Church v. Winton

Citations

• 196 Pa. 107
• 46 A. 363
• 1900 Pa. LEXIS 482

Syllabus

<p>Trusts and trustees — Purchase by trustee at his own sale — Laches.</p> <p>If a trustee buys the trust property even at a public sale which is brought about or in any way controlled by himself, he will be presumed to buy and hold for the benefit of the trust. But the trustee’s title as purchaser is not void, it is voidable only at the option of the cestui que trust, and when the latter has knowledge of the facts he must assert his right with reasonable diligence. A delay of twenty-one years will deprive the cestui que trust of his right to relief.</p> <p>Where a married woman joins her husband in a declaration of trust of real estate, and subsequently the husband buys in the property at his own sale, and thereafter the wife buys the property at a sheriff’s sale under an execution against her husband, and the cestui que trust takes no steps to enforce the trust until more than twenty-one years from the date of the husband’s purchase, the wife has a title clear of any relation of trust that she may have had before the purchase of the property by her husband at the sheriff’s sale.</p> <p>It seems that where a married woman joins with her husband in a declaration of trust, she cannot deny the trust, whether she had any title or not, and if she or those claiming under her are shown to have any of the property in their possession her declaration will be conclusive of her duty to account.</p>