Skidmore v. Jett
Skidmore v. Jett
Opinion of the Court
• On the lOtb day of April, 1884, W. P. Jett and Sarah Jett, his wife, executed to John C. Bowen a note under seal, whereby, twelve months after date, for value received, they or either of them promised to pay John 0. Bowen, or his order, one hundred and ninety six dollars and two cents, as witness their hands and seals the 10th day of April, 1884. On .the 18th day of May, 1885, said John C. Bowen assigned said note to John C. Skidmore, and said note was credited with eight dollars and fifty nine cents as of the 31st day of October, 1885. At rules held for the Circuit Court of Randolph County on the first Monday in June, 1891, said John 0. Skidmore filed his bill in equity against said W. P. Jett, Sarah Jett and John 0. Bowen alleging the execution of said note and exhibiting a copy of the same, alleging that said W. P. Jett had a tract of land (describing it) which plaintiff was not aware of at the time of the filing of said bill, and that, as soon as he ascertained that said W. P. Jett was the owner of said small tract of land, he brought suit before a justice against said W. P. Jett, and obtained a judgment against him for two hundred and forty two dollars and ten cents on the 2d day of May, 1891, with interest thereon from that date and costs. He also represented that said Sarah Jett was the owner of two lots in the town of Montrose — one containing three fourths of an acre, on which there is a dwelling house and outbuildings, and the other containing one acre,
At the October term, 1891, said Sarah Jett and W. P. Jett appeared, and demurred to the plaintiff’s bill, which demurrer was sustained to said bill, so far as the same sought to sell the property of W. P. Jett, and the same was dismissed as to said W. P. Jett.
On the 22d day of January, 1892, the defendant Sarah Jett filed her separate answer to the plaintiff’s bill, audthe plaintiff’ replied generall-y thereto, in which she admitted the execution of said note, but claimed that she knew nothing of the assignment thereof uutil a short time before the suit was brought; that said note was executed to said Bowen for property purchased at his sale shortly before he left the state, and that at the time of the execution of said note said Boweu was indebted to her in the sum of one hundred and eighty one dollars and seventy five cents for money loaned to him by her, and for money paid by her to O. G. Botven at his instance and request; that at the time said note was executed she did not have her accounts with her, but the matter tvas then talked over, and it was there expressly agreed between said Bowen, aud respondent and her said husband, that, if respondent, would sign said note, said amounts, with their accrued interest, should be credited thereon, and upon this promise she was induced to sign said note, and with no intention on her part of binding her separate estate, real or personal, for the payment
At the May term, 1892, the decree complained of was entered, in which the amount of said debt was .ascertained after deducting said credit of eight dollars and fifty nine cents, and said note was decreed to be a .charge upon the lands of said Sarah Jett from the date of the institution of the suit; and it was further decreed that the plaintiff have execution for the amount of the debt decreed to him, and the costs of the suit, with interest on said- debt until paid, aud that, unless the samo be paid in sixty days, a special commissioner was to be appointed, who was directed to rent said lots at public auction upon the terms therein set out; and from this decree the said Sarah Jett obtained this appeal.
The first error assigned by appellant is in the action of the court in overruling the demurrer of said Sarah Jett to the bill of the plaiutift; but as no ground for the demurrer is assigned, and we can see no reason why it should have been sustained, we must regard it as properly overruled by the court.
The next error assigned is that the court erred in ascertaining the amount due on said note, claiming that, if it was proper to enter a decree therein at all, said amount should have been ascertained from said judgment as a basis. It will be perceived that the judgment referred to in
It is also assigned as error in the court in decreeing said Sarah Jett’s lands to be rented before first exhausting the property of her husband, the defendant W. P. Jett. The note upon which the suit was predicated was the joint and sever’al note of the husband and wife, and the amount could be recovered from either. The bill alleges that the property of the husband was small, and insufficient to pay the plaintiff’s debt, which allegation is not denied by the answer, and must.be taken as true; and this court has held, in the case of Hughes v. Hamilton, 19 W. Va. 367, that the proceeding in a court of equity by bill to subject the separate estate of a married woman to the payment of her debts is in the nature of a proceeding in rem, aud also that the debt of a general creditor of a feme covert, after suit brought by such creditor to subject such separate estate to the payment of such debt, becomes'a quasi lien, at least, upon such separate estate, and for the satisfaction thereof. So, also, in the case of Dages v. Lee, 20 W. Va. 584, this Court held that “the separate estate of a married woman is liable for any simple contract debt which she would be liable fm’ if she were a feme sole; and the consideration for said debt need not inure to her benefit, or that of her separate estate, but it may inure to the benefit of her husband or any third party, or it may be a mere prejudice to the other contracting party”; and in the case of Camden v. Hiteshew, 23 W. Va. 236, it was held that ‘.‘the debts of a married woman for which her separate estate is liable are such as arise out of any transaction out of which a debt would have arisen if she had been a feme sole, except such
The fourth assignment of error is that the court erred in not finding, under the pleadings in the canse, that said note had been wholly paid off and discharged, and in not dismissing the same, with costs. It is true that the defendant Sarah Jett, in her answer to the plaintiff’s bill, claims that she, at the time said note was executed, had an account against said John C. Bowen for one hundred and eighty one dollars and seventy five cents, and it was then understood and agreed between her and the said Bowen that her account was to be credited upon said note, and that said "W. P. Jett afterwards paid to said J. 0. Bowen the difference between her account and said note; but her answer was replied to, and no proof was taken to support the allegations of her answer, so that we can yiot regard this assignment of error as well taken.
For these reasons the decree complained of must be affirmed, with costs and damages.
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