OPINION
Dailey, J.
This
was a suit brought by appellants, Anna Snyder, George Snyder,
and Lillie S. Keefer, against the appellees, William L.
Jetton, Thomas J. Jetton, and Lydia A. Jetton, in the St.
Joseph Circuit Court on the 27th day of December, 1887, to
set aside the conveyance of real estate described in the
complaint, made by the appellees, Thomas J. and Lydia A.
Jetton, to their co-appellee, William L. Jetton, who is the
father of said Thomas.
The
complaint, which is in one paragraph, shows that the
appellants are the owners of an unpaid judgment against the
appellee, Thomas J. Jetton, and alleges that the conveyance
was made with the intention, participated in by all the
appellees, of cheating, hindering and delaying the creditors
of said Thomas.
The averments of the complaint are full and direct
to the point, that at the time of the conveyance complained
of, Thomas J. Jetton was wholly insolvent, and had no other
property subject to execution; also that his insolvency
continued until the filing of the complaint. The facts of the
case are briefly as follows:
On the
14th day of October, 1885, Thomas J. Jetton unlawfully killed
William Snyder, the husband of Anna Snyder, and the father of
the other two appellants. At the time of the homicide,
appellee Thomas J. Jetton held the legal title to the land
described in the complaint. On the 17th day of November
following, Thomas J. Jetton and his wife joined in the
conveyance of the real estate to his father, William L.
Jetton. On the 19th day of October, 1886, appellant, Anna
Snyder, as administratrix of the estate of William Snyder,
deceased, recovered a judgment against Thomas J. Jetton, in
the St. Joseph Circuit Court, in the sum of five thousand
dollars damages for the unlawful killing of said William
Snyder. Execution was issued upon said judgment; and no
property found. Subsequent to the recovery of said judgment,
and prior to the filing of the complaint herein, said
administratrix made her final report to the St. Joseph
Circuit Court and was discharged; and said judgment is in
full force and unappealed from.
The
case was put at issue by an answer in general denial. On the
23d day of March, 1888, the cause was submitted to the court
for trial without the intervention of a jury, and the
evidence was heard. On the 14th day of January, 1889, the
court rendered special findings of fact and stated its
conclusion of law thereon as follows: "That on the 22d
day of October, 1879, William L. Jetton, being owner of the
following described land, to wit: The north half (1/2) of the
southeast quarter (1/4), and the southwest quarter of the
northeast quarter, and the southeast quarter
of the
southwest quarter of section twenty-three, in township
thirty-eight north, of range three east, consisting of 160
acres of land situated in St. Joseph county, in the State of
Indiana, executed and delivered to Thomas J. Jetton, a deed
of conveyance, in which the wife of said William L. Jetton
joined as a grantor conveying said land to said Thomas J.
Jetton in consideration of the sum of $ 8,000; that the said
Thomas J. Jetton was a son of the said William L. Jetton and
wife, and the said William L. Jetton then had one other
child, a daughter, who is still living; that at the time of
the making of said deed the said Thomas J. Jetton did execute
and deliver to said William L. Jetton and wife a life lease,
conveying to said William L. Jetton and Sarah J., his wife,
who is still living, all of said land to be held by them
during the life of said William L. Jetton and Sarah J.
Jetton, and during the life of the survivor of them, and that
it was further agreed that the said Thomas J. Jetton should
pay all the taxes on said land and keep the buildings thereon
insured, and pay to the said William L. Jetton and wife, and
to the survivor of either of them, during the life of said
survivor, the sum of $ 300 a year; it being further provided
in said lease that if the said William L. Jetton and wife
should at any time take possession of said land under and by
virtue of said life lease, then said annual payment of $ 300
should cease; that it was further agreed between said William
L. Jetton and the said Thomas J. Jetton that whenever
requested thereto by the said William L. Jetton the said
Thomas J. Jetton should pay to said William L. Jetton, the
said sum of $ 8,000. And it was further agreed that in the
event that said William L. Jetton should not demand payment
of said sum of money, and should die, and the sister of said
Thomas J. Jetton should be living, then the said Thomas J.
