Peter Vivian Daniel

“ The answer of James Taylor, the husband of the complainant, admitted all the material facts charged in the bill, and stated that before the marriage he had advised her not to execute the deed, believing, from her representations, that she was unkindly treated by the family; that he had been requested by William Scarborough to be a witness to the execution of the deed, but declined to be so, and that his belief of the unhappy situation of the complainant operated upon him in a great measure to consummate his engagement to marry her twelve months prior to the period before intended. ”

“ The rules of law supposed to control the contracts of parties who do not stand upon a perfect equality, but who deal at a disadvantage on the one side, whether applicable to the relations of parent and child, trustee and cestui que trust, attorney and client, or principal and agent, have been laid down in various cases in the courts both of England and of our own country. ”

“ They deny the right of the complainant to call on them for an account of the personal property conveyed in trust, because by the trust deed Julia Scarborough, who is still living, has the use of it for life; nor can they give any account of said property, or the rents and profits of the real estate, because the said real and personal property never passed into the hands of their testator in his lifetime, nor into their control or possession since his death, but had always been in the possession and management of Julia Scarborough, the cestui quie trust, entitled to the same under the deed. ”

“ In the present instance, too, independently of the influences which will be shown to have been brought to bear upon the transaction, it is thought that the injunctions of filial duty and affection would have demanded something less than the surrender of all possessed by the grantor; and would have been satisfied with a concession, as to which there probably would never have existed a difficulty,-one, indeed, that seems to have been assented to in practice,-the occupation and enjoyment of the property during their lives, by the parents of the grantor. ”

“ The conduct of these persons, Scarborough and Low, and of Taylor, who was named at trustee both in the marriage settlement and in the deed from Charlotte Scarborough, furnishes convincing evidence of the light in which they viewed any obligation supposed to be adhering to this property, and forming a binding consideration, either legal or moral, for the deed now impugned; that is, an obligation to bestow it, in conformity with the stipulations of the marriage contract. ”

“ Why should this young woman have taken such deliberate pains to declare, and to place as it were on record, a history of her motives,-her entire exemption from persuasion, authority, or even advice, in what she was about to do in obedience to affection and a sense of duty? ”

“ If the means of personal control are given, they must be always restrained to purposes of good faith and personal good. Courts of equity will not, therefore, arrest or set aside an act or contract, merely because a man of more honor would not have entered into it. ”

“ It recited the devises of the will, stated that she was the niece by marriage of Robert Isaac, and an inmate and resident of his family, with whom she continued to reside until his death, when she removed to the residence of her father and mother, being the house devised to her (the oratrix) by the will. It then averred, that, upon her return to the family of her parents, her reception was harsh and unkind; that she was charged with having dictated to the testator, Robert Isaac, the disposition of the property, with ruining the prospects of the family, and breaking the heart of her father. ”

“ The language of this paragraph is as follows:-'Most thankful do I feel for being made the simple instrument of accomplishing the will of him who has so kindly and generously placed his confidence in me, and in acting thus, convince the world that my devoted affection for him was pure, disinterested, and unbiased by future expectation.' It will naturally occur to every one to inquire, why this young woman should accuse herself, or fancy herself accused by others, of unworthy motives or conduct, because she had been the object of her uncle's affection? ”

“ He gives to her, clear of all trusts or encumbrances, 'the lot, dwelling-house, and all other improvements thereon, which formerly belonged to her father, together also with the plate, furniture of all kinds, books and prints, all of which were purchased and paid for at marshal's sale by me.' If this clause of the will were shown to and clearly understood by the complainant, it is difficult to conceive how it could be made rationally to express or imply a duty on her part to disrobe herself of this bounty, as being clearly designed for others, and not for herself. ”

“ These men, the depositaries of the solemn trust reposed in them by Isaac,-fully capable of comprehending his will, and one of them sustaining the further obligation of a parent to protect the interests of this young woman,-make themselves the ready instruments to betray this confidence, and this in violation of the clearest language in which their duty could possibly have been prescribed. ”

