Ackerman v. Smiley
Ackerman v. Smiley
Opinion of the Court
On the death of a person intestate, all of his estate, both real and personal, vests, at once, in his heirs at law, subject, under the statute, to the payment of his debts. (Paschal’s Digest, 1373.) But the legal title and interest of the heir becomes fixed, and, whatever that interest may be, it is clearly the subject of sale and transfer, as though it were not encumbered with the debts of the ancestor. The heir may, therefore, sell or alien at his pleasure his entire interest in the estate of an ancestor, or he may sell his entire interest in any particular portion of that estate, and the courts will protect the purchaser in the interest thus conveyed to him, subject to the rights of other heirs. The heir may make a present deed of his interest, in any particular portion of the estate, or may give a bond to make a full title when the same shall be set apart to him, and that deed or bond may be enforced against all third parties.
The purchaser of an estate, with covenants of warranty, takes not only the equitable title of the vendor at the time of the sale, but he also takes whatever title the vendor may after-wards acquire, whether by purchase or otherwise. (4 Kent, 98; Wark v. Willard, 13 N. H. 389; Bush v. Marshall, 6 Howard, U. S., 284; Brower v. McCormick, 4 Watts, 60; Nixon’s
We have been unable to discover in the record any sufficient evidence of fraud in that sale from Wickson to appellee, to render the same void or voidable. It appears that for some ,cause the land sold by Wickson was not partitioned to him, as was anticipated at the time of his sale to appellee, but was ordered to be sold at administrator’s sale. Wickson had executed his bond for. title, and it is claimed that to save himself from a demand for damages, and to fulfill the stipulations of his b.ond, he became the purchaser. If his sale to appellee was bona fide for a consideration paid, then it was clearly Wickson’s right and duty to do so, and his purchase enured to
But it is claimed by appellant that at the time of the pretended sale to appellee Wiekson was largely in debt, and that the sale was made for the purpose of defrauding his creditors out of their just demands, and also that the appellee Smiley, with a full knowledge of that fraudulent intent, received the title bond without paying anything therefor, and with the sole object and purpose of aiding Wiekson in defrauding his creditors, and that, therefore, his bond for title was without consideration, fraudulent, and void. These were questions of fact, to be determined by the jury under proper instructions from the court, and upon those facts a correct determination of this cause depends. In the charge of the court in regard to these questions, we have been unable to find the errors claimed by counsel for appellants. On the contrary, we think the law was clearly and fairly presented to the jury, by which their minds were directed to the most material facts proven. The jury, in finding a verdict for the defendant below, thereby decided that the sale by Wiekson tet appellee was a iona fide one, and vested in the vendee the equitable title to the land, free from the claims of the vendor’s creditors. We are bf the opinion that a review of the material facts of this case will clearly show the legality of that verdict.
^B In 1866, L. B. Wiekson, supposing that he was the heir to a certain tract of land which would soon be partitioned off to him, sold the same to Henry Smiley, executing to him a bond in the sum of four thousand seven hundred dollars, for a complete title whenever the same should be set apart as his portion as heir. It is probable that, at the time, Wiekson was
It is, however, claimed that Smiley had paid no consideration for the land, and therefore had no such equities as could defeat appellant’s title by virtue of an execution sale against Wickson. But we think it clearly proven that Smiley did pay a consideration for the land. The bond from Wickson to Smiley recites the fact that the sale was made in consideration of the sum of four thousand seven hundred dollars. And Thompson, while on the stand as appellant’s witness, testified that Wickson had acknowledged to him the receipt of the purchase-money. He also proved that Smiley paid a part of the purchase-money at the administrator’s sale. We. are of the opinion that this testimony was legitimate, and especially when the acknowledgment was proven to have been made long before the administrator’s sale, and before the appellant’s claim
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- B. F. Ackerman and another v. Henry Smiley
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- 5 cases
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- Syllabus
- 1. The title and interest of an heir in the real and personal estate of his intestate ancestor become vested and fixed immediately upon the death of the latter ; and such title and interest, though encumbered with the ancestor’s debts, are none the less the subject of sale and transfer by the heir, either by a present conveyance or by bond for execution of title when partition of the estate shall be made. %. A purchaser with general -warranty takes not only his vendor’s title at the time of the sale, but also whatever title his vendor may subsequently acquire ; and this principle applies to a sale by an heir of a particular tract of land, part of his ancestor’s estate, which such heir expects will be allotted to him upon partition of the estate. 3. If a tract of land belonging to an unpartitioned estate is subject to a lease for years, and a person purchases the fee from an heir who expects that particular tract to be allotted to him, taking and duly recording the heir’s bond to make him title when the estate shall be partitioned, and then the purchaser also buys up the lease and thereby obtains possession, the lease becomes merged in the fee, and his possession is as purchaser of the fee, and is notice to all the world of his claim to the . fee under his recorded title bond. 4. The facts that a vendor was in debt, and was selling ofl his property as fast as he could, are not in this case deemed sufficient evidence to establish fraud in his sale; and are of no legal significance, to impeach the vendee’s title, when there was no proof that the latter had any knowledge of them. 5. An heir who expected a particular tract of land to be allotted him, sold it and received the purchase-money, executing his bond to make title when partition should be made. The land being afterwards sold by the administrator, the heir bid it off, and prayed the probate court to order the deed to be made direct to his vendee as the equitable owner. It seems that the order should have been made—there having been no liens on the heir’s interest when he sold the land. 6. The recitals of a title bond, together with subsequent admissions of the obligor, are considered, under the circumstances of this case, competent and adequate evidence of the payment of the purchase-money by the obligee, whose equitable title was resisted by a purchaser at sheriff’s sale, under execution emanating from a judgment rendered against the obligor after the execution of his title bond.