62 N.Y.S. 4 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1900
By descent from their father, Oscar and Gilbert Hatfield took title to' an equal undivided interest in certain real property, a part of which is the subject of this submission. Subsequently Oscar was-adjudged to be a lunatic, and the plaintiff was duly appointed and qualified as a committee of his person and estate, and discharged the duties of such relation. Gilbert transferred title to his undivided share In the property, and!, after the appointment of the plaintiff as-committee, Gilbert’s grantee brought an action for the partition of the premises. This action proceeded to judgment, and pursuant thereto-a sale of the property was had. Upon such sale the plaintiff bid in the property,.which is the; subject of this submission, in the name of his wife, and signed the following contract of purchase:
“I have this 10th day, of May, 1881, purchased Lot No. Hof the premises described in the annexed printed advertisement of sale for the sum of $2,200, and hereby promise and agree to comply with the terms and conditions of sale of said premises as above mentioned and set forth. x 1
“ Dated May 10¡5/t, 1881.
“(Signed) JANE TAYLOR,
“ By Moses W. Taylob.”
Thereafter, on February 23, 1885, the plaintiffs wife, who had received the referee’s deed upon the sale in partition, conveyed the ' same to the plaintiff through an intermediary for the nominal consideration of one dollar. There was no clause in the judgment authorizing the plaintiff to become a purchaser " at the sale. The sale was fairly' made and the property brought its fair value. ■ Thereafter,, and in April, 1888, the plaintiff petitioned the Supreme Court to be discharged as tire committee of the incompetent person and presented his account for settlement.' The heirs and next of kin of the incompetent person were made parties to such proceeding, and they each examined the account of the committee, approved of the same, and each executed a release discharging the plaintiff from all liability for, and on account of his acts as such committee. It does not appear that the incompetent person was represented upon such accounting, or that the court appointed any person to care for liis interest therepn. The proceeds of the sale of the real property
So far as the plaintiff is concerned, it is not contended but that he was prohibited from purchasing for his own benefit at the partition sale; that a purchase by him inured to the benefit of his cestui que trust and was subject to be set aside at the -instance of the cestui que trust or other persons deriving interest through him. Upon the agreed statement of facts it would seem that the purchase was in fact made by the plaintiff. True, the title was taken in the name of his wife, but it appears that she did not act in person nor did she execute any contract. The plaintiff made thei purchase, signed the contract of shle as agent for his wife, and subsequently - by means of an intermediary obtained title to the premises for the nominal consideration of one dollar. Under the facts, therefore, we must treat this sale as having been made to the committee; and within well-settled rules of law such a purchase does not vest in the trustee an indefeasible title; it inures’ to the benefit of the cestui que trusty and for it and its proceeds he is bound to account. In this respect the case is entirely different from that of Potter v. Sachs (45 App. Div. 454), and, therefore, it is not- to be regarded as an authority controlling of this case.
If we assume that the sale is to be treated as having been made to the wife, we are of opinion that the result will not be changed. It is the settled equitable rule that parties who are placed in a situation of trust and confidence with reference to the subject-matter of the purchase are not authorized to buy and' hold such property to
Nor has this result been cured by the settlement of the trustee’s accounts. It is probably trué that so far as the heirs and next of kin of the lunatic who have executed the releases to the committee are concerned, they would be estopped from raising any question as to the validity of the sale; because of such fact they had notice, and must be held to have ratified the same by consenting that the committee should receive the money. But at the time of this accounting the lunatic was alive, and, so far as appears from the record, is still living. The heirs and next of kin had no title to, or legal inter
We have already observed that the circumstances appealing in this case are different from those which appeared in Potter v. Sachs (supra); consequently, it is not controlling of the present question, and we do not now commit ourselves to its doctrine.
It follows that judgment should pass for the defendant upon the facts admitted.
All concurred.
Judgment for the defendant upon agreed statement of facts, without costs.