“ With regard to the circumstances attending and surrounding its execution. It is shown that the grantor in this deed, though of age, had little more than attained to majority; that she was living in the house with her parents,-her only home; and may fairly be presumed to have been liable to the influence of feelings and habits which, in the absence of contravening evidence, would control the dispositions and conduct of a youthful female thus situated. She might be moulded to almost any thing, in compliance with the earnest wishes (with her habitually yielded to as commands) of her parents. ”

“ These courts will therefore often interfere in such cases, where, but for such peculiar relations, they would wholly abstain from granting relief, or grant it in a very modified and abstemious manner.' He proceeds, § 308,-'It is undoubtedly true, that it is not upon the feelongs which a delicate and honorable man must experience, nor upon any notion of discretion, to prevent a voluntary gift or other act of a man whereby he strips himself of his property, that courts of equity have deemed themselves at liberty to interpose in cases of this sort. ”

“ This language covers the whole ground contended for, though the purchase in that case having been per interpositam personam was the reason, probably, why the court declared that it 'carries fraud on the face of it.' And in the same case this court, commenting upon Davoue v. Fanning, said, 'The inquiry in such a case is not whether there was or was not fraud in fact. The purchase is void, and will be set aside at the instance of the cestui que trust, and a re-sale ordered, on the ground of the temptation to abuse, and of the danger of imposition inaccessible to the eye of the court.' Id., 557. ”

“ The bill then stated the marriage of the oratrix with James Taylor, on the 28th of April, 1829; that she had, soon afterwards, used all the means in her power to convince her husband that the deed was fraudulent and invalid, but that the objected to family disputes about property, and averred that his own individual property and means of support were sufficient for his family. ”

“ If confidence is reposed, it must be faithfully acted upon, and preserved from any intermixture of imposition. If influence is acquired, it must be kept free from the taint of selfish interests, and cunning, and overreaching bargains. ”

“ And it is settled in Ex parte Bennett, 10 Ves., 393, that, in order to set aside the sale, it is not necessary to show that the trustee has made any advantage. And see 1 Story Eq., § 322.
The conduct of the executors having been a breach of trust, it is unnecessary to consider the distinction, if any really exists, between actual and constructive fraud. There is no difference, legally, in the degree of the fraud, and the distinction is between the same kind of fraud, one supported by evidence of actual imposition, and the other being inferred from circumstances. ”

“ III. That there is no evidence of duress in fact, or of undue influence, or of fraud; that the deed was in all respects a fair and proper deed, being supported by the consideration of love and affection; and if that of itself was not sufficient, it is valid by reason of the marriage contract between the father and mother of the complainant, of the 18th April, 1805, which was omitted to be recorded in Georgia, where the property lay. ”

“ The bill then contained a number of interrogatories for the defendants to answer; prayed that the deed might be decreed fraudulent and void, and that the defendants might come to and account with her, and that the real estate, goods, chattels, plate, furniture, goods, prints, rents, and profits, might be decreed to be the separate property of the oratrix, not subject to the debts or liable to the creditors of her husband, James Taylor, &c., &c. ”

“ The will of Robert Isaac was admitted to probate on the 9th day of January, 1828, and amongst the persons who qualified as executors of that will, were William Scarborough, the father of the complainant, and William Taylor, the trustee in the deed now sought to be vacated. ”

“ That William Taylor left no accounts, never having interfered with the property, or received it into his possession, or any of the rents, issues, or profits, the same being left in the custody or possession of the cestui que trusts entitled thereto. He denies that the trust deed was made by compulsion or undue means, or that it was made by her when under age ”

“ Of parent and child. All contracts and conveyances, whereby benefits are secured by children to their parents, are objects of jealousy. 1 Story Eq. Jur., § 310; 2 Atk., 85, 258; 4 Wash. C. C., 397; 12 Pet., 253; 2 Johns. (N. Y.) Ch., 252.
2d. The relation of trustee and cestui que trust. Taylor, the grantee in trust, and Scarborough, were two of the executors of the will of Isaac. The will was proved only five days before the execution of the deed. Executors are trustees for legatees. ”