Smith v. Smith
Smith v. Smith
Opinion of the Court
This action was commenced in the superior court for King county by Margaret Smith, as the guardian of her feeble-minded sister, Hattie, and her aged mother, Elizabeth, seeking the setting aside of a deed of conveyance made by the mother to the defendant son Arthur and his wife. Before the disposition of the case in the superior court, the com troversy became one between the intervener plaintiffs, Ella, Ida, Lucy and Margaret, sisters of Arthur, elaim-
Elizabeth Smith was left a widow by the death of her husband in September, 1904. There had been born to them the six children, above named. She then became possessed of the land here in controversy, together with other property, as her separate property. She was then 68 years old, and desiring to make disposition of her property to her children, with a view pf an equitable division thereof among them, and of being freed from further care of her property, and at the. same time make provision for her own support for the remainder of her life, and also make provision for
“This indenture, made this 9th day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and four, between Arthur E. Smith and Mary E. Smith, his wife, of Orillia, King County, State of Washington, parties of the first part, and Elizabeth S. Smith (widow of Eollin C. Smith, deceased, and mother of the said Arthur E. Smith) of the same place, party of the second part:
“Witnesseth, That, whereas, the party of the second part has this day made, executed, and delivered, to the parties of the first part her certain indenture of deed, whereby the party of the second part has conveyed to the parties of the first part, in fee, absolutely the following described lots, tracts, or parcels of land, lying and being situated in King County, State of Washington, particularly bounded and described as follows:
(Description of property.)
“Nevertheless the parties of the first part hereby declare that they accepted said deed and take the title to said premises described therein upon the following express terms and conditions, in trust, as follows:
“First — The parties hereto have agreed, and by these presents do agree that the parties of the first part have a long term lease on said described premises, which lease shall be, and from this time henceforth is, abrogated, annulled, and made void, and the parties of the first part take, and keep, and use said premises as their own, in fee simple, under said deed of conveyance.
*674 “Second — The parties of the first part expressly agree , to pay all taxes, of every name, nature and description, to be levied or assessed against, or to become due upon, the said premises, and each and every part henceforth.
“Third — That parties of the first part further expressly agree to pay the interest on a certain note for Nine Hundred ($900.00) Dollars, executed by Bollin C. Smith and the party of the second part, during the lifetime of the said Bollin C. Smith, and delivered to Frank Hill, and secured by mortgage on said real premises, and to pay said interest promptly as the same becomes due, until the parties of the first part shall pay the principal of said note, according to the terms of an agreement by which the parties of the first part are obligated to pay the principal of said note on or before its maturity.
“Fourth — The said party of the second part shall have the use of her house, on said described premises during the remainder of her life together with sufficient ground surrounding the same for yard and garden, together with her fuel to be provided by the parties of the first part, from the timber growing upon said premises.
“Fifth — The parties of the first part shall pay to the party of the second part, for her maintenance, the sum of Thirty-Five ($35.00) Dollars per month, lawful money of the United States, monthly, each calendar month hereafter as long as the said party of the second part shall live, beginning with the month of December, 1904. But upon the death of the party of the second part, the said payments shall cease, and no payment shall be made to the executors or administrators of the party of the second part.
“Sixth — Upon the death of the party of the second part, the parties of the first part expressly agree that they, and each of them, and the survivor of them, will take, and care for, and provide for, Hattie Smith, a feeble-minded person, daughter of the party of the second part, and sister of the said Arthur E. Smith, during the remainder of her lifetime, in a simple plain manner, as she has during her entire life been provided*675 for by her father and mother, and that the parties of the first part will furnish said Hattie Smith, with suitable plain, comfortable clothing, and with suitable, plain, nourishing food, and such shelter and accommodations as they have themselves, and with necessary medicine, and medical attendance in case of sickness, and at her death to provide for her a decent burial, according to the station in life of the respective parties hereto. Then all the terms, and conditions, and covenants shall be deemed to be complied with and said trust shall be deemed to be completed and thereby terminated.
