Perales-Benítez v. Sampayo
Perales-Benítez v. Sampayo
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
By a public deed of February 1, 1922, the commercial partnership of M. Sampayo & Co. was formed -to expire on the same day and month of 1924, its members being Manuel Sampayo and Antolin Taboas.
By a public deed of January 28, 1925, Sampayo conveyed to Justo Perales his rights and interests in the partnership in liquidation, and on the 20th of the following February the other partner, Taboas, conveyed his interests to Perales also by a public deed executed on that date.
On January 30, 1925, this court disposed of an action brought by the heirs of Josefa Aponte against Manuel Sam-payo by reversing the judgment of the lower court and adjudging him to pay a certain sum of money, to satisfy which judgment some merchandise was áttáehed on February
The heirs of Josefa Aponte appealed from that judgment and in their first assignment of error allege that the trial court erred in overruling their motion for nonsuit on the ground that the deeds introduced by the intervenor were not sufficient to. support his action, because the deed executed by Sampajm was defective in that his wife was not a party, a necessary requisite in the sale of the business. The mention of the defect alleged is sufficient in order to be convinced that the defect does not exist, -for the appearance of the wife in a deed of sale executed by her husband is only required in the conveyance of real property or rights of the conjugal partnership.
It is also alleged by the appellants that the deed of sale from Sampayo was defective because of the lack of consent of the other partner, as required by section 143 of the Code of Commerce to the effect that no partner can transfer to another person his interest in the partnership without the
As regards the allegation that the deed of sale from, Taboas was not sufficient to support the action of intervention because, the partnership having been constituted in 1922 with a capital of $3,010, the partners sold it for $3,842.10 a year after the partnership had gone into liquidation, we may say that that fact does not detract from the validity of the deeds of sale introduced in evidence. The only inference is that the partnership was very successful, since the value of the stock exceeded the original capital.
The appellants also allege that the intervenor had not shown the existence of the partnership. He was not bound to prove that fact because it had been admitted in their answer to the complaint and later the appellants undertook to prove it.
The other assignment of error is that the' court erred in sustaining the complaint in intervention. The appellants alleged as new matter in their answer to the complaint that the stock attached belonged exclusively to Manuel Sampayo; that the conveyance made by Sampayo to his brother-in-law1 Perales was fraudulent for lack of consideration, and.that as regards Taboas, the stock became the' property of Sam-payo since the dissolution of the' partnership in 1924.
The heirs of Josefa Aponte neither alleged nor showed that the conveyance from Taboas to Perales was fraudulent, nor was it shown that all the goods of the partnership became ai itg expiration the property of Sampayo. All the evidence introduced by them was to show that the conveyance from. Sampayo to Perales was fraudulent.
In the deed of conveyance from Sampayo to Perales it was stated that the consideration for the sale was $2,000 received previously; and Perales testified as a witness for
The heirs of Josefa Aponte produced also certificates of the Treasurer of Porto Rico showing that Justo Perales had had no properties declared either in Caguas or in San Juan during the fiscal year of 1925-26, and several witnesses testified that on being notified of the judgment of the Supreme Court against him, Sampayo mentioned, on the 1st and 2nd of February, 1925, to the attorney of the heirs of Josefa Aponte that the only property owned by him with which to pay the judgment was his shop in Caguas.
As the said conveyance was void for that reason, as the conveyance from the Taboas had not been attacked and it having not been shown that the liquidation of the partnership of M. Sampayo & Co. had been terminated, we come to the conclusion that the partners of the partnership in liquidation are Justo Perales as assignee of the share owned by Taboas therein, and Manuel Sampayo. Therefore, Perales vas not the exclusive owner of the attached property but it belonged to the partnership in liquidation.
Having arrived at this conclusion, the only question left to be decided is whether the property of the partnership in
For the said reasons the property of the partnership could not be attached to collect a debt of one of the partners and the attachment levied thereon should be dissolved. "We must affirm the judgment appealed from in that part thereof ordering that the property attached shall be placed at the disposal of M. Sampayo & Co., and modify it in that part thereof declaring that the property of the partnership belongs to intervenor Justo Perales as assignee of all the rights and interests therein held by its two members, because we hold as void the conveyance made by Manuel Sampayo to Justo Perales and limit the attachment to the share which, might fall to Manuel Sampayo after the liquidation of the partnership.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.