Hutchinson v. Hutchinson

This appeal by the former wife of the defendant involves a question of the construction of a declaration of trust, a property settlement agreement and a further question whether these instruments are illegal because of want of a legal consideration or unenforceable because of menace, duress and coercion alleged to have been practiced upon the husband by the wife before their divorce.

The controversy was initiated by the wife, who sought judgment for $76,862 which she averred had accrued to her since June, 1934, under the terms of the property settlement agreement. The trial court, over objection of the wife, received evidence to sustain the husband’s claim that even though the declaration of trust or property settlement agreement provided otherwise, the parties intended that the home should be sold by the wife within a reasonable time after it was placed in trust, and since it was not sold the husband was not to be liable for the cost of its maintenance and other items which accrued subsequent to June 1, 1934. Additionally, the trial court found that the consideration for the two instruments was the compounding of a felony, and that the instruments had been obtained by the wife through menace, duress and coercion.

We think the evidence set forth in 290 pages of the transcript was largely inadmissible under the parol evidence rule, and that there is no competent evidence to sustain any of the findings in favor of the former husband.

The declaration of trust recited that the wife, in consideration of the provision therein made for her, released to the husband all her right, title and interest in and to twelve separate parcels of property owned by the husband. Coincident with the execution of the declaration of trust, and as a part of that transaction, the husband and wife executed a separate property settlement agreement. In the property settlement agreement it was recited that the husband recognized his obligation to provide adequately for his wife’s support, and that until the property conveyed and transferred by him to the trustee should become income bearing she would be without means of support; and hence he agreed that until the home should be rented, and during all periods thereafter while it should be unrented, he would not only pay the wife $300 per month for her maintenance and support but would

On April 8, 1929, the husband, in order further to secure his wife in the payments to be made by him under the terms of the property settlement agreement, deposited with the First Trust and Savings Bank of Chicago three hundred and fifty shares of the common capital stock of The Celotex Company, to be held and be disposed of by the bank as set forth in a written agreement signed by the husband and the bank. This written agreement quoted pertinent paragraphs from the property settlement agreement and directed the bank to pay from any funds in its hands defendant’s former wife $350 per month so long as the home was not sold, but in no event beyond five years from April 9, 1929, at which time if no sale of the home had been made the stock was to be returned to him.

In December, 1931, the wife, who was then living in Chicago, as she is at this time, caused a suit to be instituted here against her former husband to recover amounts she claimed at that time were due to her under the provisions of the property settlement agreement. In his answer defendant alleged that the amounts were not due because the wife had refused offers in excess of $300,000 for a sale of the home and offers in excess of $1000 per month for the rent thereof. No claim was made in the answer that the instruments sued upon had been obtained by reason of the compounding of a felony or because of menace, duress or coercion. The action was dismissed before it came to trial.

Upon the trial of the instant action defendant testified that when he was .sued by his former wife in 1931 he told his then counsel, before they prepared his answer to that suit, the facts as to the compounding of a felony and the duress upon which he here relies. Whether his then counsel were of the opinion that the instruments were Illinois contracts and so not subject to such defenses we do not know. However, it is plain from the way in which they answered the suit that they interpreted the contracts as we do.

In the instant case counsel for the wife objected to questions directed to the ex-husband which sought to elicit con

The only evidence bearing on the claim that the husband had executed the instruments as a result of the compounding of a felony and because of duress, menace and coercion practiced upon him by the wife was the testimony of the husband, categorically denied by the wife. He testified that on a certain evening, while he and his wife were living together in the home, she told him she had made an appointment for him to go the following morning to the office of her attorney to discuss a property settlement; that he kept the appointment; that her counsel outlined to him the terms of the proposed agreement; that he told her counsel he did not believe it would be possible for him to make the large payments demanded for the support of his wife and the upkeep of their home; that her counsel told him that his wife had evidence that he had committed at least two criminal offenses and that she would have him indicted for those crimes if he did not sign the proposed agreement, but that if he did sign it he would have no trouble as far as his wife was concerned; that counsel informed him he did not need to decide right away but could study the matter over until the next morning, when the contract would be ready; that when he went home that

Upon question by the court as to whether he would have signed despite his claim of duress, the husband testified: “Well, I probably would not, but I don’t know. He (her attorney) had me scared, so I just felt I had to sign it right away. I don’t think I especially considered I was forced. I felt that I was forced into signing these.” (Italics ours.)

