Kidwell v. Kirkpatrick

• Decision Date: 31 October 1879
• Citation: 70 Mo. 214
• Parties: KIDWELL v. KIRKPATRICK et al., Appellants.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

70 Mo. 214

KIDWELL

v.KIRKPATRICK et al., Appellants.

Supreme Court of Missouri.

October Term, 1879.

Appeal from Oregon Circuit Court.--HON. J. B. WOODSIDE, Judge.

REVERSED.

Livingston & Green for appellants.

E. A. Seay and L. B. Woodside for respondent.

NORTON, J.

This is a proceeding in equity instituted in the circuit court of Oregon county to divest defendants of title to certain real estate in said county, and invest the same in plaintiff. The petition states that plaintiff is the widow of James F. Kidwell, who died in 1875, leaving defendants as his only heirs; that said Kidwell died seized of the legal title to said lands, but that the equitable title was in plaintiff. The claim of plaintiff to the equitable title is based upon the following allegations of the petition, viz: That during the marriage there came to plaintiff, as an inheritance, large sums of money and property, and that during the coverture, she acquired property and money by her own frugality and industry, and by the consent of her husband; that in order that they, herself and her husband, might acquire title to a home, she was induced to and did voluntarily designate and constitute her husband, James F. Kidwell, her agent to purchase lands, and for that purpose gave into his possession the money and property aforesaid, amounting to $1,000 in value; that said Kidwell purchased the lands aforesaid, with the money and property, but took title in his own name. The petition concludes with a prayer asking that defendants be divested, and that plaintiff be invested with the title to the land in dispute. Defendants filed demurrer to the petition, which was overruled, and declining to answer further, judgment was rendered granting the relief prayed for, and the propriety of this action of the court is the only question in the case.

1. HUSBAND AND WIFE: wife's personalty: invested in land in husband's name.

Whenever it clearly appears that the husband has received money or property belonging to the wife under an agreement to appropriate the same for the sole and separate use of the wife in the purchase of lands, and he makes the purchase and takes the title to himself, the wife will, in a court of equity, be held to be the equitable owner, and the husband regarded as a trustee holding the land for the benefit of the wife. Woodford v. Stephens, 51 Mo. 443; Tennison v. Tennison, 46 Mo. 77. The allegations contained in the petition do not bring plaintiff's case within the operation of the above...