Smithsonian Institution v. Meech

Citations

• 169 U.S. 398
• 18 S. Ct. 396
• 42 L. Ed. 793
• 1898 U.S. LEXIS 1502

Syllabus

<p>In the District of Columbia it is the rule that when, upon a purchase of real estate the conveyance of the legal title is to one person while the consideration is paid by another, an implied or resulting trust arises, which may be shown by parol proof; and the grantee in the conveyance will be held, on such evidence, as trustee for the party from whom the consideration proceeds, whose rigiits will be enforced as against those claiming under the record title.</p> <p>This ease comes'within that rule, the evidence being clear and satisfactory that the oral agreement made between Mr. and Mrs. Avery, at the time when the property was conveyed to the latter, was made as asserted by the Smithsonian Institution.</p> <p>Such being established as the fact, it is the duty of a court of equity to recognize that agreement as against the legal effect of the conveyance to Mrs. Avery.</p> <p>The presumption that when the consideration for a deed is paid by a husband, and the conveyance is made to his wife, the conveyance is intended for her benefit, is oneof fact which can be overthrown by proof of the real intent of the parties.</p> <p>When a testator declares in his will that his several bequests are made'upon the condition that the legatees acquiesce in the provisions of his will, no legatee can, without compliance with that condition, receive his bounty, or be put,in a pqsition to,use. it in an effort to thwart his expressed purposes.</p>