Rice v. Allen
| Decision Date | 27 June 1947 |
| Docket Number | No. 37.,37. |
| Citation | 318 Mich. 245,28 N.W.2d 91 |
| Parties | RICE et al. v. ALLEN et al. |
| Court | Michigan Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE Appeal from Circuit Court, Calhoun County, in Chancery; Blaine W. Hatch, Judge.
Suit by June Allen Rice and another against Charles E. Allen and others to impose a constructive trust on certain property. From a decree in favor of complainants, the defendant Claude B. Allen appeals.
Reversed and rendered.
Before the Entire Bench.
Chas. H. Lockwood, of Battle Creek (Wagner, Wagner & Wagner, of Battle Creek, of counsel), for appellant Claude B. Allen.
Mustard, McAuliffe, Hatch & Claggett, of Battle Creek, for appellees.
Agnes L. Allen died on October 20, 1942, leaving as her heirs at law a son and daughter, defendants Claude B. Allen and Beulah Hudson, and four grandchildren, plaintiffs June Allen Rice, Evelyn Allen Brenner, and defendants Charles E. Allen and Claude B. Allen, II.
Agnes L. Allen, during her lifetime, owned and occupied a modest home in Battle Creek, on which a bank held a small mortgage with a balance due thereon of $112.34. Preceding her death and while she was a patient in a convalescent home operated by Dr. M. L. Riemann, Charles H. Lockwood, an attorney, was called for the purpose of advising Mrs. Allen as to the disposition of her property. Lockwood drafted a deed conveying the property to Mrs. Allen's son, defendant Claude B. Allen, with a reservation of a life estate therein. Claude was not present at the time the deed was executed. He later testified that the first knowledge he had of the deed was when he received it by mail at Cleveland, Ohio, where he was then living. He stated that he had a conversation with plaintiffs relative to the real and personal property of his mother shortly after her death; that he told them, in answer to their inquiry as to when they would get their share of the property, that they would get it when ‘everything was properly taken care of.’ He admitted other conversations in which he stated that each heir would get his share. He also testified as follows:
After Mrs. Allen's death, a letter, in her own handwriting, was found among her papers. It was dated April 12, 1940, several years prior to the execution of the deed. It reads:
‘My dear children:
This is what I wish you all to do after I am gone; first Claude is to receive five hundred $500 dollars more than the rest of you as he has given me so much, then you all are to help with may funeral expenses, then after the balance of Charlie's funeral expenses are paid his children are to receive their share, but the funeral expenses for Charlie are to come all out of their (his childrens') share.
With love from your Mother.'
After his mother's death, defendant Allen collected some insurance money, which was applied on the funeral bill. Out of the rentals of the home he paid other debts of the deceased, and also taxes on the property. In 1944 he mortgaged the property for $2,750, which mortgage has since been paid.
The testimony shows that the real estate has a value of $5300 and the personal property of $275.
Plaintiffs contend that the deed in question was obtained by fraud and misrepresentation, in reliance upon Claude's promise to pay his mother's debts and divide the residue in accordance with her wishes. Plaintiffs also claim that Mrs. Allen was advised by Lockwood that it would be less expensive to convey her property by deed, reserving a life estate therein, rather than to execute a will.
A bill of complaint was filed on November 22, 1944, seeking to impose a constructive trust on the property. The court, after hearing the parties and discussing the applicable law at length, found that defendant Claude B. Allen held legal title as trustee for the uses and purposes set forth in his mother's letter. He was ordered to sell the property and, after deducting from the proceeds all of the decedent's debts, to distribute the balance to her heirs at law in accordance with her wishes.
Defendant Claude B. Allen has appealed from a decree entered in conformity with the trial court's opinion.
In Morris v. Vyse, 154 Mich. 253, 117 N.W. 639, 641,129 Am.St.Rep. 472, the Court quoted with approval the following from 3 Pomeroy on Equity Jurisprudence, 3d Ed. § 1053: ...
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Bruso v. Pinquet
...All this she manifestly did under the prompting and influence of defendants. They were equally parties to the fraud. In Rice v. Allen, 318 Mich. 245, 28 N.W.2d 91, 93, and in Morris v. Vyse, 154 Mich. 253, 117 N.W. 639,129 Am.St.Rep. 472, we quoted with approval from 3 Pomeroy on Equity Jur......