Tallinger v. Mandeville

—For the purposes of this review it must be assumed that the ante-nuptial agreement was made as alleged, and was valid. And that unless the obligation created by it to pay the plaintiff $10,000 at the testator’s death, was in some manner released and discharged the plaintiff was entitled to recover. The defense rested upon the effect of the subsequent agreement between the husband and wife, and its performance And that evidently furnished the ground upon which the nonsuit was ordered. An agreement having in view the separation of husband and wife is against public policy, and yet it is held valid and enforceable in respect to its pecuniary provisions in case the separation exists at the time or occurs upon the execution of the agreement. But it requires a third party as trustee to render it valid or effectual, without which the agreement is void. Rogers v. Rogers, 4 Paige, 516.

For the want of such trustee the contract in question made between husband and wife during coverture was in that respect, and in whatever respect it was founded upon its provisions for their separation, void. And as a general rule when the several stipulations, some of which are void,

It was, however, executed by the husband in so far that he paid to the plaintiff at the time of its execution the $5,000 provided for by it, which on his part was a complete performance. It is upon the fact of such performance that the defense must stand, if it has any support. And in such case relief is not wholly denied to the party who has performed, merely because some of the stipulations of the contract are void, and so far as they remain executory are ineffectual to support any remedy. Vansittart v. Vansittart, 2 De Gex & Jones, 249; King v. Brown, 2 Hill, 485 ; Galvin v. Prentice, 45 N. Y., 162 ; Day v. N. Y. C. R. R. Co., 51 id., 583; Benedict v. Driggs, 34 Hun, 94 .

Amongst other things, the plaintiff agreed to accept the $5,000 in satisfaction of her claim resting in the ante-nuptial agreement of the defendant’s testator. This undertaking was her separate property. She could do with it as she pleased. And she did accept the $5,000 in performance of the agreement pursuant to which she had agreed to release or relinquish the claim so created against the husband’s estate at his death. This, we think, she could do by an executed agreement between her and her husband when fairly made without fraud, undue influence or advantage. Brace v. Gould, 1 T. & C., 226; Sherman v. Scott, 27 Hun, 331 ; Sheldon v. Clancy, 42 How., 186 ; Armitage v. Mace, 96 N. Y., 538 ; Benedict v. Driggs, 34 Hun, 94 .

No question in that respect arises here. And for the purposes of this action that branch of the agreement, in view of such performance and acceptance, must be treated as effectually defeating the plaintiff’s claim upon the ante-nuptial contract. The plaintiff, so far as appears, retained the fruits of the settlement during the life of the testator with apparent satisfaction; and has not attempted for any cause to rescind the arrangement under which she received its performance. Its adequacy is not the subject for consideration in this action. And it must have the measure in that respect which the parties by their agreement gave to it.

The other and invalid stipulations, which were embraced within the consideration paid by the husband, were executory on the part of the plaintiff only. And while she was not

The judgment should be affirmed.

Haight, J., concurs.

—Upon the conceded facts of the case, and such other facts as the evidence produced on the trial fairly tended to prove, I think a case was made for the consideration of the j ury; and if they had found a verdict in the plaintiff’s favoi it would have been justified on well settled legal principles. I am unable to discover any such failure of proof in support of the plaintiff’s case upon the merits as to justify the order granting a nonsuit. The ante-nuptial agreement was not reduced to writing before the marriage, but the agreement as it was made survived that event, and the parties afterwards voluntarily reduced the same to writing, it became t, binding upon them from that time forward, and was competent evidence of their agreement, and satisfied the provision of the statute of frauds requiring every agreement, promise or undertaking, made upon consideration of marriage, to be in writing and subscribed by the party making the same. The plaintiff having performed the agreement on her part, by marrying .the deceased, a court of equity would have compelled her husband to observe and perform the ante-nuptial promise. 2 Kent’s Com., 162-172; 2 Blackstone’s Com., 442; Dygert v. Remerschnider, 32 N. Y., 629 ; Chap. 375, § 3, Laws of 1849.

