Morgan v. Fisher's Adm'r

Citations

• 82 Va. 417
• 1886 Va. LEXIS 53

Syllabus

<p>1. Fiduciary—Resulting trust.—Where a fiduciary buys property with the trust assets, or an interest in the trust estate, such as a mortgage or the like, with his own funds, and the title is taken in his own name, he cannot hold the same for his own, but must hold it upon a resulting trust for the beneficiary.</p> <p>2. Idem— Case at bar.—Here the evidence shows that in paying for the land bought by her testator in his lifetime, the executrix was acting in her fiduciary character, and her payments enured to the benefit of the estate.</p> <p>3. Purchasers—For value without notice—Enquiry.—Whatever puts purchaser on enquiry leading to ascertainment of charges on land, is sufficient notice.</p> <p>4. Laches—Case at bar.—Executrix paid, in 1850, the purchase money on the land purchased in 1840 by her testator, and took the conveyance to herself “ as executrix.” In 1854 she conveyed the land to a trustee (reciting in the deed that, though she was described in the conveyance to herself “ as executrix,” she had paid for it with her own means, and was hers), in trust to secure six bonds, payable to her son, by whom they were assigned to Fisher. After her death, Fisher’s administrator, in 1881, instituted this suit to enforce the trust deed to satisfy said bonds, claiming that if the land was not her property, she was at least subrogated to the vendor’s lien thereon as security for the money advanced by her, and that this lien passed by her trust deed—</p> <p>Held :</p> <p>Fisher’s rights had been lost by his laches.</p>