Allen v. Best
| Decision Date | 06 March 1933 |
| Citation | 58 S.W.2d 810,227 Mo.App. 851 |
| Parties | ISABELLA ALLEN, ADMX. OF W. J. C. ALLEN, DECEASED, APPELLANT, v. LLOYD E. BEST ET AL., RESPONDENTS |
| Court | Kansas Court of Appeals |
Appeal from the Circuit Court of Jackson County.--Hon. O. A. Lucas Judge.
Judgment affirmed.
Henry S. Julian for appellant.
Winger Reeder, Barker, Gumbiner & Hazard and George J. Winger for respondent.
This action was brought by W. J. C. Allen and his mother, Isabella Allen. After the evidence was heard and before judgment, the cause was dismissed as to the plaintiff Isabella Allen, and we will therefore speak of W. J. C. Allen as plaintiff.
The claim of Isabella Allen asserted in the petition as well as the evidence to support it, was utterly unrelated to the claim stated by plaintiff. On this subject plaintiff's counsel says that "it will be seen that two causes of action are embodied in the petition; one by Isabella Allen," the other by the plaintiff W. J. C. Allen. Therefore, we will not detail the evidence relating to the claim of Isabella Allen for the reason that such claim passed out of the case when it was dismissed as to her. However, the facts relating to her claim are carefully and correctly set forth in the opinion in this case reported in 220 Mo.App. 1041.
The Allen Stamp Seal and Manufacturing Company became a body corporate under the law of Missouri relating to manufacturing and business companies in 1912 or 1913, the exact date was not shown. Its incorporators and its first board of directors were Edwin Allen, Richard Henry and Isabella Allen. The first named was its president and the last named its secretary. The articles of agreement recite that its capital stock, consisting of 1260 shares of the par value of $ 10 each, was fully paid up in personal property, then in the custody and possession of its board of directors; that its capital stock was owned as follows: Edwin Allen ten shares; Richard Henry ten shares; Isabella Allen 600 shares, and George Hanlon, Shawneetown, Illinois, 640 shares.
Plaintiff contends that some years before the company was organized his grandmother gave to his mother $ 3000 in trust for him; that his mother used the fund, and that upon the formation of the company she, for the purpose of performing the trust, caused the 640 shares of stock in the company to be given to and issued in the name of George Hanlon as trustee for plaintiff; that on August 25, 1913, stock certificate No. 50 for 640 shares of the capital stock of the company was issued to George Hanlon, who thereafter held it as trustee for the plaintiff until the assignment thereof to him by Hanlon; that in May, 1914, Isabella Allen assigned all of the stock in the company and delivered all of its physical property to the defendants Carl E. Best and Lloyd E. Best under a contract, the terms of which will presently be stated; that his mother had no authority to sell or assign the stock of Hanlon; that the Bests obtained no right therein by virtue of the assignment and should, therefore, account to him therefor.
The evidence clearly shows that plaintiff's mother did not have authority to sell or assign the Hanlon stock. The assignment did not, at the time it was made, invest the Bests with right in the stock. In determining the question as to whether or not Hanlon was a trustee, the fact that he did not furnish any of the capital stock of the company was most significant. Moreover, there is no foundation for a belief that the incorporators intended to make an outright gift of the stock to Hanlon. Neither can it be said that Hanlon at any time claimed right or interest in the stock other than as trustee. The articles of agreement said that Hanlon was the owner of 640 shares of stock in the company, and therefore, neither the company, its incorporators, nor any one claiming under either of them will be permitted to say that he did not own the stock. But it is not controverted that it was competent for plaintiff to prove that he was the equitable owner of the stock and that Hanlon was his trustee. Considering all of the facts and circumstances, we hold that, at the time certificate No. 50 was issued, Hanlon's interest therein was merely that of trustee for plaintiff. At a time not clearly shown, Hanlon assigned the certificate of stock to plaintiff. This assignment, however, did not increase plaintiff's right in the stock. As stated, plaintiff was the equitable owner of the stock at the time it was issued and, therefore, had power to sell or dispose of his title thereto and also, could, by a course of conduct estop himself from claiming to be the owner thereof. Applying the rule stated to the facts of record we find there are two reasons, either...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Delta Realty Co. v. Hunter
...275 Mo. 128, 204 S.W. 1105; Hector v. Mann, 225 Mo. 228, 124 S.W. 1109; Captaine v. Miss. Valley Trust Co., 177 S.W. 628; Allen v. Best, 227 Mo.App. 851, 58 S.W.2d 810. This case is analagous to the situation arising where the real owner of the lands, though not sued, permits the lands to b......
-
Abrams v. Lakewood Park Cemetery Ass'n
...674, 162 S.W.2d 875; Wakefield v. Dinger, 234 Mo.App. 407, 135 S.W.2d 17; Gerhardt v. Tucker, 187 Mo. 46, 85 S.W. 552; Allen v. Best, 227 Mo.App. 851, 58 S.W.2d 810. No estoppel exists as against the appellant Scott. Johnson v. Ferguson, 329 Mo. 363, 44 S.W.2d 650; State ex rel. City of Sik......
-
Townsend v. Maplewood Investment & Loan Co.
... ... and as to its financial set-up, is not treasury stock, and ... may not be sold for a note. Allen v. Best, 58 S.W.2d ... 810; Wilson v. Merc. Co., 167 Mo.App. 305; ... Maynard v. Doe Run Lead Co., 305 Mo. 356, 265 S.W ... 95; Sherman v ... ...
- Dusky v. Kansas City