19 Or. 550 | Or. | 1890
delivered the opinion of the court.
The question raised by this record is, whether upon the facts the wife of the plaintiff held the property in dispute in trust for him or in her own right as the intended beneficiary of it. Where one purchases an estate and pays for it and takes the title in the name of another, or where one purchases land with the money of another and takes the title to himself, there arises by operation of law a
“Whenever,” says Mr. Pomeroy, “the real purchaser— the one who pays the price — is under a legal or even a
The law enforces a careful regard for the rights of creditors against conveyances without consideration, made 'ey - arty largely indebted; and unless he makes provision 1: ; the payment of his debts, or retains other property
Turning now to the evidence, it only remains to apply these principles to it and declare the result. For convenience, it may be best first to briefly trace the line of conveyance to the property in dispute. The plaintiff was the owner of a tract of land upon Suavie’s island, the greater part of which he and his wife conveyed to one Nelson Hoyt; that shortly thereafter, by direction of the plaintiff, Hoyt conveyed the same to the wife of the plaintiff, and that in the year ensuing the plaintiff and his wife exchanged this land for the land in dispute. Taking these transactions separately, the testimony shows that in the month of January, 1868, the plaintiff being in debt and fearing that his creditors would subject his property to its payment, conveyed to one Nelson Hoyt 120 of 160 acres of land that he owned on Suavie’s island, and that the said Hoyt accepted the conveyance upon a secret trust for the plaintiff’s use. This trust, the testimony of the plaintiff shows, was to hold it for him until he could raise the money to pay his debts. Shortly thereafter he directed Hoyt to convey this land to his wife, Elizabeth Taylor, not, however, as the plaintiff claims, until he had fully paid his creditors. But the only proof of such payment is the declaration of the plaintiff. Hoyt says that when, he conveyed at the plaintiff’s request the property to his wife, “the plaintiff said he had paid up his debts.” No receipts or vouchers or other evidence of payment were offered to establish this important fact, nor was any creditor called to show that he had received payment for his debt. But on the other hand, there was the testimony of one of the creditors, produced by the defense, tending to show that his debt was not paid at the time Hoyt conveyed this property to Elizabeth Taylor. If that were true, the original transaction was not purged of its fraud,
As between the plaintiff and his creditors, the conveyance from him to Hoyt was’ void, and as between plaintiff and Hoyt equity would have refused its aid to the plaintiff to reclaim his property from him. And the argument of counsel concedes that if the debts were hot paid when Hoyt at his request conveyed'the property to his wife, the original transaction was not purged of its fraud and the land went into her hands with that fraud still clinging to it and liable for her husband’s debts. Whether a party largely indebted can put his property in the hands of another to put it out of the reach of his creditors, and to hold until hé can pay such debts, and then if he is fortu - nate enough to succeed in paying them, claim that the transaction is purged of its fraud, we do not nor is it necessary for us to decide. But for the purposes of this case we may assume the correctness of the argument that the debts were paid when Hoyt conveyed to Mrs. Taylor, and the original transaction was purged of its fraud, so that when she took the deed for it the property stood free from all fraudulent impediments. What then? As the case now stands, Hoyt was merely an intervening trustee for the plaintiff to convey his property to his wife. In effect, the transaction was the same as if the deed had been made directly from the plaintiff to his wife. Here no consideration was paid to Hoyt who conveyed to the wife. The plaintiff conveyed by deed to Hoyt and Hoyt conveyed by
A man cannot give away his property today and take it back tomorrow; and if he makes his wife the owner the same result follows, and he must abide by her ownership. As we have shown, the authorities to this point speak
It is hardly necessary to consider this in the view we take of the facts. A trust arising by operation of law most arise at the time of the transaction, and cannot be created afterwards. As Chancellor Kent said: “The trust must have.been coeval with the deeds, or it cannot exist at all.” Botsford v. Burr, 2 John. Ch. 405. It must result from the original transaction at the time it takes place and cannot be misled and confounded with any subsequent dealings. A trust must have been impressed upon the Sauvie’s island property at the time it was conveyed by Hoyt to Mrs. Taylor by operation of law to affect the property in controversy. If no trust was created at that time, but she took the property as her own, that ownership remains until she legally transfers or disposes of it. We have shown that in any view that transaction must be regarded as a conveyance to the wife, conferring upon her the ownership of that property; that no trust attached to it by implication of law at the time Hoyt transferred it to her.
Now as that property — the property belonging to Mrs. Taylor — constituted the main consideration for the property in dispute, and the deed was taken in her name, no trust ©Quid result and the property become her own. The whole foundation of a resulting trust is the payment of the purchase money, which must be clearly and satisfactorily established. As this was not paid by the plaintiff, but by his wife, no trust could result to him, and the bill should have been dismissed. This view renders it unnecessary to consider some other aspects of the case or to express any opinion concerning the same.
The bill is dismissed, and it is so ordered.
(1) 84 Am. Dec. 155.