The parties were married in September, 1881, and the writren agreement was executed by the husband on the 28th of February, 1882, and contained a recital as follows:

“Whereas, I, Godfrey Tallinger, did, on the 26th day of September, 1881, marry my present wife, Mary Tallinger, and did then, in consideration of said marriage, agree to secure to her the payment of $10,000 upon my death, provided she should live with me as my wife until said time, and should in all things, at all times, perform faithfully the duties of a wife, and take such care of me and my

And the renewed promise was as follows:

“Now, therefore, I do, in consideration of the promise, agree with said Mary, provided she shall faithfully perform all of said conditions on her part, and such performance in full shall be a condition precedent to any liability to her upon this agreement. ”

Upon the death of Tallinger, which occurred on the 5th day of December, 1884, the plaintiff had a perfect cause of action against his estate for the payment of the $10,000, if the agreement remained in full force and effect at that time.

The defendants interpose the defense, that during the life-time of Mr. Tallinger, the plaintiff, by an instrument in writing, based upon a good and sufficient consideration, released him from his promise contained in the written agreement and canceled the same. The plaintiff did execute an instrument which, in fact, contained a release to the effect claimed by the defendants, and they produced the same in evidence, and it was stated by counsel on the argument, the fact not appearing by the record, that the non-suit was granted upon the ground that the cause of action set out in the complaint had been discharged by this instrument.

Upon the 20th of July, 1882, the deceased paid to the plaintiff in cash $5,000; and the parties executed an instrument in writing wherein the plaintiff agreed to absent herself forever from the house of her husband and not visit, molest or communicate with him in any manner whatever; to release all claim of dower in his real estate, and not to make any claim after his death on his estate, and to execute to all interested persons proper and sufficient releases of her interest therein. The agreement contained also other covenants expressed in these words, viz: “And if said Mary shall violate any of the conditions or provisions hereof, or shall fail to perform any of the same, she shall thereupon repay to said Godfrey, his heirs or personal representatives, said $5,000, and the interest thereon from this date, as liquidated damages, and she charges her separate estate therewith and a certain agreement heretofore executed by said Godfrey and said Mary, whereby he agreed to pay at his death, upon the performance of certain conditions therein expressed, the sum of $10,000 is hereby canceled and abrogated.”

If the release of the plaintiff’s cause of action, as contained in this instrument, is valid and binding, then the non-suit was properly granted.

The plaintiff, however, contends that the instrument is void.

It is a fundamental principle of the common law that, in consequence of the unity of person between husband and wife, neither the husband nor the wife can grant the one to the other any estate in possession, revision or remainder, to take effect in the life-time of the grantor. White v. Wager, 25 N. Y., 328 .

This disability on the part of the wife, to convey lands direct to her husband, has not been removed by any of the statutes of this state enacted for the more effectual protection of the property of married women, except in the particular instances provided in chapter 472 of the Laws of 1880, which is limited to the right to partition between themselves by deeds of conveyance, lands which they own as joint tenants, or as tenants in common. This rule of the common law was affirmed and applied in the case of White v. Wager (supra), and" a deed direct from a wife to her husband, was declared void, and that it did not vest her of her estate in the lands sought to be conveyed. The husband is as much disqualified to take under such a conveyance as she to convey. It is therefore necessary to render a conveyance valid, the husband’s disability to take as well as that of the wife to grant, must be removed. This disability extends to all ■contracts between husband and wife, and renders all conveyances and gifts from the wife to her husband void. By the common law the husband became the owner in his own right of the personal estate of his wife, owned by her at the time of the marriage, and of such as she might thereafter, during marriage, acquire. The several legislative enactments on the subject have divested the husband of his common law rights, of property and dominion over the personal estate of his wife, and constitute her the sole proprietor of all the property, of both kinds, which she owned at the time of her marriage, and of all which should devolve upon her by title during her coverture; and by the act of 1862, chapter 90, it was expressly declared that her personal property should not be subject to the interference or control of her husband. The common law disability of husband and wife to contract and trade with each other, still exists. Her general engagements are absolutely void, and she can only make such valid and binding contracts as come within the limits of statutory provisions removing her disabilities and giving her power to make contracts and execute conveyances. Bertles v. Nunan, 92 N. Y., 152 ; Nash v. Mitchell, 71 N. Y., 199 .

