Snider v. Udell Woodenware Co.

Mississippi Supreme Court
Snider v. Udell Woodenware Co., 74 Miss. 353 (Miss. 1896)
Cooper

Snider v. Udell Woodenware Co.

Opinion of the Court

Cooper, C. J.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

The demurrer to the bill was properly sustained. The conveyance from Snider to his wife was not acknowledged, and was therefore not entitled to registration. If the defendant or its attorney saw the copy of the conveyance spread upon the record, and read it, or if actual knowledge of the fact that the *356conveyance had been made could be proved, no force would be given to the deed. It is not a question of notice, but of the validity of the transfer of the estate from the husband to the wife. The statute governing conveyances from husband to wife declares that they shall not be valid as against third persons unless in writing, acknowledged and recorded; and emphasis is given to this requirement by the declaration that change of possession shall not avail, but, ‘ •' to affect third persons, the writing must be filed for record.” Code, §2294; Montgomery v. Scott, 61 Miss., 409.

The effort of complainant to disregard the conveyance, and fix upon the land a resulting trust, because her money was paid for the same at the tax sale under which her husband bought, must fail, for the reason that she shows by her own statement that the land, when sold for taxes, belonged to her, and to her two younger brothers or sisters, who were under her care, and that the sale for taxes was permitted by her to be made in order that she might ‘ buy the same in in her own name, and for her own benefit. ’ ’ She cannot invoke the aid of a court of equity to enforce the contract made between her husband and herself in execution of this fraudulent scheme. She can obtain relief only by securing execution of that scheme, and to this a court will not lend its aid. The test whether a demand connected with an illegal act can be enforced is whether the plaintiff requires any aid from the illegal transaction to establish his case. Gilliam v. Brown, 43 Miss., 641.

The decree is affirmed.

Reference

Full Case Name
S. S. Snider v. Udell Woodenware Co.
Cited By
7 cases
Status
Published
Syllabus
1. Husband and Wife. Conveyances between. Acknowledgment. Notice. Code 1893, l 2394. Under § 2294, code 1892, providing that conveyances between husband and wife shall be invalid as against third persons, unless acknowledged and recorded, an unacknowledged deed from a husband to his wife is invalid as against the attaching creditors of the husband, although recorded, and such creditors, prior to attaching, had actual notice of the conveyance and of its contents as they appeared of record. Citing Montgomery v. Scott, 61 Miss., 409. 2. Equity. Illegal act. Dema/nd connected therewith. The test whether a demand connected with an illegal act can be enforced, is whether the plaintiff requires any aid from the illegal transaction to establish his ease. Citing Qilliam v. Brown, 43 Miss., 641. 3. Same. Case. A tenant in common who in the prosecution of a scheme to acquire the interests of her co-tenants causes her husband to buy the land for her sole benefit at tax sale, the conveyance being made to the husband, cannot, as against his attaching creditors, maintain a bill to enforce a resulting trust in the land on the ground that her money was used in the purchase.