Peterson v. Boswell
| Decision Date | 13 March 1894 |
| Docket Number | 16,552 |
| Citation | 36 N.E. 845,137 Ind. 211 |
| Parties | Peterson v. Boswell et al |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
From the Tippecanoe Superior Court.
Judgment affirmed.
D. P Vinton and H. H. Vinton, for appellant.
A. L Kumler and T. F. Gaylord, for appellees.
In this case the superior court of Tippecanoe county sustained a demurrer to the complaint, and the appellant, failing to plead further the appellees had judgment for costs.
The only question in the case relates to the correctness of the ruling of the court in sustaining a demurrer to the complaint.
It is alleged, substantially, in the complaint, that on the 1st day of March, 1879, Mathias Peterson and Susan Peterson, then in life, were the father and mother of Ellen Peterson, the appellee, William Peterson, the appellant, and of Mary Peterson, residing in the city of La Fayette, as one family that their relations then were, and always had been, confidential and affectionate, each one feeling great confidence and trust in the other; that prior to that date the said Mathias and Susan had advanced to Mary her full share of their estate; that on that day Susan Peterson was the owner in fee of certain described real estate in the city of La Fayette, and that neither she nor the said Mathias owned any other real estate, nor did they own personal property exceeding in value three hundred dollars; that on said date the said Susan Peterson was seriously ill and did not, nor did any of her family, expect her to recover, and that all said children being present, and, realizing her critical condition, they talked over the condition of her property, and the rights of her children therein, and it was then and there orally agreed between them all that said Mary had received her full share of the estate, and that all the remainder of their mother's estate should go to, and be owned by, the said Ellen and William Peterson share and share alike, subject to the right of the mother to manage and use the same during her natural life; that it was further agreed, inasmuch as the said William Peterson was then only fifteen years of age and without legal capacity to manage his share of said estate, and to save costs of guardianship, that it would be better to vest the title in the whole of the real estate then owned by the said Susan Peterson in the said Ellen, she to have one undivided half thereof in fee, and that she should hold the other undivided one-half in trust and for the use and benefit of her brother, William Peterson, until such time as he should arrive at the age of twenty-one years, and then, at his request, she should, by proper deed, convey the same to him, which she then and there orally promised and agreed with her mother and father and the said William to do; that fully relying on said agreement and promise, and believing that she would convey the undivided one-half of said realty to the said William Peterson, on his request, when he should arrive at the age of twenty-one years, and upon no other consideration whatever, the said Mathias and Susan Peterson did, on the 1st day of March, 1879, convey said realty to the said Ellen Peterson by a deed of conveyance absolute on its face; that Susan Peterson departed this life on the 30th day of March, 1879, and Mathias Peterson died on the 14th day of May, 1879; that said Ellen Peterson afterward intermarried with her coappellee, Andrew Boswell, and after the death of her father and mother entered into the possession of said real estate, and has ever since occupied the...
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