Christensen v. Christensen

• Citation: 106 N.E. 627,265 Ill. 170
• Decision Date: 16 October 1914
• Docket Number: No. 9543.,9543.
• Parties: CHRISTENSEN v. CHRISTENSEN et al.
• Court: Supreme Court of Illinois

265 Ill. 170

106 N.E. 627

CHRISTENSEN

v.CHRISTENSEN et al.

No. 9543.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Oct 16, 1914.

Error to Circuit Court, De Kalb County; Mazzini Slusser, Judge.

Suit by John Christensen against Clara Christensen and another. From a decree dismissing the bill, complainant brings error. Affirmed.

Jones & Rogers, of Sycamore, for plaintiff in error.

A. W. Fisk and H. W. McEwen, both of De Kalb, for defendants in error.

CARTWRIGHT, C. J.

John Christensen, plaintiff in error, filed his bill in this case in the circuit court of De Kalb county against Clara Christensen, his wife, and Clara Kraus Sloan, defendants in error, alleging that he was the owner of a homestead estate, an estate for life, and an undivided half of the fee of lot 8 in block 36, in the city of De Kalb, and praying the court to declare his title accordingly, to take an account of the rents and profits of his interest in the lot obtained by Clara Christensen since she excluded him from the premises, to require her to convey an undivided one-half of the premises to him, to decree to him a homestead estate therein, and to require her to pay over to him the rents and profits so received by her. The defendant Clara Kraus Sloan was the owner of a mortgage executed by both Clara Christensen and John Christensen, and its validity was not disputed. The court heard the cause on exceptions to the report of a special master, who recommended that the bill be dismissed for want of equity. The exceptions were overruled and the amended bill dismissed.

The evidence in the case was to the following effect: On May 9, 1884, Maria Spicer, owner of the lot, and Robert Spicer, her husband, entered into a contract with William Thackham by which they agreed to convey the lot in fee simple, by warranty deed, for a consideration of $200, payable by William Thackham as therein specified. Possession was taken by virtue of the contract, and Amelia Thackham, mother of William Thackham, resided on the lot with her children in a small one-story house containing three rooms. On October 3, 1885, the complainant, John Christensen, married Amelia Thackham and went to live with her in the house on the premises. On September 4, 1886, Maria Spicer (then Maria Brady) and James Brady (who was then her husband) conveyed the lot to William Thackham in pursuance of the articles of agreement. There was a controversy as to whether there was a subsequent contract between William Thackham and the complainant. According to the testimony of the complainant, he entered into an arrangement with William Thackham a year or two after the marriage, and while he was living on the premises with his wife, by which it was agreed that, if the complainant would put a house upon the premises, he should have the life use of them. It was agreed that William Thackham, if present at the hearing, would testify that no such agreement was made. If the agreement was made it was several years afterward, before any building was placed on the premises by the complainant or anything was done under the contract. In 1892 or 1893 the complainant sold the old one-story house for a trifling sum, and purchased an unfinished 1 1/2-story building and moved it onto the lot. He finished the house sufficiently to make it habitable, and claimed that he had expended $1,200 or $1,300 in improving the premises. William Thackham mortgaged the premises to Joseph Glidden for $50, and the complainant paid that mortgage. Including that payment, he proved expenditures by him amounting to $720.50, but these improvements were made as much as six years after the alleged agreement with William Thackham, during which time the complainant was living on the premises with his wife. He continued to occupy the premises with his wife until July 2, 1898, when she died, and he continued to live there until February, 1903. After the death of his wife he had possession, and he married the defendant Clara Christensen on October 30, 1899, and they lived on the premises from that time until she drove him away. The complainant had assumed to be the owner of the premises and never paid any rent, and William Thackham,who held the legal title, never made any demands upon him. In 1902 the defendant Clara Christensen learned that the legal title was in William Thackham, and there were negotiations for a purchase from him. He proposed to make a deed for $800, and the complainant testified that the deed was to be made to him and his wife, Clara Christensen, and each was to be the owner of an undivided one-half. Neither of them had any means to pay for the property, and the money was borrowed from Clara Kraus Sloan, a daughter of Clara Christensen born during one of her former marriages. William Thackham, with his wife, conveyed the premises to Clara Christensen on October 23, 1902, and John Christensen and Clara Christensen executed their mortgage to Clara Kraus Sloan to secure a note signed by Clara Christensen alone, for $800 and interest. On February 3, 1903, Clara Christensen filed her bill against John Christensen for a divorce, and obtained an injunction restraining him from interfering in any way with the property. The bill...