Johnston v. Johnston

Citations

• 138 Ill. 385
• 27 N.E. 930

Syllabus

<p>1. Statute of Fbauds—express trust. Where a husband buys land and has the title conveyed to his wife, under an express trust that the title shall be held for his benefit and subject to his disposal, the trust will be utterly void, unless it is declared in writing.</p> <p>2. Same—resulting trust. A resulting trust is not within the Statute of Frauds, and may be proved by parol.</p> <p>3. Witness—against defending heir—competency of complainant. On bill by a father against his daughter, to have a conveyance procured by him to be made to his wife, who in the meantime had died, declared to have been made in trust for him, the defendant being the heir of the deceased wife, the complainant is an incompetent witness to prove the trust.</p> <p>4. Trust—burden of proof—presumption of advancement. The general rule is, that a purchase of land by a parent in the name of his child,, or by a husband in the name of his wife, will be presumed to be an advancement, and not a trust, and the burden is on the party claiming a trust to prove it. This may be done by such proof of facts and circumstances as clearly show that the intention was not to make an advancement, but to accomplish some other lawful purpose.</p> <p>5. Infant—failure of guardian to object to incompetent evidence. In suits against infants, the failure of the guardian or guardian ad litem to object to incompetent evidence will not authorize such evidence to be admitted or considered, and its admission maybe assigned for error.</p> <p>6. Evidence—witness’ understanding. The statement of a witness that he always understood from a person, who afterward died, who was his sister, that certain property held in her name was that of her husband, is a statement of no fact, and proves nothing.</p>