Barnes v. Barnes
Barnes v. Barnes
Opinion of the Court
This is an appeal from a final decree entered in the Superior Court. The plaintiffs are Charles C. Barnes as conservator of the estate of Catherine F. Barnes in her lifetime, and William H. Fames, administrator of her estate, she having died during the pendency of these proceedings. The defendants are Aloysia M. Barnes and others.
The case is before this court on the pleadings and the evidence heard by the trial judge, who found the following facts: Catherine F. Barnes at the time of the trial was over eighty years of age, feeble, and of poor memory. She was the aunt of the plaintiff Charles C. Barnes, who is the sole survivor of four brothers, the others, now deceased, being Joseph, James and Francis H. The defendant Aloysia M. Barnes is the widow of Francis H. Barnes. Catherine F. Barnes, under the will of one James Grady, who deceased November 15, 1919, received a life estate in his real estate, with power to sell if necessary for her support, with remain
The judge further found that at that time Catherine F. Barnes knew she had conveyed her property in Marble-head to her nephew Francis H. Barnes, -and acknowledged it to be her free act and deed. The mortgage to William
E. Ludden, junior, was paid by Francis H. Barnes, and later he mortgaged the premises and made repairs to the house, which was an old building without a cellar and in need of repairs. Catherine F. Barnes lived with Aloysia M. Barnes and her husband during the summer of 1930, and they occupied the premises in Marblehead until May, 1933, when Francis H. Barnes died. Thereafter Catherine
F. and Aloysia M. Barnes remained on the premises until the following October. Shortly before they moved to Boston in October, Charles C. Barnes and his sister called on Aloysia M. Barnes and inquired what she was going to do about “Aunt Kate,” and stated that they had a legal interest in her. Mrs. Barnes stated she intended moving to Boston for the winter and returning in the spring to Marblehead. No objection was raised, and Catherine was taken to Ivy Street, Boston, where they resided with Aloysia’s mother and other members of her family. Some time thereafter, while Aloysia and others of her mother’s family were absent attending church, Catherine F. Barnes was taken, at the instance of Charles C. Barnes, from the house of the mother of Aloysia Barnes in Boston to the home of Charles C. Barnes in Medford. When Aloysia M. Barnes learned of the whereabouts of Catherine F. Barnes she went to the home of Charles and asked to see “Aunt Kate,” but was informed by Charles that “Aunt Kate” did not wish to talk with her. Aloysia was denied admis
The judge found “that while . . . Catherine F. Barnes lived at Marblehead after 1929 . . . the defendant Aloysia M. Barnes was working in Boston, and that she would do most of the housework on her return from Boston in the afternoon,” but during the last two years of her husband’s life he was at home as he had to give up active work because of his health, and while he was living in Marblehead he assisted with the housework; “that the said Catherine F. Barnes was contented and well taken care of by defendant Aloysia M. Barnes, but became discontented while living in Watertown, and preferred to live at Marblehead, but she had ... no quarrel with said Aloysia M. Barnes, while they resided together; . . . that the brothers of said Francis H. Barnes, the favorite of said Catherine F. Barnes, knew of the transfer of the property to said Francis H. Barnes, and while somewhat disturbed about it made no remonstrance to him about it, although his sister Mary refused to visit her aunt at Marblehead after learning of the transaction, and after his death a coolness arose between the said Mary” and Charles C., and the defendant Aloysia M. Barnes; “that thére are some personal effects of said Catherine F. Barnes in the home at Marblehead, which the plaintiff Charles C. Barnes is entitled to take possession of, and the defendant Aloysia M. Barnes is willing to deliver.” The conclusion of the judge is as follows: “I find no fraud, deceit or forgery in the conveyance of the property at Chestnut Street in Marblehead by said Catherine F. Barnes to Francis H. Barnes, and rule that the plaintiffs are not entitled to the relief sought in their bill.”
An examination of the reported evidence fully warrants the findings of the judge. The final decree dismissing the bill is affirmed with costs.
Ordered accordingly.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.