Van Wyck v. Seward

Citations

• 6 Paige Ch. 62
• 1836 N.Y. LEXIS 224
• 1836 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 48

Syllabus

<p>A verdict for the defendant and judgment thereon in an ejectment suit, previous to the revised statutes, brought for the recovery of lands alleged to have been fraudulently conveyed to the defendant, is not a bar to a subse- . quent suit in chancery against him to set aside the conveyance on the ground of fraud.</p> <p>The doctrine of estoppels, as a mere technical rule, is not favored in courts of equity; and where there is no estoppel at law, the court of chancery will not resort to it to deprive a party of his rights. But the verdict of a jury in an ejectment suit, between the same parties, and upon the same question, is proper to he taken into consideration in determining a doubtful question of fact in a subsequent suit in chancery; and it may be a sufficient reason for refusing to award a feigned issue'in a case where an issue would otherwise have been proper.</p> <p>The mere fact of an existing indebtedness, does not render a voluntary conveyance absolutely fraudulent, or void in law, as against the creditors whose debts were previously contracted, if there was no intention on 'the part of the grantor to delay or defraud his creditors.</p> <p>Where a parent makes an advancement to his child, and honestly and fairly retains in his hands sufficient property to pay all his debts, such child will not be bound to refund the advancement, for the benefit of the creditors, although it should afterwards happen that the parent does not pay his debts which existed at the time of the making of such advancement. But where the debtor makes a voluntary conveyance of his property, without any valuable consideration, and for the purpose of defrauding creditors, it seems that a court of equity may follow the property into the hands of the voluntary donee, for the benefit of such creditors, although the donee was not privy to the intended fraud.</p>