Jetton should pay to said sister so much money
as would give to her one-half of the total estate of said
William L. Jetton; that on the 14th day of October, 1885,
Thomas J. Jetton unlawfully killed William Snyder, and that
the said William Snyder, then dying, left surviving him the
following heirs, to wit: Anna Snyder, his widow, and two
children named respectively George S. Snyder and Lillie S.
Snyder; that said Anna Snyder was afterwards appointed
administratrix of the estate of said William Snyder, and
afterwards commenced an action in the St. Joseph Circuit
Court against the said Thomas J. Jetton, claiming that, as
said administratrix, she was entitled to recover damages of
him by reason of the unlawful killing of said William Snyder,
and on the 19th day of October, 1886, by the judgment of said
court, she recovered of the said Thomas J. Jetton the sum of
$ 5,000, together with her costs, assessed at the sum of $
36.45, none of which has been paid; that on the 17th day of
November, 1885, the said Thomas J. Jetton was indebted to his
father, William L. Jetton, in the sum of $ 8,000, and in the
further sum of $ 2,000, being moneys loaned by said William
L. Jetton to the said Thomas J. Jetton, with interest thereon
amounting to the sum of over $ 50, and in the further sum of
over $ 600 for rent of said land, together with interest
amounting to the sum of over $ 50, and that he was in debt to
divers parties in various sums of money, a list of which
indebtedness he then had; that the said Thomas J. Jetton then
proposed to his father, William L. Jetton, that if he, the
said William L. Jetton, would cancel said indebtedness, and
would pay certain debts which he then owed, a list of which
said parties then had before them, and would further pay the
costs and expenses of defending a criminal suit then pending
against the said Thomas J. Jetton in the St. Joseph Circuit
Court, in which the said Thomas J. Jetton was
charged with the crime of murder, he, the said Thomas J.
Jetton, would reconvey all of said land to the said William
L. Jetton, and that Lydia Jetton, who was the wife of said
Thomas J. Jetton, would join in the execution of said deed,
and that the object of the said Thomas J. Jetton was to
insure the payment to his father of the debts which were then
due him, and to insure to him a good defense of said criminal
prosecution, and at the same time it was agreed and
understood that in the event of the proposition being
accepted, the said William L. Jetton should have the personal
property of said Thomas J. Jetton; that said William L.
Jetton did accept said proposition, and in pursuance thereof
the said Thomas and Lydia did then, on said 17th day of
November, 1885, execute and deliver to the said William L.
Jetton a deed of conveyance, conveying to him all of said
land, and also sold and delivered to William L. Jetton
personal property amounting in value to $ 800; that said
William L. Jetton accepted the same in payment of said
indebtedness and in defraying the said other debts of Thomas
J. Jetton due to other persons, and in paying up and
defraying costs and expenses of said criminal prosecution,
and he did pay out the further sum of $ 1,357; that at the
date of said conveyance the value of said land, providing the
title had been clear, would have been $ 9,600, but taking
into consideration the fact that the title was encumbered by
said life lease, and by reason of the further fact that the
wife of said Thomas J. Jetton had an inchoate interest in
said land, it had no market value, and could not have been
sold for over $ 4,000; that at the time of the execution and
delivery of the deed the said William L. Jetton knew of the
killing of William Snyder by Thomas J. Jetton, but believed
the said Thomas J. Jetton was not guilty of any criminal or
unlawful act in said killing, and was innocent of having done any wrong in killing said William Snyder, but
believed he acted
in self-defense, and did not believe that the said Thomas J.
Jetton was in any way indebted to the estate of said William
Snyder, or was in any way civilly liable for any wrong done
to William Snyder, nor did he know or believe that the said
Thomas J. Jetton made said conveyance for the purpose of
cheating, hindering, defrauding or delaying any of his
creditors. And, as a conclusion of law from the foregoing
facts, I find that the plaintiff is not entitled to recover
in this action."
To this
conclusion of law, the appellants, at the time, excepted.
On the
same day, appellants filed their motion for a new trial,
which was overruled, to which ruling of the court appellants,
at the time, excepted.
On the
15th day of January, 1889, the court rendered final judgment
upon the conclusion of law stated.
The
errors assigned in this court are two in number:
First.
The court erred in stating its conclusion of law.
Second.
The court erred in overruling the ...