Some case may be cited to the contrary of this proposition, but, I think, the principle upon which that case was decided is sound, and should be followed by this court until a contrary ruling is made by some higher authority. The reasons which would make a deed of land direct from the wife to her husband void at law exist, and should be applied with Eke effect when the transaction relates to a transfer of her personal property direct to her husband. The ante-nuptial contract during the life of her husband constituted a part of her separate estate, as much so as if the promise to pay her the $10,000 on the death of her husband had been the promise of a third person. As the release was void and inoperative at law, her right to a cause of action based upon the promise, was not destroyed by reason of such, release. The release may be sustained upon equitable-principles, and the defense interposed in this action prevail, if it shaU appear upon a full investigation that the same was founded upon a good and sufficient consideration, and was entered into in good faith, without fraud or undue advantage being taken on the part of the husband in procuring its execution. Livingston v. Livingston, 2 Johns. Ch. R., 537; Shepard v. Shepard, 7 John. Ch. R., 57; Sherman v. Scott, 27 Hun, 331 .

It has been argued that as a consideration has been paid to the plaintiff at the time of the execution of the contract, which she then received as a satisfactory compensation for the release, and as nothing remained to be performed by the husband, and the plaintiff has not offered to return the money paid, that no case was made for the consideration of the jury; that the plaintiff was in no position to contend that the consideration was inadequate, and that the contract was fraudulent and undue advantage taken of her situation at the time of its execution. This proposition is based upon a misconception of the issue of fact presented by the evidence and the state of proofs bearing on the same at the time the nonsuit was granted.

If the release was void and inoperative by reason of fraud practiced upon her by her husband in procuring the same, she could bring an action upon the promise of the husband contained in the ante-nuptial agreement, and test the validity of the release in an action founded on the contract without returning, or offering to return, the money paid for

Upon the question that the consideration was inadequate and that an unfair and undue advantage was taken of the plaintiff by the deceased, the burden of proof was, in the first instance, cast upon the defendant, if, as I have attempted to show, the transaction was void at law, and that the plaintiff was called upon to make proof sufficient to sustain the release in a court of equity. But, conceding for the purposes of this appeal, that the burden of proof was, in the first instance, upon the plaintiff to show by affirmative evidence that the release was procured by fraud, and that the husband’s conduct was overreaching, unjust and unfair, then when the plaintiff rested, a case was made for the consideration of the jury. One of the faults of the defendant’s argument as to the force and effect of the evidence upon the question of. fraud is, that they treat this bargain between the husband and wife concerning her separate property the same as if the contract was between ordinary contractors, and utterly ignore the confidential relations existing between the parties to the agreement, which was disclosed on the face of the agreement. The relation existing between husband and wife is a circumstance which does of itself raise the presumption of the exercise of undue influence by the husband, and that an unfair advantage was taken, and. casts the burden of proof upon the defendant to show that the consideration paid was adequate and that no unfair advantage was taken of the plaintiff by her husband.

