Neil v. Smith
Neil v. Smith
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
In September, 1854, on petition to which complainant, then Lucinda Flalford, a feme sole, and over twenty-one years of age, and the other heirs of John
In the latter part of the year 1855, after the confirmation, complainant intermarried with one Neil, and he was then made party to the proceedings, and so continued, as appears from the record in that case, actively engaged in prosecuting their rights under the proceédings, until the final decree in 1858.
By that decree, it appears, the clerk reported to the court that all the purchase money was paid, which report was unexcepted to, and confirmed by the court, and that Kincaid, the purchaser, had overpaid Neil and wife a small sum, which had been repaid by Neil and wife. Thereupon the court proceeded to-divest the title out of the parties, which had not been done before, and vest it in Kincaid, the purchaser, and adjudged the costs. No appeal was prosecuted from this decree, but all parties rested satisfied with it, until the wife, by next friend, filed this bill. In it she goes mainly on the ground. that the sale was irregular and void, but immediately states that the money had never been paid to her, and now, under the general prayer of the bill, seeks to have it paid to her. This is maintained on the ground that the money was not paid to her under the provisions of the act of 1852, sec. 2, which is as follows:
We need not decide the question whether this is a case under the section quoted, the land having been sold and sale confirmed before the marriage of the present complainant. It suffices that, on another ground, we are clear the bill should be dismissed.
The final decree, to which husband and wife are parties, expressly adjudges the fact that the money had been paid, and even overpaid, to Neil and wife, and they have paid part of it back. That decree stands unappealed from and unreversed. That decree, reciting the fact that the money was paid to the party, must be held to adjudge that it was paid according to law, and must preclude the parties to it, unless it be attacked or obtained by fraud, and the facts constituting that fraud specified and proven. No such facts are charged in the bill. It is true the general statement is found in the bill that the decree was obtained “by false and fraudulent suggestions, and by imposing on the court,” but no facts constituting ■said frauds are alleged, but only the fact that the decree does not, on its face, >show sufficient facts to support a divestiture of title, she being a married woman. We hold it does show such facts as were
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.