German Bank v. Peterson

• Decision Date: 01 November 1887
• Citation: 35 N.W. 47,69 Wis. 561
• Parties: GERMAN BANK v. PETERSON, GARNISHEE.
• Court: Wisconsin Supreme Court

69 Wis. 561

35 N.W. 47

GERMAN BANK

v.PETERSON, GARNISHEE.

Supreme Court of Wisconsin.

November 1, 1887.

Appeal from circuit court, Calumet county.

Seaman & Williams, for appellant.

T. R. Hudd and Jos. B. Reynolds, for respondent.

TAYLOR, J.

The respondent was garnished in the case of German Bank v. Adolph Moeller. The garnishee answered denying that he had any property in his possession belonging to said Adolph Moeller, or that he was indebted to him, and further alleges that before the garnishee process was served in the case, the said Moeller had made a voluntary assignment to him of all his property for the benefit of his creditors; and that he held, at the time the garnishee summons was served, a large amount of real and personal property under such assignment, which had formerly belonged to the said Moeller.

The only reason which the appellant urges for holding said respondent liable as garnishee is that the assignment on its face assigned all his property, “except such as are exempt from levy and sale under the laws of the state of Wisconsin;” and that in the inventory which the assignor made of his property thereafter he enumerates all his real and personal property, but in the inventory of the real estate, after describing the same, there is added the following: “The above is listed by said debtor, he reserving to himself the right to claim any and all of the above-described tracts, lots, or pieces of land, as his homestead, or in any way exempt from levy and sale on execution or attachment under any law or statute of this state, and reserving to himself all his exemptions and reserved rights therein.” To the inventory of the personal property was appended the following: “The statutory exemptions in favor of debtors, or stock in trade, or any other right of exemption, have not yet been selected from the above property of this inventory. This inventory is filed subject to any such right of exemption which the said Adolph Moeller, assignor, may have therein.”

The learned counsel for the appellant does not claim that the provision in the assignment, reserving to the assignor his exempt property, renders the assignment void. That question, it is admitted, has been decided against him by this court in Bates v. Simmons, 62 Wis. 69, 22 N. W. Rep. 335;Bank v. Hackett, 61 Wis. 335, 21 N. W. Rep. 280;Goll v. Hubbell, 61 Wis. 293, 20 N. W. Rep. 674, and 21 N. W. Rep. 288; and Cribben v. Ellis, 34 N. W. Rep. 154. In addition to the long...