Brophy v. Lawler

Citations

• 107 Ill. 284
• 1883 Ill. LEXIS 260

Syllabus

<p>1. Trust—attempt to defeat it by fraud—as to the manner of granting relief. Land was conveyed to a person, in trust, to receive tbe rents, issues and profits, and apply them to the use of another during his natural life, and upon the death of the latter to convey the premises to a son of the grantor, in fee. The remainder-man, by fraudulent devices, induced the holder of the life interest to join the trustee in a conveyance of the property to himself, to enable him, as he represented, to sell a portion of the same in order to pay certain taxes and assessments which had accumulated against it, promising that he would then make a declaration of trust for a life interest in the residue, as it originally existed, but which he refused to do. It was held, on bill filed by the cestui que trust, that he was entitled to be restored to his rights in respect to the life interest in the portion of the land which had not been sold.</p> <p>2. In such case there is no error in decreeing that the fraudulent grantee conve3’ directly to the cestui que trust the life estate in the premises, instead of vesting the title again in a trustee. He could not complain of such disposition of the life estate, as his estate in remainder could in nowise be affected thereby. The original trust was practically a dry trust.</p> <p>3. Fraud—effect of subsequent action as a waiver of party’s rights. A person who is induced by fraudulent and false statements to convey his interest in property, will not be precluded from rescinding by afterward dealing with the subject matter of the contract, if at the time of such dealing he was ignorant of the fraud practiced.</p> <p>4. So where a person having a life estate in real property is induced to conver- it to the remainder-man for a certain purpose, under the promise of the grantee to make a declaration of trust of a life estate in favor of the grantor, and afterward makes a conditional agreement that if a certain other thing is done it will be accepted i