Savage v. Rodenbeck

Washington Supreme Court
Savage v. Rodenbeck, 126 Wash. 29 (Wash. 1923)
216 P. 869; 1923 Wash. LEXIS 1059

Savage v. Rodenbeck

Opinion of the Court

Per Curiam.

— The respondent desires specific performance of an alleged oral contract to convey a fraction of an acre of agricultural land, and claims that *30substantial and permanent improvements made by Mm remove the objection of the statute of frauds. Oral contracts such as this must be proved by clear and convincing evidence, and, much as we hesitate to disagree with a trial court on questions of fact, we cannot feel that the testimony meets the required standard. In the statement of facts appears this remark of the court at the conclusion of the trial; “. . . the evidence is very conflicting. I had assumed all the way through that the bare preponderance of evidence was sufficient.” The decree must have been J>ased on this erroneous assumption, and is reversed and the action dismissed.

Reference

Full Case Name
Herbert W. Savage v. Paul F. Rodenbeck
Cited By
1 case
Status
Published
Syllabus
Specific Performance (15) — Parol Contract to Convey Land— Evidence — Sufficiency. Findings to support specific performance of an oral contract to convey land will be set aside when not proved by clear and ^convincing evidence, the evidence being very conflicting, and the trial court stating that he assumed that the bare preponderance of the evidence was sufficient.