Little v. Sterne

• Decision Date: 17 April 1900
• Citation: 125 Ala. 609,27 So. 972
• Parties: LITTLE ET AL. v. STERNE ET AL.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

27 So. 972

125 Ala. 609

LITTLE ET AL. v. STERNE ET AL.

Supreme Court of Alabama

April 17, 1900

Appeal from chancery court, Marengo county; Thomas H. Smith Chancellor.

Bill by Charles A. Sterne & Co. against G. Monroe Little and another to set aside a conveyance of realty. From a decree overruling defendants' demurrers to the complaint, they appeal. Reversed.

The bill in this case was filed by the appellees, Charles A Sterne & Co., a partnership composed of Charles A. Sterne and Abe Kraus, against the appellants, G. Monroe Little and A. C Little, his wife. It was averred in the bill that in August 1891, the complainants sold goods to a mercantile firm Jackson & Little, which was composed of George S. Jackson and the defendant G. Monroe Little; that, upon said Jackson &amp Little's repeated refusal to pay said debt, the complainants, on August 22, 1893, instituted a suit in the circuit court of Monroe county against the said George S. Jackson and G. Monroe Little, as partners, and on September 28, 1893, judgment was rendered in favor of the complainants against said Jackson & Little; that execution was issued on said judgment, and had been returned, "No property found." It was then averred in the bill as follows: "That prior to and up to the said 9th day of January, 1893, the said G. Monroe Little owned and was in possession of the following tract of land, situated in the county of Marengo, state of Alabama, to wit: N.W. 1/4 of S.E. 1/4, E. 1/2 of N.E. 1/4, N.E. 1/4 of S.W. 1/4, N.W. 1/4 of N.E. 1/4, S.E. 1/4 of N.W. 1/4, S.W. 1/4 of N.E. 1/4, E. 1/2 of S.E. 1/4, and S.W. 1/4 of S.E. 1/4, of Sec. 22; S.W. 1/4 of S.W. 1/4, 3 1/2 acres in N.W. 1/4 of S.W. 1/4, and 6 acres off the S.E. 1/4 of the S.W. 1/4, of Sec. 14; E. 1/2 of S.E. 1/4 of Sec. 15,-lying south of Beaver creek, containing 70 acres, all in T. 14, R. 2 E. (except the following lands heretofore deeded to W. F. Johnson, to wit: E. 1/2 of S.E. 1/4, S.W. 1/4 of S.E. 1/4, of Sec. 22, and that part lying north of Shiloh and Mann's Ferry road, and that part lying west of settlement road leading from Mann's Ferry road to the Central road near Sweet Water, and three acres off of the N.W. 1/4 of S.W. 1/4 of Sec. 22, T. 14, R. 2 E.); which tract of land your orators aver was subject to levy and sale under execution for the payment of orators' said debt, due to them by said G. Monroe Little and George S. Jackson, partners as aforesaid." Continuing, the bill then averred "that on the 9th day of January, 1893, the said G. Monroe Little executed an instrument in writing, which by its terms conveys to the said A. C. Little the said tract of land hereinbefore described; that said instrument purports to be signed at its foot by the said G. Monroe Little, and recites as a consideration the sum of $800. Orators aver that at the time of the execution of the aforesaid conveyance the said A. C. Little was the wife of the said G. Monroe Little; that the said tract of land conveyed to the said A. C. Little by the said G. Monroe Little was substantially all of his property which was subject to levy and sale under execution for the payment of his debts, and that he has now no property subject to levy and sale under execution sufficient to satisfy orators' claim. And your orators further aver that, at the time of the said conveyance from the said G. Monroe Little to the said A. C. Little, your orators' said suit was then about to be brought in the said circuit court against the said G. Monroe Little, and was about to come to trial and to judgment against the said G. Monroe Little; that said suit did come to trial, and a judgment was rendered against the said G. Monroe Little on the 28th day of September, 1893, for the sum of $591.58, and $11.40 costs of suit; and orators further aver that the said conveyance from the said G. Monroe Little to the said A. C. Little was purely voluntary; that the alleged consideration of $800 was wholly simulate and fictitious; that said A. C. Little had very little, if any, property, at the time of the execution of said deed to her, or at the time of her said marriage to the said G. Monroe Little, or at any time between the time of her said marriage and the time said deed was executed to her. Orators aver that, if in fact there was a consideration as recited in said deed, it was wholly inadequate, and greatly less than the real value of said tract of land; and orators aver and charge that the said conveyance was made by the said G. Monroe Little with the intent to hinder, delay, and defraud the creditors of the said G. Monroe Little, and particularly your orators, and was accepted by the said A. C. Little with the intent to hinder, delay, or defraud the creditors of the said G. Monroe Little, and particularly your orators." The prayer of the bill was that a decree be rendered setting aside and annulling the said conveyance from G. Monroe Little to his wife, A. C. Little, to the real estate described in the bill, and declaring said conveyance as to the indebtedness due the complainants null and void, and that the property attempted to be conveyed therein be subjected to the payment of the complainants' debt. To the bill as a whole the defendants demurred upon the following grounds: "(1) Said bill fails to show that G. M. Little ever executed any conveyance of the lands therein described to A. C. Little which would be sufficient under the laws of Alabama to pass title thereto; (2) said bill fails to show that the execution of said alleged fraudulent conveyance by G....