“Seventh — In case of the failure of the parties of the first part to keep and perform each and every of the covenants and agreements herein mentioned, to be kept and performed by them, then the said party of the second part, her executors, or administrators may re-enter, and take possession of said premises, and each and every part thereof, and remove the parties of the first part and all persons claiming by, through or under them or either of them, and in case of any default after the death of the party of the second part, then the judge of the probate division of the superior court of King county may appoint some person to carry out the provisions of this agreement, and to do equity between all the parties.”
Arthur and his wife have, at all times since so acquiring the land, remained in possession thereof, except as hereinafter stated. The principal ground upon which Margaret, as guardian of her mother and sister, in the beginning of the action, rested her claimed right to a decree in their behalf setting aside the deed of the mother to Arthur, and upon which she and her three sisters, Ella, Ida and Lucy, individually as interveners and as heirs of their mother, now rest their claimed right to such a decree, is the making of a contract by Arthur and his wife with Frederick and Walter Mess on July 21, 1917, looking to the ultimate sale and conveyance of a large portion of the land to them by Ar-
“This agreement made and entered into by and between Arthur B. Smith and Mary B. Smith, his wife, of Orillia, Washington, parties of the first part, and Frederick J. Mess and Walter Mess of the same place, parties of the second part,
“Witnesseth: That the parties of the first part agree to sell and convey to the parties of the second part, and the parties of the second part agree to purchase of and from the parties of the first part all of those certain described tracts and parcels of land, described as follows, to-wit:
(Description of property.)
“The purchase price of said land, together with all the rights and privileges herein contained shall be and is the sum of $19,348, of which said amount the sum of $936 has heretofore been paid, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged; and the further sum of $5,312 shall be paid in cash upon the signing and delivery of this agreement. The remainder of the purchase price shall be paid as follows: $5,000 within 60 days after the death of both Elizabeth Smith, mother of said Arthur E. Smith, and Hattie Smith, sister of said Arthur E. Smith, and the remaining sum of $8,000 may either be then paid in cash or by giving a promissory note therefor, payable on or before 5 years from its date, secured by a mortgage upon the premises purchased, all deferred payments, whether upon this agreement or evidenced by promissory note, as herein provided, shall bear interest at the rate of 6% per an-num, payable semi-annually on the 1st day of January and the 1st day of July of each year at any bank in Seattle designated by the parties of the first part.
“The parties of the first part shall execute and acknowledge a Deed of Conveyance to the property described, and the same shall be placed in escrow with some disinterested person or bank, to be delivered to the parties of the second part when the said sum of $5,000 shall have been paid, and said promissory note*677 and mortgage securing the same shall have been signed, executed and delivered, or whenever the purchase price shall have been fully paid at the option of the parties of the second part.
“The parties of the second part shall have the exclusive use and possession of said premises and use of the same during the time this agreement shall be in force and effect.
“The parties of the first part agree to pay monthly to said Elizabeth S. Smith, mother of Arthur E. Smith, the sum of $35.00 each month as long as she shall live, and agree thereafter to support, keep and clothe and provide for said Hattie Smith as long as she shall live, in all respects as set forth, agreed and specified in a certain Declaration of Trust, made and signed by the parties of the first part, dated the 9th day of November, A. D. 1904. . .
“Should the parties of the first part fail to make any and all payments and provisions to or for the benefit of said Elizabeth S. Smith during her entire lifetime, or fail thereafter to keep, maintain, support and clothe said Hattie Smith during the remainder of her life, or fail in any particular to keep and perform any or all things stated and agreed to be done, paid or performed in said Declaration of Trust, made by said parties of the first part, the parties of the second part may make any and all such payment or payments and may thereafter contract for or otherwise provide for the support, keeping, clothing and maintenance_of said Hattie Smith, in such manner as they shall be ordered or directed by the Probate Court having jurisdiction, or as they may be ordered, authorized or directed to do by any court of competent jurisdiction, and any and all payments or disbursements so made, if any, shall be deducted from any interest payment or payments, or any of them thereafter to become due and if such interest payment or payments shall be insufficient, then from the principal of the deferred payments thereafter to become due under this agreement, and interest shall cease immediately upon all amounts of principal, if any, so paid.
