Matthaei v. Pownall

Citations

• 235 Pa. 460
• 84 A. 444
• 1912 Pa. LEXIS 571

Syllabus

<p>Equity — Setting aside deed — Confidential relation — Physician —Fraud—Responsive answer.</p> <p>1. The relation of a physician to his patient is one of trust and confidence, and while such relation does not per se forbid the acceptance of a gift or conveyance by him from his patient, the burden is on the physician to prove that such a gift or conveyance was fairly and honestly obtained, and that the transaction was above suspicion.</p> <p>2. Where a conveyance of the greater part of the grantor’s estate was made to one occupying a confidential relation towards him, it is not necessary that actual fraud should appear in order that the conveyance may be set aside.</p> <p>3. In a suit in equity by the heirs of a deceased grantor against the grantee, a physician, to have the conveyance set aside, the evidence showed that the defendant was a near neighbor, friend and attending physician of the grantor who reposed great confidence in him. On the day before the grant the defendant wrote to the grantee who lived in a boarding house kept by a woman over eighty years of age and’ several miles from his relatives, deprecating a sale of a hundred acre farm which was four-fifths of the grantor’s whole estate and worth about $8,000. In this letter the grantee conveyed to the grantor’s mind a value of the farm much below its real worth, and promised that if the farm was deeded to the grantee that he would not only pay the sum of $400 per year, but would obligate himself not to dispose of the property until the grantor was satisfied that he would be secure in his income, and that he would give the latter free professional services, and cheerfully administer to his wants and comforts during life. The written contract accompanying the deed and executed by the grantor did not contain the last two stipulations, and the grantee did not explain their omission. Nor did it appear that the grantee had been advised of his rights, or that the deed and contract had been explained to him, or