Mills v. Mills

• Decision Date: 30 March 1894
• Docket Number: 1,910.
• Citation: 63 F. 511
• Parties: MILLS et al. (RIDER, Intervener) v. MILLS.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Oregon

63 F. 511

MILLS et al. (RIDER, Intervener) v. MILLS.

No. 1,910.

United States Circuit Court, D. Oregon.

March 30, 1894

Frank V. Drake, for plaintiffs.

N. B Knight, for defendant.

GILBERT Circuit Judge.

A rehearing was ordered in this case upon the question of law passed upon by the court in the former opinion, regarding the power of the defendant, Fred H. Mills, to deal with Warren Mills concerning the property belonging to an estate of which he was then the administrator. Upon reargument of that question, and consideration of the authorities presented by the respective parties, I am convinced that the views of the court upon that question, as contained in the original opinion, are correct. This is not the case of an administrator buying at his own sale, which is interdicted by the statute of Oregon. It is rather the case of a trustee purchasing from a cestui que trust the property which is the subject of the trust. In such a case the transaction would be upheld by the court, provided there was no advantage taken of the fiduciary relation, no fraud was practiced, and the consideration was adequate. It is claimed in this case, however, that the evidence shows the consideration to have been inadequate. The price which Fred H. Mills promised to pay Warren Mills for the personal property was $3,800. That was to cover the whole title to the personalty. Warren Mills claimed to be the owner of one undivided half of the personalty by virtue of his father's will. Shortly before the transaction by which he sold to Fred H. Mills, he had purchased the other half from J. B. Rider, who had owned the same jointly with Warren Mill's father. It is impossible to believe from the evidence that Warren Mills was not acquainted with the value of the property that he was selling to Fred H. Mills. He had seen the property; he had had it inventoried some time before; but the most significant fact is that he had purchased an undivided half from J. B. Rider, a man who had owned and been in possession of the property, and was aware of its value. In buying out the interest of J. B. Rider Warren Mills undoubtedly considered and discussed the value of the interest he was buying, and satisfied himself that the price he was paying was proportionate to that value. One witness, William M. Rider, testifies that the value was more than twice the price at which the property was sold to Fred H. Mills. In his petition for leave to...