*678 “The parties of the second part agree to pay all taxes hereafter to become dne against the property herein agreed to be conveyed before the same shall become delinquent. . .
“Should the parties of the second part fail to make any payments of principal or interest promptly when the same shall become due, the parties of the first part, provided they shall have kept and performed their agreements herein agreed to be performed to such date, shall upon 30 days written notice have the right to cancel this agreement and to forfeit the same.”
We quote the language of the trust declaration and that contract to this extent to render it plain just what the trust obligations of Arthur and his wife were and are, and to what extent the land and the income therefrom, under the contract, were thereby pledged to secure the fulfillment of those obligations. Frederick and Walter Mess went into possession of the land under that contract, and, we may assume, they have, since its making, remained in such possession and in all things complied with its terms.
On April 26, 1917, Margaret was, by the superior court for King county, formally appointed guardian of the persons and estates of the mother, Elizabeth, and the feeble-minded daughter and sister, Hattie. The mother was then 81 years old. Prior to that time it had evidently been thought by all of the children not at all necessary that anyone should be formally appointed guardian of either the mother or the sister Hattie. Thereafter, in October, 1919, Margaret, as the guardian of her mother and sister Hattie, commenced this action. Thereafter, on December 11, 1920, the mother died. Thereafter, Margaret was, by the court, removed and discharged as guardian of Hattie. Thereafter, Margaret, together with her sisters Ella, Ida and Lucy, in their individual rights as heirs of the
The principal and only contention here made in behalf of the interveners, which we deem necessary to seriously consider, is that the contract entered into by Arthur and his wife with Frederick and Walter Mess, looking to the ultimate sale and conveyance of the land to the latter, was such a flagrant violation of the terms of the trust obligations resting upon Arthur and his wife as to call for a decree setting aside the conveyance of the mother to Arthur and his wife and the forfeiture of all their rights in and to all of the land described in that conveyance. The argument is in substance that that contract effected such a diversion of
A critical examination of those cases, we think, will clearly show that they involved conditions under which conveyances of the trust property by the trustee, if not set aside, would have the effect of removing the property beyond the reach of the trust, or of materially lessening or wholly impairing the ability of the trustee to carry out the terms of the trust, or involved the death of the trustee upon whom the obligation of support of the beneficiary rested, before the death of the beneficiary. In each of those cases there was involved either the entire general support to be furnished to the beneficiary by the trustee, or the use of the property itself by the beneficiary, of which he was deprived by the trustee. Such is not this case. As to the trust obligations resting upon Arthur and his wife to the mother, they were only to pay the taxes, to pay the $900 note, to allow the mother to occupy a house on a small portion of the land surrounding it, to furnish the mother fuel at that place, and to pay the mother $35 per month during her lifetime, for a failure of which in some substantial degree we may concede that the mother would be entitled to have the conveyance made by her set aside. As to the obligations resting upon Arthur and his wife to the feeble-minded sister, Hattie, they were only to furnish her support in the
Now as to the contract between Arthur and his wife with Frederick and Walter Mess, we think it needs nothing more than a cursory examination of its terms, above quoted, to demonstrate that it expressly preserves all the land described therein and all the income therefrom, subject to the satisfaction of all the obligations of Arthur and his wife to the mother and the sister Hattie. It seems to us that the above quoted provisions of that contract, read in the light of the provisions of the declaration of trust imposing the trust obligations upon Arthur and his wife to the mother and sister Hattie, leave little that can be said in support of a contention that that contract, in the slightest degree, removes any of the trust property or its income under the contract from the burdens of the trust, or lessens the ability of Arthur and his wife, as trustees, to perform all of the obligations imposed upon them
Some other contentions are made in behalf of appellants, but they seem to us so clearly without merit as to not call for our further discussion of the case. What we have said renders it unnecessary to discuss the question of the right of the interveners to be heard in this case; that is, as to whether or not they have the right to become parties to this action in any event.
The judgment of dismissal is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.