Wolf v. Wolf

Decision Date09 June 1911
Citation131 N.W. 882,152 Iowa 121
PartiesWOLF v. WOLF.
CourtIowa Supreme Court

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Appeal from District Court, Butler County; J. F. Clyde, Judge.

The opinion states the case. Reversed.

F. B. Sheldon and N. W. Scovel, for appellant.

Courtright & Arbuckle, for appellee.

WEAVER, J.

On July 11, 1899, Aaron Wolf, of Stephenson county, Ill., died testate. By the terms of his will as originally made, after providing for his wife and the payment of legal claims and charges, he gave the residue of his estate to his nine children, Susan C. Best, Sarah A. Shuler, Annie R. Johnson, Harriet F. Goodrich, Maria A. Becker, Lydia S. Judson, Flora B. Rhodes, Charles C. Wolf, and William A. Wolf, share and share alike. Charles C. Wolf, a resident of Iowa, and Leonard Stoskopf, of Illinois, were named as executors of the will, and for the purposes of distribution were authorized to sell the real estate of which the testator died seised. By a codicil at a later date, an additional legacy was given to the wife, and with reference to the share of the testator's daughter Harriet F. Goodrich the following further provision was made: “Fourth. I hereby order and direct that upon any division of my estate or any part thereof, as directed in and by my said will, my executors shall pay the share and portion of my estate which is in and by said will devised to my said daughter Harriet F. Wolf Goodrich or to which she may be entitled out of my estate, upon any division thereof, during her lifetime, over to my son-in-law, Walter H. Rhodes, now of Lewistown, Fulton County, Illinois, and that he shall as Trustee for my said daughter, hold the same in trust for her, during her life time, and as such trustee keep the same invested at the highest rate of interest obtainable, compatible with safety and well secured by first mortgage on real estate, and pay the income therefrom arising to her from time to time as she may request for her support and maintenance during her natural life. At her death, if she dies, leaving no child or children born of her body, the principal of her share and portion and all interest remaining in the hands of said Trustee or his successor in trust, shall revert to my estate, and be divided among my remaining children as directed in and by said will, the descendants of any of my deceased children to receive their parents' share.” Somewhat similar provisions were also made with reference to the shares of Mrs. Shuler and Mrs. Becker. The will and codicil were admitted to probate. On September 6, 1901, the resident executor, Stoskopf, to whom the actual responsibility of administrating the estate had been left, made final report, showing full settlement thereof. This report was approved, and the executor discharged. Among the acts of the executor so reported and approved was the payment of the equal share of Harriet F. Goodrich in the residue of her father's estate into the hands of her trustee, Walter H. Rhodes. Thereafter, on March 1, 1907, Harriet F. Goodrich died, leaving no husband surviving her and no child or children born of her body. At that date the share or fund derived from the estate of Aaron Wolf and held in trust for her by Walter H. Rhodes amounted to $12,565.44. On the theory that such was his duty, Rhodes paid the fund over to the defendant herein, Charles C. Wolf, who, as we have already noted, was one of the executors of the will of Aaron Wolf. On August 21, 1909, this action was begun in equity by William A. Wolf, who, after citing the foregoing facts, proceeds to aver that, upon the death of Harriet F. Goodrich, the trust fund held for her by Rhodes, following the course prescribed by the will of Aaron Wolf, became the property in equal shares of the eight surviving children of Aaron Wolf, but that defendant upon demand of the plaintiff for his just and equal proportion thereof refuses to pay or account for the same. Upon these allegations an accounting is prayed, and that plaintiff recover from defendant his one-eighth part of said fund with interest from the date when the same came into defendant's possession. In answer to the demand, the defendant, after denying generally all allegations of the petition not admitted, alleges that on October 21, 1902, the plaintiff sold and assigned to the defendant all his remaining right, title, and interest in and to the estate of Aaron Wolf, deceased, said assignment having been made in writing in words and figures as follows: Beatrice Neb. October 21st, 1902. For value received, and in consideration of the sum of three thousand dollars, to be paid by C. C. Wolf, I hereby sell, assign, and transfer to C. C. Wolf all my remaining rights, title and interest in and to the estate of the late Aaron Wolf, deceased, consisting of real and personal property located in Illinois and Iowa, a portion of said estate having been disbursed heretofore. This transfer is also to operate as a receipt in full for my interests in said estate in full. Dated at Beatrice Neb., October 21st, 1902. William A. Wolf.” (Duly acknowledged.) By virtue of this instrument, defendant claims to have acquired whatever contingent or executory right, title, or interest the plaintiff may have had to share in the trust property or funds held by Rhodes, and that as against the plaintiff said property and funds were delivered by Rhodes to him in his own right, and plaintiff is not entitled to share therein. By way of replication to this plea the plaintiff denies that he ever sold, assigned, or transferred to defendant his right to share in trust property formerly held by Rhodes as aforesaid, and denies that such is the purpose, intent, or legal effect of the written instrument pleaded in the answer. He says, in substance, that among the assets of the estate left by Aaron Wolf was a farm of 460 acres in the state of Illinois; that, for the purpose of promoting a settlement of said estate, it was agreed by and between the beneficiaries under the will to allow said farm to be sold at executor's sale, and that defendant Charles C. Wolf would purchase and take and hold the title thereto in trust for all said beneficiaries; that, in pursuance of said agreement, defendant did purchase and take said title at the nominal price of $21,000, though he paid nothing in fact therefor, and made settlement with the executor by delivering to him the receipts executed by the several heirs made for that purpose, and purporting to acknowledge payment to them of their several shares in the proceeds of such sale. Plaintiff further alleges that after defendant had held said title in trust, and having managed and leased the land for about one year, an agreement was had between said defendant and himself by which plaintiff sold and agreed to relinquish to defendant all his right and interest in said land and its rents and profits for the sum of $3,000, and that the writing pleaded in the answer was by him executed and delivered to the defendant to evidence and effectuate said agreement and for no other purpose. This agreement, plaintiff avers, was had by written correspondence in the possession of the defendant. Finally, plaintiff alleges that at the date of said writing the estate of Aaron Wolf had already been fully administered, settled, and adjusted, and the property now in controversy no longer constituted any part of the said testator's estate, and title thereto was not nor could it be in any manner affected, diverted, or changed by the giving of said instrument. Furthermore, he avers that defendant has interpreted said instrument as in the nature of a quitclaim deed of plaintiff's interest in the land, and has ever since asserted ownership and control in his own right of the share formerly held by the plaintiff in said land, and he is therefore estopped now to claim or assert for said instrument any other or different character. The record discloses little dispute as to most of the material facts: The death of Aaron Wolf; the terms of the will; the nature and extent of the estate left by him; the settlement and distribution by Stoskopf, the executor; the delivery of the share of Mrs. Goodrich to her trustee; her subsequent death; the delivery of the trust estate to the defendant, and his refusal to pay over any part thereof to the plaintiff are all conceded.

