Mills v. Mills
| Decision Date | 17 September 1960 |
| Docket Number | Gen. No. 11331 |
| Citation | 169 N.E.2d 177,27 Ill.App.2d 50 |
| Parties | Arthur James MILLS, Virginia Marsh Gerace, Robert Mills Marsh, and Betty Jane Marsh, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Ethel Marie MILLS and Florence Mills Tripp and Cosmopolitan National Bank of Chicago, a Corporation, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
John A. Cook, Chicago, Krusemark & Bertani, Joliet, for appellants.
Dunn, Stefanich & McGarry, Joliet, for appellees.
This action is one to enforce a vendor's lien against a farm in Will County, Illinois, conveyed by Thomas O. Mills and Annie E. Mills to their son, Oscar L. Mills, on May 7, 1929. On the same date, the son signed a promissory note for the sum of $13,109.46 payable on demand to the order of Thomas O. Mills and Annie E. Mills, or survivor of either at California Bank, National City Branch, Los Angeles, California, with interest at the rate of seven percent per annum. The complaint to establish a vendor's lien on the farm was filed in the Circuit Court of Will County on September 21, 1953. It is alleged that the promissory note given by the son to his parents was in payment of the balance due on the purchase price of the farm. The suit was filed twenty-four years and four months after the date and maturity of the note which was payable on demand.
The case was referred to a Master In Chancery who heard sworn testimony of various witnesses. The Master made detailed findings of fact and found that more than twenty years had elapsed since the maturity of the note and that there was a presumption that the amount due on the note had been paid and that the presumption of payment had not been rebutted by the plaintiffs. The Master, therefore, concluded that the complaint should be dismissed. The Master over-ruled objections of the plaintiffs to his report, the objections were allowed to stand as exceptions and the exceptions were denied by theCircuit Court. The Circuit Court entered a decree in accordance with the conclusions of the Master In Chancery; found the equities with the defendants and dismissed the complaint of the plaintiffs for want of equity. From this decree plaintiffs appeal.
The appellants contend that the note was given for the equity of the parents in the farm and since there are no intervening interests the farm is subject to a vendor's lien for the payment of the note. Appellants also urge that the presumption of payment was rebutted by the evidence and that the action on the note was not barred by the Statute of Limitations.
The appellees' theory of this case is as follows: (1) The presumption of payment arose from the elapse of twenty-four years and four months between the due date of the obligation and the time of filing the action and that there was practically no evidence to rebut the presumption of payment. (2) That the refusal of the court to declare a vendor's lien on the property was within its discretion and is supported by the evidence. (3) That any right which plaintiffs might have had to a vendor's lien was lost by the long delay and inaction of the plaintiffs and their predecessors in interest. (4) That the enforcement of the claim asserted by plaintiffs is barred by the Statute of Limitations.
Thomas Mills and Annie E. Mills, prior to May 7, 1929, were the owners of a farm consisting of about 281 acres situated in the Town of Channahon, Will County Illinois. Sometime prior to that date they had given an option to purchase this farm to their son, Oscar L. Mills, which option ran to July 1, 1929, for a purchase price of $100 per acre payable in cash. The option indicates that it was deposited with Orlando R. Marsh, a son-in-law of the sellers and a brother-in-law of the buyer. It further indicates that if the option was not exercised, that the agreement was to be returned by Orlando R. Marsh to the sellers for cancellation. Thomas Oscar Mills and Annie E. Mills at the time of the execution of the option were living with their daughter, and son-in-law Erma and Orlando R. Marsh, in Wilmette, Illinois, and Oscar L. Mills was residing in California. Thomas Mills and Annie E. Mills by Warranty Deed dated May 7, 1929, conveyed the farm in question to Oscar L. Mills. The deed recited that the farm consisted of 281.3 acres, which was conveyed for a consideration of $100 and other valuable consideration, subject to a trust deed in the amount of $14,000 dated February 7, 1923. Oscar L. Mills took possession of the farm thereafter and continued in possession through himself or tenants until the date of his death in Los Angeles, California, in June, 1947. After the death of Oscar L. Mills, his widow, Ethel Marie Mills, and his daughter, Florence Mills Tripp, who became owners of the farm as his heirs continued in possession of the farm until April 28, 1955, when they conveyed it to the defendant, Cosmopolitan National Bank of Chicago, Trustee under a trust agreement dated April 28, 1955.
