Klosterman v. Harrington
Klosterman v. Harrington
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
This action was° brought to set aside a deed made by the defendant T. S. Harrington to his wife, Martha E. Harrington, the other defendant. This deed was made on the-16th day of October, 1891. It appears from the findings of fact that prior to said 16th day of October, 1891, the defendant T. S. Harrington was indebted to the plaintiff in the sum of
The superior court found that the conveyance was-in fraud of the rights of the plaintiff, as a creditor of the community, and made an order that the execution issued upon such judgment should be satisfied out of the property conveyed by such deed. From this decree defendants have appealed, and urge here as reasons for its reversal the alleged facts that it was not made to appear that the indebtedness was incurred prior to the date of the execution of the deed and that it was made to appear that the deed was not a voluntary one, but was made in payment of certain indebtedness of the community to the wife. It is also urged that it was shown that the defendant T. S. Harring-ton had other property out of which the execution could have been satisfied.
If we could consider the testimony which is set out in the statement of facts as the defendants do, some important questions of law would be presented for our consideration. But, whatever might have been shown by the statement of facts, if settled in accordance with the contention of the defendants, the facts shown by the statement actually settled, which are all .that we can consider, fail entirely to establish the defendants’ contention. As we have before stated, it was found by the court that the indebtedness was incurred before the date of the deed, and such finding was supported
Under our statute the conveyance by the husband to the wife had the effect of changing its community character to that of separate property of the wife. Hence, it was necessary that the deed should be set aside in order that purchasers at a sale under an execution which only bound community property should be informed as to the state of the title.
Scott, Dunbar, Anders and Gordon, JJ., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- John Klosterman v. T. S. Harrington
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- FRAUDULENT CONVEYANCES—TRANSFER OF COMMUNITY PROPERTY TO ONE SPOUSE — ACTION TO SET ASIDE — EVIDENCE. Where, at the time of the conveyance of certain community lands by a husband to his wife, without the passing of any consideration between them, the community is indebted to creditors, and sufficient property is not retained by the community to satisfy such claims, the conveyance is a voluntary one, although the community may in fact he indebted to the wife, and is therefore fraudulent as to existing creditors. Erom the fact that an execution has been issued and returned unsatisfied for want of community property upon which to levy, it must be presumed, in the absence of express proof to the contrary, that the community had no property with which to satisfy the judgment. Since the conveyance of land by the husband to the wife has the effect of changing its community character to that of the separate property of the wife, when such conveyance is in fraud of creditors of the community, the deed should be set aside in order that purchasers at a sale under an execution which binds only community property, should be informed as to the state of the title.