As we understand the defendant's position, he conceded that but for the writing executed by the plaintiff under date of October 21, 1902, and pleaded in the answer as hereinbefore noted, plaintiff would be entitled to recover the full one-eighth part of the property in the hands of Mrs. Goodrich's trustee at the date of her death and now in the possession of the defendant. This would seem to reduce the controversy to the single question whether that writing is to be construed as a sale and transfer to the defendant of plaintiff's right to succeed to a share of the property held in trust for Mrs. Goodrich, which right was then contingent upon the death of Mrs. Goodrich without living issue. That writing, as will be seen, is quite brief and informal in character, and can be fairly interpreted and applied to specific items of property or property rights only by the help of extrinsic evidence. The extrinsic showing having any bearing upon this question is made up of the documents, facts, and circumstances to which we have already made reference, together with additional matters, which may be stated as follows: The defendant concedes he at first took the title to the 467 acres of land in trust for the joint benefit of all the children of Aaron Wolf, who are named in his will. It further appears without substantial dispute that thereafter, and during the lifetime of Mrs. Goodrich, defendant purchased the several interests held in this land by W. A. Wolf (plaintiff herein), Mrs. Judson, Mrs. Becker, Mrs. Johnson, and possibly others of his sisters, the price given in each instance so far as disclosed being $3,000. From each he took a combined written...

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