Cottrell v. Cottrell
Cottrell v. Cottrell
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
While no greater or more unblushing fraud could have been practiced upon the rights of infants than appears from the facts of this record, the court is powerless to afford relief against parties who were not only innocent of the fraudulent conduct of Cottrell, but seem to have purchased the land descending to the infants and sold under the decree obtained by their guardian in the best of faith.
The father of these infants owned a tract of land at his death that passed to his widow and children, and their mother (the widow), as their statutory guardian, filed a petition in the Daviess Circuit Court asking a sale of their land as well as her do'wer interest. The land was sold, and Luther Cottrell became the purchaser with the mother of these children, who was their statutory guardian, as his surety for the purchase-money. Cottrell also became the surety of the guardian on her bond, as required by the statute before the sale of infant’s real estate will be ordered. He was also one of the commissioners to value the estate of the infants and the land in question.
The payment of the purchase-money seems to have been acknowledged of record, and in fact after the purchase by Cottrell an amended petition was filed by the guardian alleging the payment of the purchase-money and asking that certain irregularities in the proceedings under which the sale was made should be corrected. The defects were cured and the title made perfect in the purchaser. The appellee, Mrs. Ray, who was a tenant on this land at the time of the purchase by Cottrell, bought the land of him at an advance or a profit of $2,100, and, having some doubt about the title, from her purchase ■ originated the filing of the amended petition by virtue of the curative statute. Mrs. Ray exe
We find nothing in the case outside of the record of the petition by the guardian for the sale of the land that indicated to the purchaser, Mrs. Ray, any fact which would place her on inquiry, and when going to the record we find that Cottrell was invested with a clear title. The appellee, Mrs. Ray, employed an attorney to examine the condition of the title, and the amended petition was filed to cure a mere inequality, and in that judgment confirming what had been done it is expressly stated that the purchase-money had been fully paid. The purchaser from Cottrell was obtaining or trying to obtain a good title, and had no reason to apprehend or anticipate the fraud of Cottrell, or that he was representing the infants when he purchased. It is true the record showed a sale to Cottrell that had been confirmed, and the purchase by Mrs. Ray was for $2,100 more than Cottrell gave for it; but that did not authorize the purchaser from Cottrell to infer fraud, or require her to institute an inquiry as to whether fraud existed. The record of the suit by the guardian also showed that the guardian and the purchaser, Cottrell, were becoming surety the one for the other, and that Cottrell was one of the appraisers; still it was a family arrangement, and the tenant on the land who was about to convert herself into a purchaser had every reason to-believe that it was a bona fide transaction. The proceedings were conducted under the supervision of the chancellor and his commissioner, the purchase-
The guardian stood by and saw the children divested of title, the purchase by Mrs. Ray of Cottrell and the payment of her money without any notice whatever of the interests of the children and the manner of holding b}^ Cottrell, and now asks that knowledge should be carried home to Mrs. Ray because of a record that shows improper practices of fraud by Cottrell. This the chancellor ought not to do. Mrs. Ray obtained a good title when she purchased of Cottrell. ITe owned the land, and neither the appellee, Mrs. Ray, nor the holder of the unpaid purchase-money note (Weir) should be held accountable for Cottrell’s fraud. They are innocent purchasers and must hold as against these infants who have been robbed of their estate.
The law has placed it within the power of the guardian to ask the chancellor to dispose of their land, and if the purchaser under the judgment has violated the confidence reposed in him by the guardian and this way obtained title, parties to whom he has sold innocent of the fraud should not be made to suffer. Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.