Thomas Mills and Annie E. Mills were the parents of three children, namely Oscar L. Mills, Arthur J. Mills and Erma A. Marsh, who was married to Orlando A. Marsh. Thomas Mills died in June, 1932 leaving surviving his widow, Annie E. Mills, and his three children, Oscar L. Mills, Arthur J. Mills and Erma A. Marsh. In 1934 Erma A. Marsh died leaving surviving, her husband, Orlando A. Marsh, and three children, Virginia Marsh, Betty Jane Marsh, and Robert Mills Marsh. Annie E. Mills died in Wilmette, Illinois, in 1938 leaving surviving as her heirs at law, Arthur J. Mills, Oscar L. Mills, her sons, and Virginia Marsh, Betty Jane Marsh and Robert Mills Marsh, her grandchildren. Orlando Marsh, Erma's husband, died in 1938 leaving him surviving the above named three children. Oscar L. Mills died in June, 1947, in Los Angeles, California, leaving surviving Ethel Marie Mills, his widow, and Florence Mills Tripp, his daughter, both defendants in this case.
At the time of the execution of the deed to the farm both Oscar L. Mills and Arthur J. Mills were residents of the State of California and Oscar L. Mills continued to be a resident of the State of California until the time of his death. Arthur J. Mills never returned to live in Illinois and is now a resident of the State of California. At the time of the execution of the deed the grantors were residing with their daughter and son-in-law, Erma and Orlando Marsh, in Wilmette, Illinois. Prior to the death of Thomas Mills, he and his wife had some financial means, but there was no evidence as to their exact worth. After the death of Thomas Mills, his estate was probated in Will County, Illinois, and the inventory filed therein discloses that his estate consisted solely of a $500 United States Liberty Bond. After his death Annie Mills, his widow, continued to reside with her daughter and son-in-law until the death of her daughter, Erma, in April, 1934. After her daughter's death, Annie Mills continued to reside with her son-in-law, Orlando Marsh, until he became ill and he and his family were unable to care for her as she was advanced in years and in ill health and needed nursing services. Annie Mills was taken to a nursing home about 1936 where she remained until her death in 1938.
During the time that Thomas O. Mills and Annie E. Mills resided at Orlando Marsh's home, their daughter, Erma, managed their financial affairs and saw to their personal needs. Thomas O. Mills then being about 79 years of age and Annie E Mills being about 77 years of age. After the death of Erma Marsh, Orlando Marsh continued to care for and look after the needs of his mother-in-law, Annie E. Mills, and during all of this time the parents were visited on several occasions by their sons, Arthur and Oscar.
Upon the death of Orlando Marsh, his three children, Virginia Marsh, Betty Jane Marsh and Robert Marsh, following the suggestion of their uncle, Oscar L. Mills, moved from their home in Wilmette, Illinois, to the home of Oscar L. Mills in California. When they moved, Virginia Marsh, who was later married to Joseph Gerace, took with her a metal strong box which had been the property of Thomas and Annie Mills and which had been kept by them in their room in the Marsh home. The room and box were accessible to both Erma and Orlando Marsh. Virginia Marsh casually examined the contents of the strong box about 1938 and when she came to California she mentioned this fact to Oscar L. Mills, who showed no interest in examining the contents of the box. Some two months later, Virginia and her brother and sister moved from the Oscar L. Mills home to an apartment of their own in the same city and until the time of Oscar L. Mills' death in 1947 saw him on several occasions. In 1952 their uncle, Arthur Mills, visited them and Virginia again mentioned the metal strong box to him and at that time they examined the contents of the box and among miscellaneous papers of the family, consisting of old letters, photographs and other papers; found the option agreement for the purchase of the farm and also found the promissory note payment of which is in dispute.
At no time from the date of the note until the date of its discovery in the metal strong box in 1952 did Arthur Mills, Virginia Marsh or any of the other plaintiffs have knowledge of the existence of the note. They never received any information from any member of the family of its existence or that there was any money owing by ...
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