Wickham v. The Traders State Bank

• Decision Date: 12 June 1915
• Docket Number: 19,296
• Parties: CELESTE WICKHAM, Appellee, v. THE TRADERS STATE BANK, Appellant
• Court: Kansas Supreme Court

149 P. 433

95 Kan. 657

CELESTE WICKHAM, Appellee, v. THE TRADERS STATE BANK, Appellant

No. 19,296

Supreme Court of Kansas

June 12, 1915

Decided. January, 1915.

Appeal from Saline district court; DALLAS GROVER, judge.

Judgment affirmed.

SYLLABUS

SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.

EXEMPTIONS -- Exempt Automobile -- Mortgaged by Husband Alone -- Mortgage Void -- Decree of Divorce -- Divorced Wife Entitled to the Car. A husband doing business in the name of a corporation mortgaged an automobile, asserting it to be the property of such corporation, and later absconded. His wife procured a decree of divorce and was awarded all his personal property within the jurisdiction of the court. She claimed the car under the decree and proved that it was exempt as a necessary implement for her husband's use in his business. Held, that having established the exempt quality of the property which she as wife took by the decree, she is not estopped or bound by the husband's representations as to the ownership of the car.

David Ritchie, C. A. Spencer, and J. A. Fleming, all of Salina, for the appellant.

Thomas L. Bond, of Salina, for the appellee.

OPINION

WEST, J.

The Traders State Bank made a loan of $ 8000, taking as security certain bills of lading and a chattel mortgage on an automobile, which mortgage was signed, "The Wickham Grain Co. By H. W. Wickham, President." Some months afterwards H. W. Wickham absconded, and it was learned that a number of the bills of lading were forgeries, and the bank took possession of the automobile under the mortgage and sold it. Later Mrs. Wickham sued the bank for conversion of the car, claiming it as the divorced wife of Wickham under a decree giving her all of his personal property within the jurisdiction of the court, and recovered. There was testimony tending to show that Wickham had done a large amount of business in the name of The Wickham Grain Company, for which company a charter was at one time procured, but it never perfected its organization. It appears that the automobile was bought before the charter was procured and the mortgage in question was not executed until more than one year after the issuance of the charter. (Gen. Stat. 1909, § 1729.) There was testimony tending to show that business transactions in the name of The Wickham Grain Company were really with Wickham himself, and that the car in question was so used by him in his business as to bring it within subdivision 8 of section 3649 of the General Statutes of 1909 as exempt. If it were exempt, then the mortgage without the act or consent of the wife was void. (Gen. Stat. 1909, § 5235.)

The chief contention of the defendant is that in view of the hundreds of thousands of dollars of business transacted with the bank in the name of The Wickham Grain Company, the listing of the automobile for taxation...