Viers v. Viers

• Decision Date: 09 June 1903
• Citation: 75 S.W. 395,175 Mo. 444
• Parties: VIERS v. VIERS.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

75 S.W. 395

175 Mo. 444

VIERS v. VIERS.

Supreme Court of Missouri, Division No. 2.

June 9, 1903.

RESULTING TRUST — LAND PURCHASED BY HUSBAND AND CONVEYED TO WIFE— PRESUMPTIONS—EVIDENCE.

1. Where a husband purchases real property with his own funds, and causes it to be conveyed to his wife, and there is no intimation in the deed that it is to be held in trust for him, a prima facie case is made out that he intended the conveyance to be a provision or settlement for the wife, and not a resulting trust.

2. While this presumption may be overcome by parol testimony, it must be clear, strong, unequivocal, and so definite and positive as to leave no room for doubt.

3. In an action by a husband against his wife to have a resulting trust declared in his favor to certain lands conveyed to her by absolute deeds, in none of which were words creating a trust or in any way restricting her title, plaintiff testified that he bought the land with his own means and had it deeded to defendant with the intention of making it his homestead. His son testified that the land was bought and placed in defendant's name, and paid for by plaintiff with his own money, for the express purpose of making it his future home. Defendant testified that the land was her father's old home, that she was one of his heirs, that the land was to be sold for delinquent taxes, and that it was bought for her by plaintiff partly with her own money and partly with money given her by plaintiff. Held not to warrant a decree for plaintiff.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Taney County; Jas. T. Neville, Judge.

Action by C. W. Viers against Lillie M. Viers. Judgment for defendant, and plaintiff appeals. Affirmed.

Groom & McConkey, for appellant. R. C. Ford, for respondent.

BURGESS, J.

The parties to this suit were at the time of the transactions mentioned in the petition, and also at the time of the trial, husband and wife. The purpose of the suit is to have a resulting trust declared in plaintiff's favor to certain lands described in the petition, and to set aside and for naught hold certain deeds—one from J. A. Weatherman, sheriff of Taney county, Mo., to Lillie M. Viers, dated November 1, 1895, and recorded November 1, 1895, in Book 1, at page 80, Taney County Records; also, one from Lillie M. Viers and C. W. Viers, her husband, to Madison B. Viers, dated May 2, 1898, and recorded June 4, 1898, in Book 11, at page 456; also, a deed from Madison B. Viers to Lillie M. Viers, dated May 5, 1898, and recorded September 26, 1898, in Book 11 at page 537, Taney County Records—and to invest title to said lands in the plaintiff. The answer is a general denial. The court below, after hearing the evidence, rendered judgment dismissing the plaintiff's bill and decreeing title to defendant. Plaintiff filed motion to set aside finding and for new trial, which motion was by the court overruled. Plaintiff appeals.

There is but little conflict with respect to the facts out of which this litigation grew; they being as alleged in the petition, with the exception of the purpose for which the land was purchased by plaintiff, and who furnished the purchase money.

Plaintiff testified in his own behalf as follows: "I live in Taney county, Mo. In 1891 I was married to the defendant, Lillie M. Viers, at Hannibal, Mo., which place was my home at that time. I was then in the employ of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company as locomotive engineer, and was receiving a salary of $115 per month. Up to the fall of 1895 I had saved up from my earnings, and had deposited in my own name in the Farmers' & Merchants' Bank of the city of Hannibal, the sum of $500, which amount I drew out of said bank some time during the latter part of October of that year, and brought the same with me to Forsythe, Mo., and deposited it in the Taney County Bank. On the 1st day of November, 1895, I purchased at sheriff's sale at Forsythe, Mo., the lands mentioned in this suit, for which I paid the sum of $118. I purchased the land for a home for myself, and caused the deed thereto to be made to my wife, Lillie M. Viers. In purchasing this land, and in having the sheriff execute the deed to my wife, Lillie M. Viers, it was not my purpose or intention to settle this property upon her for her sole use and benefit, nor as a provision for her; but I had the same deeded to her, in trust for my own use and benefit, for a home. I bought and paid for the land with my own individual money, earned and saved by me at railroad work. Lillie M. Viers, my wife, never at any time put a dollar of her separate money or means into the purchase or improvement of this land, or for the payment of the taxes. In all I have invested between $500 and $600 in the purchase of this land and in the payment of current and back taxes against it, and for attorney fees, attachment liens against the land, and traveling expenses from my home at Hannibal to Forsythe, Mo., in looking after it. In the summer of 1899 I left my wife in charge of my business in the city of Quincy, state of Illinois, where we resided together at that time, and I came to Taney county, Missouri, and moved and settled on this land. But before leaving Quincy I had arranged with my wife to remain there and close out our business, and sell the property I had left there in her charge, and which was worth something like $600, and then she was to come to me upon the farm here in Taney county, and bring the money, with which we were to stock the farm. She at one time sent me $10 from Quincy, and in a very short time after I left there she ceased to write or correspond with me, and finally, in the fall of 1899, she instituted divorce proceedings against me in Adams county, Ill., and wrote me that she never intended to live with me any more. The warranty deed from my wife and myself, made to Madison Viers and dated May 2, 1898, and the one from Madison Viers to Lillie M. Viers, dated May 5, 1898, both of which purported to convey the land involved in this suit, were made wholly without any consideration whatever, and there was not a cent of either money or property exchanged on account of either conveyance. I am now in the lawful possession of this land, am living upon it, and making it my home. My wife, Lillie M. Viers, who is the defendant in this case, refuses to live with me upon this land, and she also refuses to longer live with me as my wife."

W. M. Wade, a witness for plaintiff, testified as follows: "I am cashier of the Taney County Bank. Some time about the latter part of October, 1895, the plaintiff, C. W. Viers, deposited $500 in the Taney County Bank, and he drew the same out again about November 1, 1895. He purchased some land with it at a tax sale about that time. I know he bought the land, for I stood by him when he bid the land in. This money was deposited in the name of C. W. Viers."

Geo. L. Taylor, another witness for plaintiff, said: "In the year 1895 I had an extensive correspondence with the defendant regarding the tax suit then pending against this land. The defendant employed me to look after the same, and paid me $50 for my services. The defendant did not attend the tax sale, but Mr. Viers was present, and bid the land in under my supervision and instructions as attorney. Mr. Viers afterwards employed me to bring a suit in ejectment for the possession of this land, for which latter services I sued Mr. Viers and his wife by attachment in the circuit court of Taney county, Mo., and procured a judgment against both of them for $95."

The plaintiff then read from the deposition of Madison B. Viers, which was as follows, to wit: "Q. State your name, age, and place of residence. A. M. B. Viers; 28...