Teuscher v. Gragg
| Decision Date | 23 April 1929 |
| Docket Number | Case Number: 19337 |
| Citation | 276 P. 753,1929 OK 186,136 Okla. 129 |
| Parties | TEUSCHER et al. v. GRAGG. |
| Court | Oklahoma Supreme Court |
¶0 1. Trusts--Constructive Trust--One Acquiring Legal Title to Property to Which Another Has Better Right.
The principle is well settled that where one party has acquired the legal title to property to which another has the better right, a court of equity will convert him into a trustee of the true owner and compel him to convey the legal title.
2. Same--Holder of Legal Title Charged as Trustee.
The holder of the legal title to lands will, in equity, be charged as trustee where it was acquired by fraud or under such circumstances as to render it inequitable for him to retain.
3. Same--Parol Promise to Hold in Trust Devised Property not Within Statute of Frauds.
Where a devise is made to one upon his parol promise to hold it in trust for another, a trust arises, and the statute of frauds is not allowed as a defense. Brison v. Brison, 75 Cal. 525, 17 P. 689, and Easley v. Easley, 117 Okla. 227 at 229, 245 P. 831.
4. Same--Burden of Proof to Establish Constructive Trust--Parol Evidence.
A constructive trust may be established by parol evidence, but the law for the safety of titles requires that the proof should be of the most satisfactory kind. The onus of establishing a constructive trust rests upon him who seeks its enforcement, and before a court of equity will be warranted in making a decree therefor, the evidence must be clear, unequivocal, and decisive. Boles v. Akers, 116 Okla. 266, 244 P. 182.
5. Same--Agreement by Legatee to Convey Interest in Land to Brother According to Wishes of Testatrix Held Enforceable.
Where it fully appears that during the lifetime of the mother and for a long time prior to her death and prior to the making of her will, the matter of the disposition of her property was under consideration; that it was fully and frequently discussed between the mother and her children; that it was the intention and understanding that a certain tract of land belonging to the mother's estate should be devised by the mother's will to a daughter; that one-half of said land should be held in trust by the devisee for her brother; that the devisee accepted said trust and agreed to convey one-half interest in said land to the brother upon his request, and after the death of the mother the devisee refuses to convey or carry out her promise, held, a court of equity will impress a constructive trust on the property thus acquired in favor of the one who is equitably entitled to the same and require the legatee to act in accordance with the wishes and instructions of the testatrix and her own promise, and compel the legatee to convey to her brother his interest in the land.
6. Equity--Maxims--"Clean Hands."
The maxim that one who comes into equity must come with clean hands is based on conscience and good faith. The maxim is confined to misconduct in regard to, or at all events in connection with, the matter in litigation, so that it in some way affects the equitable relations subsisting between the two parties and arising out of the same transaction. "Clean hands" means a clean record with respect to the transaction with defendant, and not with respect to any third person. Canfield v. Jack, 78 Okla. 127, 188 P. 1040.
Error from District Court, Logan County; Charles C. Smith, Judge.
Action by Walter S. Gragg against Estella Teuscher and Frank Teuscher, to establish against the principal defendant, Estella Teuscher, and her husband, Frank Teuscher, a constructive trust in certain land, in favor of plaintiff. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendants appeal. Affirmed.
John Adams, for plaintiffs in error.
Bierer & Bierer, for defendant in error.
¶1 This is an action by Walter S. Gragg, plaintiff below, defendant in error, against Estella Teuscher and Frank Teuscher, defendants below, plaintiffs in error, in the district court of Logan county, Okla., wherein plaintiff prays the court, sitting as a court of equity, to decree and establish against the principal defendant, Estella Teuscher, and her husband, Frank Teuscher, a constructive trust in a quarter section of land in Logan county, Okla., to wit: The southwest quarter (S.W. 1/4) of section twenty-nine (29), township eighteen (18) north, of range four (4) west of the Indian meridian.
¶2 For convenience the parties will be referred to as they appeared in the court below.
¶3 The plaintiff, Walter S. Gragg, and defendant Estella Teuscher are brother and sister; son and daughter, respectively, of Loueasa Gragg, who departed this life December 16, 1925, and Samuel T. Gragg, who died March 25, 1924. There are three other children, sisters of plaintiff and defendant, who do not claim any interest in the land in dispute.
