Bank of Coffee Springs v. Austin
Bank of Coffee Springs v. Austin
Opinion of the Court
Complainant acquired the 40 acres involved as a gift from her mother, and insists that the deed was executed by her alone; that after its execution she kept the deed in her trunk for several years; that when her husband called for it for the purpose of having it recorded she delivered it to him, and that upon his return from Geneva — a distance of ten miles from their home — -he insisted that he had lost the original deed, but that a copy could be secured from the record any time it was needed; that she was not aware of any change made in the deed by the insertion of the name of her husband before its recordation, nor suspected any such change at the time of the execution of the mortgage to respondent, and only learned of it since the) death of her husband; that she had no part in the transaction here involved, except to sign the mortgage when requested. It would serve no useful purpose to enter Into a discussion of the evidence in this) case. Suffice it to say that upon a most careful examination of the record, we are fully persuaded that the deed of the mother was made to the complainant alone, and at the time of its execution and delivery to the husband for recordation in the probate office the name of the husband did not appear therein.
We are fully persuaded that the wife knew nothing of the change made in the deed, and was aware of no fact which would place her on notice of any sucih change, and was ignorant of the same at the time ofi the execution of the mortgage. She had no occasion, whatever, to suspect that her husband would do anything other than the simple delivery of the deed into the probate office to he recorded. She not only has been guilty of no wrong herself, but had no notice or intimation that a wrong had been perpetrated by another. We are therefore persuaded that the principle invoked by the appellant’s counsel cannot be so far extended as to embrace the situation thus disclosed. The facts in the case of Allen, Bethune & Co. v. Maury Co., supra, are not analogous to those here presented, and we are of the opinion that case does not at all militate against the conclusion here reached. The principle sought to he invoked is in the nature of an equitable estoppel, and it clearly cannot he said that the complainant in merely delivering the deed to her husband at his request to he recorded has thus armed him with power to impose upon a third party so as to give rise to any equitable estoppel as against her.
We are persuaded that complainant took no part in the transaction here involved, except in rather a perfunctory manner, in signing the mortgage with her husband, and that she was ignorant of any change having been made in the deed, and made no representations whatever. Clearly, therefore, there could be no estoppel by her conduct. We conclude, therefore, that the decree of the chancellor is without error, and it is accordingly affirmed.
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Bank of Coffee Springs v. Austin.
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published