given time to consider it until she could see her father, and later accepted the offer. • The transaction was then consummated by the execution and delivery of the deed, the giving of the note and mortgage, and the making of the cash payment. The grantor insists that he knew nothing of the clause in the deed by which his son and wife relinquished their right to any inheritance from him, and avers that the value of the land in excess of $13,000 was considered by him as a gift to the grantee. The grantee concedes, however, that she received the deed knowing that it included said clause and understood its purport, but asserts herself to have been the real purchaser of the land and to be now the owner thereof in her own right.
“If the agreement to relinquish his interest in the grantor’s estate on the part of C. A. Schutt be,treated as invalid or for any reason disregarded, then the difference .of*590 $4,600 representing the unpaid or unsecured consideration must be regarded as a gift to him in the land, and the taking of title thereto to this extent was a fraud upon his creditors. Whatever C. A. Sehutt received from his father in the transaction rightfully belonged to his creditors, and where the effect of his and his wife’s conduct was to place it beyond the reach of his creditors, a fraudulent purpose will be ascribed to such conduct and she will be held to hold the property in trust for his creditors.”
The decree below was right, and it is — Affirmed.