First National Life Assurance Society of America v. Farquhar

Citations

• 75 Wash. 667
• 135 P. 619
• 1913 Wash. LEXIS 2262

Syllabus

<p>Principal and Agent — Actions — Note — Name of Agent. The principal may sue upon a promissory note taken by and in the name of his agent, although the note was not indorsed, where he alleges that he was the sole and exclusive owner of the note.</p> <p>Bills and Notes — Contemporaneous Oral Agreement — Admissibility — Pleading. In the absence of fraud or mistake, evidence of a contemporaneous oral agreement is not admissible for the purpose of limiting the liability upon a promissory note; hence an answer setting up the same is properly stricken.</p> <p>Appeal — Harmless Error. Error cannot be predicated upon a ruling upon a demurrer, where the demurrer and ruling were subsequently withdrawn and a trial had on the merits.</p> <p>Stipulations — Relief From — Discretion of Court. It is not an abuse of discretion to relieve a plaintiff insurance company from a stipulation settling the issues in the case, where after the same was entered into, plaintiff learned that a note alleged by the defendant to have been given by plaintiff as a payment was in fact given by an agent in his own name without authority and had nothing to do with the issues of the case.</p> <p>Appeal — Review—Findings—Necessity of Statement of Facts. In the absence of a statement of facts, findings that an application for insurance and notes given for the purchase of stock are separate transactions, are conclusive, and preclude the claim that they were one transaction and void as forbidden by law.</p>