Lowell v. Wren

Citations

• 80 Ill. 238

Syllabus

<p>Certificate of acknowledgment—may be overcome by parol evidence. A married woman testified that she never executed a deed of trust which pm-ported to be executed by her and her husband, and acknowledged before a notary public. She further testified that her husband brought her a paper to sign, and when she asked him what it was, she not being able to read, he replied that it was a mere matter of form, and she then made her mark, and her husband handed the paper to the cestui que trust, who was then present, and that no one asked her anything about whether she acknowledged her signature or whether she executed the paper. She was fully corroborated in her statements by the testimony of her husband and of three disinterested witnesses who were present: Held, that this evidence was sufficient to overcome the certificate of acknowledgment, and authorize a decree, at the suit of the woman, enjoining a sale under the deed of trust, on the ground of fraud in procuring her signature.</p>