Stephenson v. Miller
Stephenson v. Miller
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
Mrs. Miller, jointly with her husband, executed a trust-deed on her separate real estate to secure a promissory note of her husband, held by W. J. Stephenson. Default in payment having occurred, a sale of the land was made by the trustee, and the creditor, Stephenson, became the purchaser. He brought an action of ejectment on the deed received from the trustee and recovered judgment. A writ of habere facias possessionem having issued, this bill was filed by Mrs. Miller to enjoin the execution of the writ and to cancel the deed delivered by the trustee. If we gather correctly the theory upon which it is framed, it is that a creditor of the husband holding a trust-deed or mortgage upon the separate estate of the wife is never entitled to possession of the property, but must resort to a court of equity, and have it placed in the hands of a receiver, so that the income may thus be applied to the payment of the debt. This theory is correct only to the extent that where the creditor resorts to a court of equity for a foreclosure, as he may always do, the court, instead of going through the empty formality of making a sale which will convey only the income, will accomplish the same result more satisfactorily and beneficially to all parties by putting the property in the hands of a receiver. But when the wife has conveyed the legal title, or has authorized a trustee to do so for her by an act in pais, she must be held to have contemplated the legal consequences of her own act, so far as she is by law empowered to accomplish them. Her grantee therefore is clothed with the legal title, and with the right to subject the rents and profits of the property to the payment of his debt. He has not acquired ownership of the land, but he occupies, or is entitled to occupy, the position of a mortgagee in possession. His deed is only a mortgage, but having become by the act of the woman invested with the legal title, and the law constituting the instrument a conveyance of the
Decree reversed, and bill dismissed without prejudice.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- W. J. Stephenson v. Mary A. Miller
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published