Bates v. Winters

Citation138 Wis. 673,120 N.W. 498
PartiesBATES ET AL. v. WINTERS ET AL.
Decision Date30 March 1909
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Wisconsin

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Appeal from Circuit Court, Outagamie County; John Goodland, Judge.

Action by Clara Bates and others against Nelson W. Winters and others. From a judgment for defendants, plaintiffs appeal. Affirmed.

This action is brought to set aside a deed from one Perry W. Winters to Nelson W. Winters, his stepfather, on the ground that the grantor was mentally incompetent to execute such deed, and because fraud and undue influence had been used by the grantee to procure the execution and delivery thereof. It was also contended by the appellant that the deed was not delivered. The court found: (1) That Perry W. Winters died intestate January 28, 1906, leaving no widow, children, father, mother, brothers, or sisters; (2) that the plaintiffs were uncles and aunts of the decedent, and the defendant Nelson W. Winters was the uncle and stepfather of said decedent; (3) that the decedent was addicted to the excessive use of alcoholic liquors for several years prior to December 1, 1905, at which time he was taken with the illness that resulted in his death, and that after said 1st day of December he did not use alcoholic stimulants, and that his death was produced by cirrhosis of the liver; (4) that the decedent and said Nelson W. Winters were not at all times on friendly terms, but there did not appear to be any deep-seated enmity between the two, and both occupied the same home; (5) that on January 17, 1906, the decedent sent for one William Michelstetter, a banker at Seymour who acted as his financial agent, and that at the request of said decedent, on said date, said Michelstetter drafted a deed conveying the premises in controversy to Nelson W. Winters, which deed was executed by the decedent, and was witnessed and acknowledged, and that at the same time the decedent assigned several mortgages to said Nelson W. Winters; (6) that at the time said papers were drafted the scrivener and the decedent were alone, and that after its execution the deed was taken charge of by the scrivener, and was by him recorded in the office of the register of deeds on January 30, 1906, two days after Perry W. Winters died; (7) that the defendant Winters never received manual possession of the deed until after the same had been recorded, but that the decedent delivered the deed to the scrivener for the purpose and with the intent of having him put the same upon record, and that at said time he intended to transfer the title of the premises therein described to Nelson W. Winters; (8) that no adequate consideration passed to the grantor in the deed, and the only consideration therein stated was the sum of “one dollar and natural love and affection,” and an alleged equitable interest that the grantor had in the property by virtue of money expended in improving the same. The dollar consideration appears from the testimony to have actually been paid; (9) that at the time of the execution of the deed Perry W. Winters was not confined to his bed, but was able to be around the house, and went upstairs twice while the scrivener was present to obtain papers from his safe, and that on the...

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11 cases
  • Butts v. Richards
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Wisconsin
    • February 26, 1913
    ...Wis. 659, 666. Conversely, it may also be accomplished by acts without words. Cerney v. Pawlot, 66 Wis. 262, 28 N. W. 183;Bates v. Winters, 138 Wis. 673, 120 N. W. 498. But the grantor must part with his dominion and control over the deed, with intention to pass title. Curry v. Colburn, sup......
  • Ingersoll v. Odendahl
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Minnesota (US)
    • May 11, 1917
    ...person may be constituted the agent of the grantee though he has acted as attorney for the grantor in preparing the deed. Bates v. Winters, 138 Wis. 673, 120 N. W. 498. Continued possession and management of the property by the grantor is a circumstance tending to negative delivery but it i......
  • Ingersoll v. Odendahl
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Minnesota (US)
    • May 11, 1917
    ...... the deed. Such person may be constituted the agent of the. grantee, though he has acted as attorney for the grantor in. preparing the deed. Bates v. Winter, 138 Wis. 673,. 120 N.W. 498. Continued possession and management of the. property by the grantor is a circumstance tending to negative. ......
  • Nw. Mut. Life Ins. Co. v. Wright
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Wisconsin
    • April 8, 1913
    ...99 N. W. 337;Wells v. Wells, 132 Wis. 73, 111 N. W. 1111;Whiting v. Hoglund, 127 Wis. 135, 106 N. W. 391, 7 Ann. Cas. 224;Bates v. Winters, 138 Wis. 673, 120 N. W. 498;Taft v. Taft, 59 Mich. 185, 26 N. W. 426, 60 Am. Rep. 291;Eastham v. Powell, 51 Ark. 530, 11 S. W. 823;Shoptaw v. Ridgeway'......
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