Falk v. Wittram

Citations

• 120 Cal. 479
• 52 P. 707
• 1898 Cal. LEXIS 792

Syllabus

<p>Canceldation—Insanity of Grantor—Evidence.—In an action on behalf of an insane plaintiff by his guardian, to set aside a conveyance as having been made by him when insane and incapable of contracting, a finding of the court that plaintiff was not insane at the date of the conveyance is sufficiently supported by proof that plaintiff was engaged in business for upward of eleven years after the date of the conveyance before he was committed to an asylum, although it was shown that he was rash in some of his speculations, and erratic in conduct, as well as irascible in temper.</p> <p>.In.—Mortgage—Finding.—Where there was no direct evidence in support of the plaintiff’s claim that the conveyance, though absolute in form, was intended as a mortgage; but it was sought to establish that fact by inferences and argument from other evidence, the court was justified in requiring clear proof of that fact, and, in the absence of such proof, the fact that the deed purported to be absolute is sufficient to support a finding that it was not intended as a mortgage.</p> <p>In.—Notice' to Subsequent Gbantee.—Findings that the grantor of the deed was sane at the time of its execution, and that it was not intended as a mortgage, render it immaterial ta find upon the issue whether the defendant, as a subsequent grantee, had notice of the contrary facts alleged in the complaint.</p> <p>Id.—Evidence—Husband and Wife.—Section 1881 of the Code of Civil Procedure, providing that “a husband cannot be examined for or against his wife without her consent, nor a wife for or against her husband without his consent, nor can either during the marriage or afterward be, without the consent of the other, examined as to any communication made by one to the other during the marriage,” makes no exception, even though the other spouse be incapable of consent; and a deposition of the wife of an insane person is properly excluded as inadmissible.</p>