Joslin v. Goebel
Joslin v. Goebel
Opinion of the Court
On August 31, 1888, the defendant Henry M. Goebel made an assignment to the complainant for the benefit of creditors, purporting to convey all of his ■property not exempt from execution under the laws of rthis State. On September 10, 1888, schedules required by law were filed in the office of the clerk of the circuit court for Kent county. These schedules were sworn to by Mr. Goebel, and from them it appears that his assets were appraised at $43,355.23, and his liabilities at $58,-343.86.
On petition of some of his creditors, an order was made by the circuit court for Kent county, granting leave to the creditors to file a bill against the said Henry M. Goebel and his wife, Caroline A. Goebel, in the name .of the assignee, for the purpose of recovering assets •which it is claimed were not enumerated in the schedules ifiled, and which were held by the wife of the assignor :in fraud of creditors, and to subject such assets to the -^payment of the claims of the creditors. The defendants •.answered the bill separately, and replications were filed. Testimony was taken in open court, and the court found that Henry M. Goebel, the assignor, had an interest in
From the record it appears that Mr. Goebel came to Grand Rapids in 1871, and engaged in the business of selling wall paper, paints, and oils. In February, 1876, he married the defendant, then the widow of Gilbert Cook. After the marriage they resided at Mr. GoebeTs house, on Livingston street, until January 1, 1882, when they moved to a house on Madison avenue, where they have since resided. This Madison-avenue property had been purchased by Mr.1 Goebel in November, 1881, from William Addis in exchange for the Livingston-street property. In- the exchange Mr. Goebel paid in cash the' sum of $3,500. To raise this amount he mortgaged the Madison-avenue property to a Mr. Wood for $2,500. In the exchange the consideration for the Madison-avenue property was stated at $10,500. In August, 1888, Mr.' Goebel had paid the mortgage down to $1,250. On August 27, 1888, he* conveyed the Madison-avenue property to his wife by a deed which recited a consideration of $16,000. On the next day he conveyed to H. D. Kingsbury, for a recited consideration of $1,200, three
The court below, for the basis upon which the decree was made, found that the deed of August 27 was made to take the place of the former deed, and in fulfillment of the agreement made on November 5, 1881. The court also found that at the time of her marriage Mrs. Goebel was possessed of a considerable estate, from which she loaned and advanced money to her husband from time to time in his business, and to pay upon the mortgages upon the house and lot occupied by the parties as a homestead, and that such loans and advances were se made pursuant to an understanding between the parties that the homestead was to become the property of Mrs. Goebel; that the property known as the Livingston-street property was valued by the parties at $7,000; and that the loans and advances made by Mrs. Goebel to her hus
The defendants contend that the court was in error in finding the value of the premises at $7,000; that the testimony shows that the value of the premises did not exceed $4,500; and also that the court was in error in not crediting Mrs. Goebel with certain other advances claimed to have been made by her; and that, upon the whole record, it is shown that the premises were purchased in good faith, and fully paid for, and that complainant’s bill should have been dismissed. Upon a careful reading of the testimony, and an examination of the accounts, it is apparent to us that the court below was not in error in finding that Mrs. Goebel should be charged with the amount decreed against her, and that the same should be made a lien upon the premises. It would profit no one to set forth h-ere a statement of the account between the parties, or the testimony showing the correctness of this finding.
The complainant contends that the court was in error in not finding a larger amount due from Mrs. Goebel to her husband. It is also contended that a clear case of fraud is presented in the attempt by Mr. and Mrs. Goebel to cover up this property, and place it beyond the reach of creditors, for which the deed should
The decree of the court below will be affirmed, making the amount a lien upon Mrs. Goebel's ‘ property, and the amount found by the court below increased by adding to the amount of $2,232.41 the sum of $1,788 45, making in all the sum of $4,020.86, which complainant will recover, with interest at 6 per cent, from date of decree below, together with the costs of both courts.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Harvey Joslin, Assignee v. Henry M. Goebel and Caroline A. Goebel
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published