Greenberg v. Greenberg.

• Court: Maine Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: STURGIS, Chief Justice.
• Citation: Greenberg v. Greenberg., 141 Me. 320, 43 A.2d 841 (Me. 1945)
• Decision Date: 13 September 1945
• Parties: GREENBERG v. GREENBERG.

43 A.2d 841

GREENBERG

v.GREENBERG.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Sept. 13, 1945

Appeal from Superior Court, Cumberland County.

Bill in equity by Anna Greenberg against Morris Greenberg to recover from defendant one-half of the rentals and proceeds of the sales of properties which the parties had owned jointly during coverture. From a decree sustaining the bill and allowing recovery in accordance with the prayers, the defendant appeals.

Appeal sustained, and case remanded for entry of decree in accordance with opinion.

Raymond S. Oakes and Israel Bernstein, both of Portland, for plaintiff.

Robert W. DeWolfe and Francis W. Sullivan, both of Portland, for defendant.

Before STURGIS, C. J., and HUDSON, MANSER, MURCHIE, and CHAPMAN, JJ.

STURGIS, Chief Justice.

This is a bill in equity by a wife to recover from her husband one-half of the rentals and proceeds of the sales of properties which they owned jointly during coverture. The case comes forward on appeal from a decree sustaining the bill and allowing recovery in accordance with the prayers.

It is conceded, or at least not controverted, that on February 11, 1942, the defendant Morris Greenberg having purchased with his own money a property located at 98-102 Middle Street in Portland, Maine, and by express directions caused the conveyance to be made to himself and his wife, the plaintiff Anna Greenberg, as joint tenants, collected the rents accruing until September 30, 1942 following when by mutual consent they sold the property, the vendees paying the husband $2000 in money, and giving him a note and mortgage for $4000 payable to the vendors jointly with interest at four per cent but in installments over a period of five years. Then on April 28, 1943, using with his own moneys that which had been received from the sale of the Middle Street property, Morris Greenberg bought another property located at 241-249 Congress Street in Portland, caused this also to be conveyed to him and his wife as joint tenants, and received all the rents until August 31, 1943, when by agreement they sold the property. At this sale the purchaser paid the husband $4000 in money, clear of expenses, and gave a note and mortgage for $13,000 payable in semiannual installments with interest at five per cent, the mortgage running to the vendors jointly but the note, through error, being payable to the husband alone. All notes and mortgages received in these transactions are in the possession and under the control of the husband or his attorney.

In the court below the sitting Justice found that the defendant Morris Greenberg when he purchased the properties on Middle Street and Congress Street in Portland and caused the same to be conveyed to himself and his wife, as recited, made an absolute gift to his wife of a one-half interest therein in joint tenancy, and when sales were made she was entitled to share equally in the proceeds but rentals accruing during their ownership were given to the husband. It was also found that this man had appropriated not only all of the moneys received for these properties but substantial amounts which he has collected on the notes and mortgages given as part of the purchase prices and he now refuses to pay his wife any part of the proceeds of these sales. Upon these findings a decree was entered directing the defendant Morris Greenberg to pay the plaintiff Anna Greenberg one-half of the moneys he has received from the sales of their joint properties and one-half of all that he hereafter collects on the outstanding notes and mortgages, with interest from the filing of the bill on moneys then received and from the time of payment on the rest. In principle the decision below was clearly right.

For it is well settled that when land...