Williams v. Merriam

Citations

• 72 Kan. 312
• 83 P. 976
• 1905 Kan. LEXIS 346

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Dower — Release—Ownership of Proceeds. In 1879 a widow sold and released her right of dower in her deceased husband’s land in the state of Illinois-to the then owner of the fee. Held, that, the state having no statute relating thereto, the common-law rule applied, and the consideration received for such release became the absolute property of the widow and did not remain a part of the decedent’s estate, of which she had only a life use.</p> <p>2. -Mistake of Law and Fact — Release Void as to Decedent’s Sons. Where such widow, pending an action to have her dower assigned, enters into a written agreement with her attorney in that action, believing and relying upon his honest, but mistaken, advice that she will only be entitled to the use of the amount received for such release during her lifetime, and that at her death the same will go to the heirs of her deceased husband, and by such writing authorizes him to sell and release her dower right for $6000 and invest the amount in improved lands or real-estate mortgages so that she shall receive therefrom $400 annually, free of expense, and by such writing further provides that upon her death the $6000 shall be paid to the sons of her deceased husband or their heirs, and the attorney does sell and release her dower right for $6000 and receives and keeps the same invested for over twenty years, and then dies, leaving such sum invested in notes secured by real-estate mortgages, and the widow thereafter brings a suit to have the written agreement set aside, held, that as to the sons of the deceased husband the provision is void.</p> <p>3. -Innocent Purchasers. Where such attorney, after receiving the $6000, buys a large tract of land and takes the deed to the same in his own name as “trustee,” and pays the $6000 as a part of the purchase-price, and executes a mortgage as “trustee” to secure the remainder, and thereafter contracts to sell the land to the sons of the deceased husband, making