¶4 Loueasa Gragg, the mother of plaintiff and defendant, at the date of her death was the owner of two quarter sections of land consisting of 320 acres; only one quarter section of land, however, is involved in this suit. The mother left a will by the terms of which she devised the land involved in this action to the defendant Estella Teuscher, then Estella Gragg, and the other quarter section of land to the sisters of plaintiff and defendant.
¶5 Plaintiff obtained judgment against the defendant in the trial court. Defendants, plaintiffs in error, pray a reversal of said judgment.
¶6 Plaintiff alleges that his mother, Loueasa Gragg, was the owner of 160 acres of land in Logan county, Okla., during her lifetime, subject to a mortgage and oil lease on said land; that on November 28, 1925, she made a will; that on the day said will was executed, November 28, 1925, and many times prior thereto, it was then and there agreed between the said Loueasa Gragg and this plaintiff and the defendant Estella Teuscher, who was at that time a maiden and single woman, that their mother should make her will and devise said quarter section of land, subject to the incumbrance thereon, to Estella M. Gragg, and that in consideration thereof the said Estella M. Gragg would receive and hold the legal title to said land for the mutual benefit of herself and this plaintiff, share and share alike, and should convey to this plaintiff, upon his request, the undivided one-half interest in and to said land.
¶7 Plaintiff alleges that he is now and for a long time past has been in actual, open, notorious, and peaceable possession of an undivided one-half interest in said quarter section of land as his homestead.
¶8 Plaintiff alleges that the family relations and family feeling existing between the said Loueasa Gragg and this plaintiff and the defendant Estella M. Gragg were such that Loueasa Gragg and this plaintiff reposed full and explicit confidence, faith, and trust in the defendant.
¶9 Plaintiff further says that the said Estella M. Gragg, now Estella Teuscher, duly agreed and assented to the agreement above set forth and agreed to hold the one-half interest in said tract of land as above stated for the use and benefit of this plaintiff.
¶10 The plaintiff further alleges that the said Loueasa Gragg died December 16, 1925, and that on the 4th day of March, 1926, this plaintiff, as one of the heirs of the said Loueasa Gragg, promptly presented said will of Loueasa Gragg to the county court of Logan county for probate, and relying upon the arrangement made between the said Loueasa Gragg, ancestor, and the defendant Estella M. Gragg and this plaintiff for the full protection of the interest of this plaintiff in the estate of their mother, the said will was duly admitted to probate.
¶11 The plaintiff alleges that he has performed all of the said contract and arrangement on his part and remains in possession of said tract of land as a joint holder thereof, and claims his homestead right in the said land under his ownership of the one-half interest thereof.
¶12 Plaintiff further alleges that in violation of the duty of the defendant Estella Teuscher to carry out and perform the said agreement, arrangement, and obligation, she wrongfully and fraudulently refuses to recognize the one-half interest of this plaintiff therein or to convey the same to this plaintiff. Wherefore, this plaintiff is entitled to the aid and intervention of a court of equity to protect his right by impressing the legal title held by the plaintiff with a constructive trust to force her to perform the obligation assumed in the aforesaid agreement and arrangement.
¶13 The defendant Estella Teuscher, in her separate answer to plaintiff's petition, says:
This defendant admits that she is a sister of the plaintiff and that their mother, Loueasa Gragg, departed this life, testate, on the 16th day of December, 1925, leaving a last will and testament dated November 28, 1925, which was duly probated in the county court of Logan county, Okla. This defendant also admits that the plaintiff, Walter S. Gragg, was executor named in said will, and that said plaintiff accepted said trust and duly probated said will and said cause was duly closed by formal discharge of said plaintiff as such executor.
¶14 This defendant further admits that under the terms and provisions of said last will and the decree of said court which followed the provisions of said will, the southwest quarter of section 29, township 18 north, of range 4 west of the Indian meridian, in Logan county, Okla., was devised to this defendant in fee simple subject to a first mortgage thereon in the sum of $ 2,500 and a second mortgage thereon in the sum of $ 250.
¶15 This defendant also admits that Exhibit "A" attached to plaintiff's petition is a true and correct copy of the last will and testament of the said Loueasa Gragg.
¶16 This defendant specifically denies that there was any trust agreement, or talk, or agreement between this defendant and plaintiff and their mother, Loueasa Gragg, now deceased. But this defendant alleges that the terms and provisions of said last will were the true intent and purpose of the...
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