Taylor v. Eatman

• Decision Date: 28 February 1885
• Citation: 92 N.C. 601
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court
• Parties: S. A. TAYLOR et als. v. A. J. EATMAN, et als.

92 N.C. 601

S. A. TAYLOR et als.

v.A. J. EATMAN, et als.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

February Term, 1885.

CIVIL ACTION, to recover land, tried before Shepherd, Judge, at Spring Term, 1884, of WILSON Superior Court. His Honor gave judgment for the plaintiff upon the facts agreed, and the defendant appealed.

Messrs. Connor & Woodard, for the plaintiff .

Mr. G. V. Strong, for the defendants .

ASHE, J.

The parties submit the questions arising on the pleadings upon the following case agreed:

1. For a long time previous to the 5th day of March, 1873, Hayman Eatman was seized of a tract of land in Wilson county containing four hundred and fifty acres more or less.

2. That on the said 5th day of March, 1873, the said Hayman Eatman, for the consideration set out in the deed (the love and affection for his wife Chacey Eatman, and for better sustenance, to live comfortably and be better cared for in her affliction, and the further sum of one hundred dollars in hand paid), executed to his wife Chacey Eatman, without words of inheritance, a deed conveying to her one hundred and fifty-six acres of said land embracing nearly all of the arable lands, and all of the appurtenances thereto belonging, to dispose of at her death as she may think proper, by deed or will, to whomsoever she chooses to make her heirs of her estate.

3. The said Chacey Eatman, on the 26th of April, 1873, made her will, devising said 156 acres to the said Hayman Eatman for life, and then to the plaintiffs.

4. The said Chacey Eatman died in August, 1873, and said Hayman Eatman died June 19th, 1883.

5. That at the time of the execution of the said deed by Hayman Eatman to said Chacey Eatman he had no children by the said Chacey Eatman, but had nine children by a former marriage.

6. At Spring Term, 1867, of the Superior Court of Wilson county, a judgment was rendered in favor of George C. Short against the said Hayman Eatman for the sum of seventy-five dollars, with interest from the 1st of September, 1857, and for costs, $10.75, which was duly docketed in said county on the ...... day of .............. 18..., which said judgment was taken up by the defendant Alsey J. Eatman on the 22nd of January, 1879.

7. At the time of the execution of said deed by Hayman Eatman to Chacey Eatman, there was a mortgage on the said tract of 450 acres, executed by said Hayman Eatman to secure the sum of three hundred and fifty dollars, which the said A. J. Eatman took up.

8. On the 30th of January, 1875, the said Hayman Eatman executed a mortgage on the said 450 acres to Rountree, Baker & Co., to secure the payment of $266.62 with interest from said date at 8 per cent. On the 26th of February, 1875, the said Hayman Eatman executed a mortgage to Branch & Co., on the said 450 acres, to secure a note of $262.62, payable to Rountree, Baker & Co., and by them transferred to Branch & Co., being the same debt above set forth, and to secure the further sum of $48.90 due to said Branch & Co., and the sum of $50 due to R. G. Barham, the last two sums carrying interest from said 26th of February, 1875, at 8 per cent., which said mortgages were taken up by the said Alsey J. Eatman.

9. That on the 20th day of November, 1875, the said Hayman Eatman executed to the said Alsey J. Eatman a mortgage on the said 450 acres of land to secure the sum of nine hundred dollars with interest, which constituted all of his indebtedness to A. J. Eatman, from said date at 8 per cent.

10. On the 28th of March, 1879, the said Hayman Eatman conveyed to the defendant Alsey J. Eatman in fee simple the whole of said tract of 450 acres for the consideration of one thousand dollars, being a release of his equity of redemption in said land. That at the time of the execution of the mortgage and the deed of the 28th of March, 1879, the 300 acres reserved by Hayman Eatman was worth more than his indebtedness.

11. That at the time of the aforesaid deed by Hayman Eatman to Chacey Eatman, his wife, the balance of said tract of land not conveyed to said Chacey was worth more than his then indebtedness.

12. That said Hayman Eatman owned no other property than the 450 acres of land aforesaid, except some personal estate of small value.

If the Court shall be of opinion upon the foregoing facts that the plaintiffs are entitled to recover the said land, to-wit: the 156 acres conveyed as aforesaid to Chacey Eatman, judgment shall be rendered for the possession thereof in favor of the plaintiffs, and for costs against the defendant. If the Court shall be of opinion in favor of the defendant, judgment shall be rendered accordingly and for costs.

The defendant A. J. Eatman resisted the plaintiffs' recovery on the following grounds:

1. That the deed of March 5th, 1873, from Hayman Eatman to his wife, was void.

2. That the deed will not be sustained in equity, because there is no valuable consideration to support it, and it is fraudulent as to creditors and purchasers.

3. The will is not a good execution of the power, because it does not refer to it, or profess to be made pursuant to it.

If this was an action purely at law, there can be no doubt the deed made by Hayman Eatman to his wife, Chacey Eatman, would, as contended by the defendant, be void. But the action is in a court of blended law and equity jurisdiction, and although the deed may be void at law it still may be sustained in equity, especially so when it is made upon a meritorious consideration, and such must be regarded as the consideration in the deed from Hayman Eatman to his wife. It declares the consideration to be “for the love and affection, for her better sustenance, to live comfortably and to be cared for in her affliction, and the further sum of one hundred dollars in advance or to me in hand paid.” The consideration is not only meritorious, but valuable, and it is such a consideration as a court of equity will sustain.

In Liles v. Fleming, 1 Dev. Eq., 185, it was held that a post nuptial agreement made upon sufficient consideration between husband and wife, will be enforced in equity, and in the case of Elliott v. Elliott, 1 D. & B. Eq., 57, Chief Justice Ruffin, speaking for the court, said, “as the contract is void at law, the case in this court must always be that of an application to aid a defective conveyance. The wife cannot have that assistance unless she shows herself to be meritorious; and shows further a clear intention, that what was done should have the effect of divesting the interest of the husband, and of creating a separate estate for her, which she should have the immediate power to dispose of as she chose; and the estate thus intended for her, was but a reasonable provision.” The very terms in which the consideration in this deed are couched, shows that the husband considered her meritorious, and the fact that he acknowledged the execution of the deed with the view to its registration, shows the clear intention of divesting his title and creating a separate estate in her.

In Indiana it is held that whenever a contract would be good at law if made by a husband with trustees for his wife, that contract will be sustained in equity when made by the husband and wife without the intervention of trustees. Sims v. Rickets, 35 Black. Rep., (Ind.) 181. In Hunt v. Johnson, 44 N. Y., 27, it is held: “The duty of maintainance which the husband owes to his wife, is sufficient consideration for a voluntary deed of land made by him to her, and a court of equity will sustain such a conveyance, though void at law;” and in Sheppard v. Sheppard, 7 John., ch. 57, where the consideration of the deed was for natural affection and to make sure maintainance for the wife of the donor, the consideration was held to be very meritorious, and the deed on that ground sustained.

These authorities dispose of the question as to the validity of the deed made by Hayman Eatman to his wife, as conveying to her an equitable interest in the land described in the deed--unless it be void against creditors and subsequent purchasers, as contended by the defendants. It is admitted that at the date of that deed, and the deed made by Hayman Eatman to the defendants of date 20th November, 1879, the three hundred acres was worth more than his indebtedness. It was not pretended that the deed to Chacey Eatman was made with a fraudulent intent--and conceding it to have been only a voluntary deed, it is not void as against creditors, if the donor retained at the time property sufficient...