David Davis, Walker v. Walker's Executor — Opinion of the Court
“ That a husband may be a trustee for his wife, and can be compelled in equity to account for any money or property belonging to her which he has received, in the same manner that a stranger would be held to account, is a doctrine so well settled that it hardly requires a citation of authorities to sustain it. ”
David Davis, Walker v. Walker's Executor — Opinion of the Court
“ The husband had a right to make a settlement upon his wife without any view to separation, and the insertion of this provision shows that he did not intend the settlement to cease on the return of the wife to cohabitation. There is no good reason why effect should not be given to the intention of the parties on the subject. If, on grounds of public policy, it is desirable that the parties should be reconciled, whatever tends to promote such a result will receive the favorable consideration of a court of equity. ”
David Davis, Walker v. Walker's Executor — Opinion of the Court
“ Walker received the rents and incomes of his wife's estate, from her, on the condition to which he agreed, that he would invest them for her benefit as they were received, and this agreement imposed on him the character of a trustee as to this property. To hold otherwise would be to sanction the grossest fraud. It is not necessary to create the trust that the husband should use any particular form of words, nor need those words be in writing. All that is required is that language should have been employed equivalent to a declaration of trust. ”
