69 Iowa 334 | Iowa | 1886
II. The district court instructed the jury, in effect, that if Wolf, being the head of a family, had absconded, property exempt from his debts, when held by him, would be exempt in the hands of his wife; and if they found that Wolf left his wife no property except the cow, she would be authorized to. dispose of it, and a sale by her to plaintiff, made in good faith, and without notice of defendant’s claim, prior to the commencement of the attachment proceedings in which the cow was seized, would entitle plaintiff to recover. The consideration of this instruction involves the
Code, § 3078, provides that when a debtor absconds and leaves his family the same property exempt in his hands “ shall be exempt in the hands of the wife or children, or both of them.” Under this provision the wife holds the exempt property, and her rights thereto, and authority over it, are the same as those of the husband when holding it. This must be so, otherwise the exemption would prove of no benefit to the wife, for whose benefit the statute was enacted. The facts of the case before us forcibly illustrate and support the doctrine we have announced. Mrs. Wolf was left with no property other than the cow, a blooded animal worth $200. It is obvious that the cow could only be used for her benefit by selling it, and it may be that receiving half the animal’s value in cash, and obtaining credit for her husband for the balance, would be more beneficial to the wife than any other disposition she could make
We need not inquire whether the right arid authority were held as the agent of her husband. That she held the right and authority to dispose of the cow cannot be doubted. It would not serve to elucidate the rule we adopt to determine whether she is to be regarded as the agent of the husband. In support of our conclusions, see Malvin v. Christoph, 54 Iowa, 562; Rawson v. Spangler, 62 Id., 59.
III. It is claimed that, as the action in which the cow was attached was brought to recover the purchase money Wolf undertook to pay for the cow, the exemption provided by the statute does not apply. Code, § 3077. But the record does not establish the fact upon which the position is based. The defendant testified at the trial that Wolf executed his note for the price of the cow, and that it had been paid.
IV. Counsel for defendant urge that the verdict is not supported by the evidence, and that the motion for a new trial, based upon this ground, was erroneously overruled. We do not concur in this position. The evidence upon all the issues, including those involving the question of damages, is sufficient to support the verdict. At least, it cannot be said that there is such an absence of evidence supporting the verdict as would authorize us to set it aside.
V. Various objections, based upon rulings of the district court in excluding evidence, are made by defendant. None-2. coNSPiB- of these objections are fully argued, and some of' deuce. . them are but briefly suggested in argument.. They are seven in number, and are presented by counsel in a little more than one page of the printed argument. The evidence in question was proposed to be introduced upon the
It is our opinion that the judgment of the circuit court ought to be
Affirmed.