M'Meekin v. Edmonds
M'Meekin v. Edmonds
Opinion of the Court
I think the sale by the sheriff to the defendant, Meng, must be regarded as fraudulent so far as the defendant Jefferson L. Edmonds was concerned. The land was sold 'subject to a mortgage on
It is not alleged on any hand, that either Nance or his cestui que trust have any accession to the fraud. The trustee purchased bona fide, and for valuable consideration, for he paid off the mortgage. He may have supposed that the land had been bid off for a nominal price, and that the amount of the mortgage was the only consideration to be paid. In general, the title of a bona fide purchaser for valuable consideration without notice of fraud, is good both in law and equity; but in this case I am of opinion that though the title of the trustee was good at law, and therefore the complainant took nothing by his purchase at sheriff’s sale, yet it must be set aside in equity, though allowed to stand as' a security for what has actually been paid. In the case of Smith v. Henry, 1 Hill, 26, decided at the last sitting in this place, we recognised the general principle, that the fraud of the grantor alone is sufficient to vitiate a conveyance; and, as I have said, the fraud of a third person in procuring a conveyance, may vitiate; but in neither of these instances, is such construction to be made, as will render innocent third persons sufferers. In general, if a purchase be made bona fide, and for valuable consideration, the Court will not look to the adequacy of the consideration But here, as I have said, the whole of the consideration was not paid by the trustee; part of it was
In several English cases, even where the defendant appears to have been a partaker of the fraud, but the proof was not entirely clear, the Court has set aside the conveyance, decreeing it to stand as a security for the money actually paid. Herne v. Meeres, 1 Vern. 465, was a case of this sort. The Chancellor says “ aud .so at law, where a case is found to be fraudulent, the creditor comes in and avoids it all, without repayment of any consideration money; and in Equity, therefore, where the Court can decree back the principal and interest, there is no hurt done; and a lesser matter in such case, will serve to set a conveyance aside.” Addison v. Dawson, 2 Vern. 678, and Clarkson v. Hanway, 2 Pr. Wms. 203, were cases in which upon setting aside the conveyance, the Court decreed the defendants to be refunded what they had actually paid. In Boyd v. Dunlap, 1 Johns. Ch. Ca. 478, where the consideration was very inadequate, but the proof of actual fraud in the defendant doubtful, the Court set aside the conveyance, allowing it to stand as a security for the money actually paid. Chancellor Kent, says “ Courts of law can hold no middle course. The entire claim of each party must rest and be determined at law, on the single point of the validity of the deed ; but it is an ordinary case in this Court, that a deed, though not absolutely void, yet if obtained under inequitable circumstances, should stand as a security for the sum really due.” In How v. Weldon, 2 Ves. 516, though there was actual fraud, dolus in re ipsa, as the master of the rolls expresses it, the deed was allowed to stand as a security for the money paid. I * think, however, that our Court of Equity was right in determining, in the case of Miller v. Tolleson, State Eq. Rep. 145, that where the defendant was a partaker of the fraud, he should not be allowed to derive any advantage from the conveyance ; and therefore, where it was made to secure a previous debt, it should be set aside absolutely.
The conveyance being good at law, the complainant took nothing by his purchase at sheriff’s sale. Creditors had an equity to set the conveyance aside ; bat if.it had been the defendant’s equity, it was not a subject of levy and sale by the sheriff. He can only sustain his bill as a creditor, and we understand there are other creditors who have a legal priority over him, of which we are not authorized to deprive them.
In addition to what I have said on the subject of jurisdiction, it may be observed, that although the rule be that the title to freehold shall not
In addition to the money paid on the mortgage, I think the land must stand as a security for the money advanced by Mrs. Wadlington towards the purchase. She states positively that she did advance this money, intending it as a gratuity to her daughter, and I see nothing in the evidence to contradict her. She states indeed that she advanced $200 ; but it does not appear that Edmonds applied more than $128,73j towards the purchase. These sums, however, must be reimbursed without interest; Mrs. Edmonds having received the rents and profits of the land.
With respect to the question, whether the conveyance to Nance is not a marriage settlement, and therefore void for want of recording, I cannot see liow it can be regarded as such a settlement. The former decree of the Court was intended to carry the will into effect, and as observed* by the Chancellor, a will is not a marriage settlement. The deed is not supported by the marriage consideration, nor by the wife’s equity which results from the marriage, as in the case of Price v. White. If we should regard every conveyance of a husband to the use of his wife, as a marriage settlement, this would not come under that description. In legal contemplation, it was a purchase from a third person by a trustee, for the use of his cestui que trust. The conveyance to Meng was certainly not a marriage settlement. The same transaction might have happened, though Mrs. Edmonds had been unmarried, and Jefferson L. Edmonds a stranger to her.
As there are older judgments against Edmonds than that of complainant, and as it may be that he has been prosecuting for the benefit of others, and will derive no advantage from the decree, it would, in that event, be inequitable, if other creditors should obtain benefit from the decree, that he should be charged with costs.
It is therefore ordered and decreed, that the decree of the Chancellor be reversed ; that the land in question be sold by the Commissioner, and that out of the proceeds he pay, in the first instance, the sum of $732.13 to the defendant, Robert L. Nance, as trustee, and the surplus to the creditors of the defendant, Jefferson L. Edmonds, according to their legal priorities ; and that he advertise for creditors to come in and establish their demands. Parties to pay their own costs ; provided, that if there be a surplus received by creditors, the complainant’s costs shall be paid by the creditors so receiving, in proportion to the sums received by them respectively.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.