Atkinson v. Greaves
Atkinson v. Greaves
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
It is unnecessary to consider whether the evidence of complainants is sufficient to establish a resulting trust in their favor in the lands in controversy by reason' of the payment of the purchase-money by their deceased mother.
Conceding that their father, S. A. D. Greaves, to whom the land was conveyed, paid for it with the money of his wife, and that a trust resulted to her, and that by her death the complainants succeeded to her right, and might have established the trust against S. A. D. Greaves, or against any one claiming under him, other than a purchaser in good faith, the complainants must fail in their suit, because the defendant’s title is derived through a purchaser for value, and without notice.
The lands were conveyed to 8. A. D. Greaves in the years 1855 and 1858. He was in possession in the year 1868, and, being then indebted to Estlin & Co. in a sum exceeding thirty thousand dollars, secured an extension of time for the payment of the debt by executing a deed of trust upon the land to Erank Smith, as trustee, with power of sale for the payment of the debt if it should not be paid at maturity. The abandonment by Estlin & Co. of a present right of action, and the acceptance of an obligation in lieu thereof, payable in futuro, constituted them purchasers for value, and it is not pretended that they had any notice of the secret equity of complainants. Schumpert v. Dillard, 55 Miss., 348; Basset v. Nosworthy, 2 Leading Cas. in Eq. (White & T.), 1.
Though the defense of bona fide purchaser is an affii’mative one, and must be pleaded and proved by the defendant, proof of payment of the consideration is prima facie evidence of the want of notice, and devolves upon the complainant the burden of establishing the notice. Basset v. Nosworthy, supra.
The complainants’ counsel insist that, even though Estlin. & Co. were purchasers for value, the evidence does not show that the defendant has succeeded to their right, but that he holds under a purchaser who bought under a decree in bank
It is true the purchaser of the land got only such title as the'bankrupt had or had conveyed by the deed of trust to secure the debt of Estlin & Co. That interest, as to the-greater portion of the land, was only a life-estate, for the reason that the bankrupt could surrender to his creditors only his interest in the land, and because, as to the land other than that now in controversy, Greaves had never had a legal title, but the title was in his deceased wife, and, after her death, in her heirs at law. So that, as to such other lands, the conveyance to Smith, as trustee, passed only a life-estate. But, as to the lands in .controversy, the trust-deed, as we have seen, conveyed the fee, and neither the statement of the bankrupt in his schedule nor that of his assignee in his petition could limit it to a life-estate.
It follows, from what we,have said, that the defendant, At
The decree of the court below is reversed, and complainants’ bill dismissed at their costs.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- W. H. Atkinson v. J. M. Greaves
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- ]. Purchaser for Vai/uf,. Extending debt. Taking mortgage. The abandonment by a creditor of a present right to sue, and the acceptance of a mortgage to secure his debt, payable in the future, constitute him a purchaser for value. Sdmmpert v. Dillard, 55 Miss., 348. 2. Bona Fide Purchaser. Payment of consideration. Burden of proof. Though the defense of a bona fide purchaser is affirmative, and must be pleaded and proved by one who relies upon it, proof of payment of the consideration is prima facie evidence of the want of notice, and devolves upon the opposite party the burden of showing notice. 3. Same. Purchase under trust-deed. Notice. When, to secure a creditor, a surviving husband has given a trust-deed conveying the fee of lands, as to which there is a secret resulting trust in favor of his children, the secured creditor being a bona fide incumbrancer, and afterwards the husband goes into bankruptcy, and the land is sold by the trustee and assignee in bankruptcy, acting conjointly under a decree of the bankrupt court, a good title passes, though it is recited in the schedules that the bankrupt had only a'life-estate. The purchaser acquires title through the trust-deed, regardless of the recitals in the schedules.