Winston v. Hart
Winston v. Hart
Opinion of the Court
It seems necessary to state the facts in this case as found by the court with some particularity.
Prior to August 20, 1891, plaintiff brought an action upon a past-due interest-bearing promissory note for $2,154.49, made and deliv
This action was commenced to obtain a judgment, against said defendants, F. B. and Imogene L. Hart, ordering a sale of said insurance policies that the proceeds might be applied in payment of this judgment. Previous to the bringing of this action Mrs. Hart demanded that the policies be surrendered and reassigned to her,
The court below was clearly, wrong in its conclusions of law, for, on the findings of fact, plaintiff was entitled to judgment as demanded in his complaint. The trial court seems to have been of the opinion, as we gather from what was said at the close of the testimony, that because the plaintiff agreed, when the policies were assigned to him by Mrs. Hart, that she might redeem them- by paying their surrender value, the foreclosure of the mortgage subsequently given by her upon her separate real estate, and a sale of said estate for more than the surrender value, operated, in the absence of an express agreement to the contrary, as compliance with the provision for redemption. This position is wholly untenable.
Mrs. Hart assigned and transferred the policies to prevent an entry of judgment in the pending action, to obtain further time for payment, and as security for her husband’s debt. The consideration was ample, and plaintiff then held the policies as security, subject to the provision for redemption by Mrs. Hart. She never attempted to exercise this right, but later, and without qualification, gave further and other security for another and new consideration. This operated as additional security, but in no manner affected the contract, previously entered into, under which the policies were pledged. Nor was it affected by a sale of the land to satisfy the mortgage for an amount in excess of the surrender value of the policies, for, in making that sale, and appropriating the proceeds, plaintiff did precisely what Mrs. Hart had authorized him to do when she gave the security, — nothing more. She voluntarily made two separate contracts, each based upon a different consideration, for different purposes, and with independent conditions. By its conclusions of law the court permitted her to inject into the last agreement a condition which was never there, namely, that if plaintiff foreclosed the mortgage, and from a sale realized more than the cash surrender value of the policies, he would reassign and return them to Mrs. Hart. That the plaintiff never agreed to accept the mortgage security in
Upon a claim that the conclusions of law were not justified by the findings of fact, counsel for appellant caused a case to be settled in the court below containing all of the evidence. This evidence is in the return on appeal, and occupies 27 pages of. the paper book, in disregard of the plain provisions of subdivision 5 of rule 9 of this court. Appellant is not entitled to, and will not be allowed, any disbursements by the clerk for preparing, certifying, or printing the evidence.
The order is reversed, and, when the cause is remanded to the court below, judgment will be entered for plaintiff for the relief demanded in the complaint.
July 17, 1896.
Upon reading and filing the application of respondent for a modification of the opinion of this court in this cause, it is ordered that the direction of this court, given in the concluding paragraph of the foregoing opinion, be changed and modified by adding thereto the following words: “Unless, upon a proper showing and motion duly made, the court below orders a new trial of said action.”
Mitchell, J., took no part.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- FENDALL G. WINSTON v. F. B. HART and Wife
- Status
- Published