In speaking of transactions between parties occupying confidential relations towards each other, the court, in the Matter of the Will of Smith ( 95 N. Y., 516 ), remarked: “Dealings between parties thus situated, resulting in a benefit conferred upon, or an advantage gained by the one holding the dominating situation, naturally excites suspicion, and when the situation is shown, then there is cast upon the party claiming the benefit or advantage the burden of relieving himself from the suspicion thus engendered, and of showing, either by direct proof or by circumstances, that the transaction was free from fraud or

It is not necessary to cite any other of the many cases in this and other states sustaining this proposition, but the-following cases are referred to, because they are in point: Cowee v. Cornell, 75 N. Y., 91 ; Carpenter v. Soule, 88 id., 256; Sears v. Shafer, 2 Seld., 268; Platt v. Platt, 2 Sup. Ct. R. (T. & C.), 25; Kline v. Kline, 57 Pa., 120 ; 2 Pomeroy’s Eq. Juris., § 951; Kline's Estate, 64 Pa., 122 ; Fisher v. Bishop (N. Y. Ct. of Appeals), 13 N. Y. State Rep., 466.

The husband is regarded in the law as the next friend and protector of his wife, and that her position is largely one of dependence, and that in dealing with each other,, the law requires the facts that they do not stand upon equal terms and at arm’s length. Without referring to-other features of the negotiation, which led to the execution of the release and treating the transaction as one having no other purpose than procuring the release upon the consideration of $5,000 paid to the plaintiff, a case was made, which carried it beyond the judgment of the judge, and made it one for the consideration of the jury and they would have been justified in finding that the defendants failed to show that the transaction was free from fraud and undue influence and that the consideration was not-fair and adequate, in view of the value of the cause of action which was discharged by the release.

At that time the decease was seventy-four years of age and in feeble health, and the value of the ante-nuptial agreement as computed by the annuity tables , was at that time worth $7,500. It is to be presumed, the contrary not appearing, that the husband’s estate was ample to discharge this obligation. Nor can it be said that the whole of the $5,000 was a benefit derived to the plaintiff granting for the release, for out of it she was obliged to support herself during the life of her husband, and for aught that appears she did so. And, further, upon the same consideration she agreed to release her inchoate right of dower and all other interest in his estate, the value of which is not disclosed. And more than all this the payment of $5,000 was made upon the condition that the money was to be restored to her husband’s estate if she should be unwilling to execute a good and sufficient release of her right of dower and such other interest as the law gave her in his estate. In view of the difference between the value of the contract dis

There is, also, evidence tending to prove this harsh and ■severe contract was made, that the plaintiff was in a disturbed state of mind and that she and her husband were at the time involved in angry contentions and disputes growing out of his unbecoming familiarity with the servants of the household, if it would not warrant the conclusion that, he was also guilty of adulterous practices. The articles of separation bear unmistakable evidence on their'face that they were prepared by counsel of experience and that the far-reaching and overreaching provisions embraced therein were inserted for the purpose of securing an advantage to the husband.

It does not appear that the plaintiff consulted friends or had an opportunity to do so, and it may be fairly said that she did not use her best judgment in consenting to the terms of separation and was persuaded to do so in view of the fact that her husband’s conduct was so insulting and degrading to her that she would accept any terms offered to escape the disgrace and humiliation which she must have experienced by longer living with her husband.

If the release was void and ineffectual for the reasons upon which the plaintiff reli'es, it was unnecessary for the plaintiff to return or offer to return the $5,000, or any part thereof.

The general rule that a party who séeks to rescind a contract into which he has been induced to enter by fraud must first restore to the other party whatever he has obtained by virtue of the contract has no application to this case. There was no dispute as to the husband’s original liability upon •the ante-nuptial contract and that there was due payable thereon at the time of his death $10,000, is admitted if for any cause the release is inoperative. There was no other defense interposed but the release, and if that was proved ■unavailing as a defense then there would be undisputably due the plaintiff a greater sum than the amount paid the plaintiff. If the release is upheld then it is admitted that the plaintiff was paid no more than she was entitled to. The case therefore presents no feature of compromise or settlement of a dispute as to the nature and extent of the husband’s liability. This was in principle so held in the case of Pierce v. Wood, 3 Foster N. H., 519.

It was there decided that if a person effect a compromise of his debts by fraudulent representations and procure a discharge thereof by paying a per cent thereon, and that an