Upon this record the first question for determination is whether the law of California or the law of Illinois is here applicable. It is well established that the legality of a contract is to be determined by the law of the place where it was made, and its interpretation likewise. (Civil Code, sec. 1646; Rest., Conflict of Laws, sec. 347.) If the contract is legal in the state where it was made it will be enforced in another state unless the contract is contrary to the strong public policy of the forum. (Rest., Conflict of Laws, sec. 612.) As it appears that the declaration of trust and the property settlement agreement were made in Illinois by citizens of Illinois, and for aught that appears the obligations thereof were to be performed there, it is self-evident that the law of Illinois must control as to their validity and

It is plain from a reading of the declaration of trust that the intention of the parties was to provide a home for the wife during her life in the home property conveyed to the trustee, so long as that home after the first year could not be sold for $300,000 or rented for $1000 a month. The language of the written instruments here involved is crystal clear. There is not the slightest ambiguity in them, and so we are at a loss to determine upon what theory the trial court concluded that parol evidence could be received to show that the parties contemplated that the home would be sold not later than April 8, 1934, or upon what theory the wife had any obligation either to sell or rent. It may be that the trial court was impressed by the cases, which the husband has cited to us, which hold that where a contract makes no provision, for its termination it should be deemed to terminate within a reasonable time. Such cases are not in point, for the obligation of the husband was to pay as long as the home was not sold or rented for the minimum amounts set forth in the instruments. It is true that the agreement for additional security, made by the husband in 1929, provided that if the home was not sold within five years, that is to say, prior to April 8, 1934, he should be entitled to receive back from the depository, The First National Bank and Trust Company, the collateral deposited by him or any substituted collateral. The critical date, i. e., April 8, 1934, designated for the return of the collateral, was designated for that one purpose only and it may not control the other written documents between the parties which it does not purport to control. The option to sell or rent for a lesser amount than that stated in the declaration of trust rested with the wife, not the husband. The obligation to sell or rent, in any case, rested with the trustee and not the wife.

We are not quite clear, from the quotations which we have made from the rulings of the trial judge in our recital of the record, whether he was of the opinion that evidence of conversations had between the parties, so long as they took

Two further contentions made by the former husband below, and likewise sustained by the -trial court, have as their base, first, that the agreements were void, as the only consideration therefor was the compounding of a felony, and, secondly, that the present action to recover, based on those agreements, is not maintainable if the two agreements, that is to say, the declaration of trust and the property settlement agreement, were obtained by reason of duress, menace or coercion. Both contentions stem from the same facts testified to by the husband and with respect to which we have already given the substance of his testimony. In that connection it is sufficient to say that Illinois follows the weight of authority in holding that where no criminal proceedings are pending the actual commission of the crime alleged to have been compounded must be shown. (Keith v. Buck, 16 Ill. App. 121 . See also 17 C. J. S., sec. 228.) Here not only was there no such showing, but to the contrary the husband denied the offenses charged had been committed by him. Moreover, it appears that since Rendelman v. Rendelman, 156 Ill. 568 [ 41 N.

It seems clear from the Illinois decisions that a contract may not be avoided for duress, menace or coercion unless it is of a character sufficient to overcome completely the will of the party who seeks to avoid the contract by way of defense or rescission. There is no testimony here which measures up to these rules. It may be observed, in passing, that in this state the Supreme Court in Woodham v. Allen, 130 Cal. 194 [ 62 Pac. 398 ], said, “there could be no compounding of a felony where none existed. ” As it is evident that there was not under the Illinois law a compounding of a felony or duress, the contracts in question were legal in Illinois, and accordingly we have no occasion. to pass upon the further contention of the wife that the husband was barred by laches or by his failure to place her in statu quo to avoid the contract for any alleged duress.

One further point made by the husband requires our consideration. He urges with much earnestness that even though the declaration of trust and the property settlement agreement were valid by the law of Illinois, where they were made, the courts of this state should refuse to enforce them on the ground of public policy because of the manner in which he claims they were procured. There are several answers to this contention. In the first place, this is not a case where the obligor received nothing or the obligee gave up nothing. Here the wife was entitled upon her separation for the fault of the defendant to be supported by him. Moreover, as additional consideration for the instruments she relinquished in favor of her husband her rights to a substantial amount of his property. The fact that the law in one state may differ from the law of another, whether it be in the enforcement of rights, the creation of rights,'or the validity of contracts, is not of itself any reason for refusing to enforce contracts valid in the state where they are made. (Biewend

We have here a duty to enforce valid contracts made in a sister state not only because of comity, but unquestionably, a duty, on the facts, to do so because of the full faith and credit and due process clauses of the Constitution. As has been said by the Supreme Court of the United States, local public policy cannot transcend the limitations imposed by the federal Constitution. But apart from the limitations thus imposed, the trend of decision is unmistakably toward enforcing contracts, valid in the state where they were made, except where they are contrary to a strong public policy of the forum. (See Hartford etc. Co. v. Delta etc. Co., 292 U. S. 143 [ 54 Sup. Ct. 634 , 78 L. Ed. 1178 , 92 A. L. R. 928 ].) Today, when the states of the Union are so closely linked together by rapid communication of speech and travel, the differences of policy between them are minor and the need of uniform enforcement of rights regardless of state lines is regarded as a business and social necessity.

For the reasons stated the judgment is reversed.

Wood (W. J.), Acting P. J., and McComb, J., concurred.

A petition for a rehearing was denied December 17, 1941, and respondent’s petition for a hearing by the Supreme Court was denied January 21, 1942.