Newman v. Early
Newman v. Early
Opinion of the Court
In the year 1863, the complainant intermarried with Susan Harper. On December 30, 1865, N. Hobson sold and conveyed to the wife a lot adjacent to the town of Edgefield, to her separate use and benefit, and free from the contracts and control of her said husband, ■“ with power in her to dispose of the same, by sale, by will, ■by deed of gift, or in any other way, to any person or
Shortly thereafter, the devisees brought an action of ejectment for the lot against the surviving husband, in possession, and, on December 26, 1876, he filed this bill for relief, and to enjoin the suit at law. On motion, the injunction was •dissolved, but the parties have entered into a written agreement to submit to me all questions in dispute between them in both suits, whether of law or equity.
Upon the facts as detailed above, the legal title to the lot in dispute is in the plaintiifs in the ejectment suit, the •devisees of Mrs. Newman, and they are, of course, entitled to recover the property at law. The complainant cannot resist this legal right, except by showing a superior equity. The grounds upon which the bill is rested, are that the lot was purchased with the husband’s money, upon the distinct understanding between husband and wife that the title ■should be taken to both, so that the property should, upon the death of either, vest in the survivor ; that the title was taken to the wife in the mode stated, without the knowledge •of the husband; and that only a portion of the deed was read over to the husband by the wife, shortly after it was taken, omitting the “portion authorizing her to will or
There is a lax-ge amount of evidence in this record tending to show that the purchase-money of this lot was, in part at least, furnished by one of the devisees under Mrs. Newman’s will. But even if it be true, as contended for-by the complainant, that the money was all furnished by him, the deed to the wife would be good. Although the payment of the purchase-money will, ordinarily, create-a resulting trust, such a trust will not arise where, from the relationship of the parties or the circumstances of the-case, the intention to confer a benefit on the nominal grantee is clear. The bill admits that the intention was to confer-a benefit on the wife, and a resulting trust is, therefore,, out of the question. The only ground upon which the bill can be sustained is, that there was an agreement that the-title should be so taken as to give the property to the husband if he survived his wife. The bill states that such an intention was disclosed by the wife to a person named, before the purchase of the lot was made. But this person, when examined, deposes only to conversations with the wife after the deed had been executed. And all that he-does say is in answer to the following question : “ Did you ever hear Mrs. Newman state who was to have the property at her death, in the event she died before Mr. Newman?” His answer is: “She always told me that Mr. Newman was, in that event, to have the property.” It is, of course, impossible to build a trust, in the face of a written instru
The right of the devisees to recover the land at law being clear, and there being no ground for interfering with that right in equity, the defendants, the devisees, may take such a decree as they think the agreement of the parties will justify, with costs.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.