Gassner v. Gassner
Gassner v. Gassner
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Charles H. Gassner filed a bill in equity against his wife, Clara Emma Gassner, wherein he alleged that, in the year 1912, two certain pieces of real estate had been purchased with his money, but conveyed to defendant, adding this averment:' “The .title to both of the said parcels of real estate were taken in the name of Clara Emma Gassner with the distinct understanding between the said Clara Emma Gassner and Charles H. Gassner that the said Clara Emma Gassner would convey the said real estate to the said Charles H. Gassner on demand.” The bill prayed “that a decree be entered...... directing the said Clara Emma Gassner to convey the above-described parcels of real estate to your orator.”
Defendant answered that plaintiff had caused the properties to be transferred to her “as a gift,” and “without agreement or understanding of any kind whatsoever that [she] was to convey [them] to him, or to any other person, on demand or otherwise.”
After hearing on bill, answer and replication, a decree was entered dismissing the bill; plaintiff has appealed, claiming 'that, on the facts proved, the court below should have decreed defendant held the properties in trust for him.
It will be observed that plaintiff’s averments are not inconsistent with the theory of a gift to his wife, and he does not allege in his bill either that defendant took title
To begin with, the fact that the premises in question were jointly occupied by plaintiff and defendant has no particular significance against the latter, for, under such circumstances, the presumption is that the occupancy was in subordination to the record title: Jones v. Bland, 112 Pa. 176, 182. Next, plaintiff neither alleged nor endeavored to prove that the conveyance to defendant was procured by fraud; so a trust cannot be found on that ground, and even had he shown an “understanding,” or agreement, that defendant was to convey the property to him on demand, her refusal so to do would not establish a trust, — such a refusal, at the most, would amount to nothing more than the breach of a parol contract: Turney v. McKown, 242 Pa. 565, 568-9.
Appellant’s real position is as follows: It being admitted that his money alone was used in the purchase, he contends that this, under section 4 of the Act of April 22, 1856, P. L. 532, is sufficient basis on which to found an implied trust, and the court below should have adopted it as such. On the pleadings and testimony shown by the present record, we cannot sustain this contention. When a husband purchases property in the name of his wife, the presumption of a gift to her exists (Bowser v. Bowser, 82 Pa. 57, 59), and not a presumption that she is to hold the property in trust for him. Here, defend
Appellant contends the chancellor, having found reliable witnesses testified to admissions by defendant that the properties in controversy belonged to plaintiff and she was willing to convey them to him, erred in refusing to conclude there was a.trust instead of a gift. Regarding these so-called admissions, we need only say they were “subsequent declarations,” made long after Mrs. Gassner had acquired title, and, in the absence of other proofs, would “come to nothing” as evidence to establish the alleged trust: Turney v. McKown, supra. Moreover, most of the declarations in question may justly be designated as loose and indefinite, and none of them was made at a time calculated to give it any binding force between the parties to this litigation. These circumstances render the proofs far too weak to sustain a claim of ownership to real estate, and the court below correctly so concluded.
Likewise, we see no merit in appellant’s complaint of inconsistencies in the findings of fact by the chancellor.
After the present action was begun, defendant divorced plaintiff; we cannot adopt the latter’s view that “a gratuitous gift of realty during marriage made by a husband to a wife is impliedly limited to the duration of the marriage,” — it may be expressly so limited, but there is no implication of law to that effect.
Casciola v. Donatelli, 218 Pa. 624, relied on by appellant, does not control this case. There, some years before the suit, one of the plaintiffs, wife of the other plaintiff, conveyed real estate, standing in her name, to the defendants. Immediately prior to this conveyance (made by the wife alone), the plaintiffs informed defendants that the property was held by Mrs. Casciola for her husband’s account. More than five years after the conveyance, the Casciolas brought ejectment for the property, hoping to recover by disavowing the trust which, before the conveyance to defendants, the grantors
The decree is affirmed at costs of appellant.
Reference
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- Husband and wife — Conveyance by husband to wife — Gift—Presumption— Trust and trustees — Secret trust — Reconveyance — Equity — Findings of fact — Evidence■—Declarations. 1. Where a husband purchases real estate in the name of his wife, the presumption of a gift to her exists, and not a presumption that she is to hold the property in trust for him. 2. The burden of overcoming the presumption of a gift is upon the husband. 3. The fact that the premises conveyed were in joint occupation of the husband and wife, has no significance against the wife’s claim that the conveyance was a gift, inasmuch as the presumption is that the occupancy was in subordination to the record title. 4. Declarations made by a wife that property conveyed to her by her husband really belonged to her husband, and that she was willing to reconvey it to him, are insufficient to establish a trust, where such declarations were made subsequent to the conveyance. 5. A gratuitous gift of realty during marriage, made by a husband to a wife is not in law impliedly limited to the duration of the marriage. 6. On a bill in equity by a husband against his wife to compel a reconveyance to him of real estate which he had deeded to her, a finding that the title was placed in the wife’s name to protect it against claims that might arise out of the husband’s business, is not inconsistent with a finding that the conveyance was a gift to the wife. 7. There is no inconsistency between the two findings, because the only way in which the property could be protected against claims growing out of the husband’s business, would be by an outright gift to the wife; the law will not presume a fraudulent device or secret trust. 8. A finding of fact by a chancellor that a conveyance by a husband to a wife was a gift, if supported by an answer and sufficient evidence, will not be reversed on appeal.