Williamson v. Dawson

Citations

• 272 Pa. 370
• 116 A. 297
• 1922 Pa. LEXIS 831

Syllabus

<p>Equity — Accounting for profits — Purchase of coal lands — Joint owners — One party buying out the other — Signature to paper— Modification <of paper — Notice—Trust and trustees — Constructive trust — Trustee ex maleficio.</p> <p>1. Where two persons join together in the purchase of coal lands, and the first sells out his interest to the second, and thereafter the latter sells the whole estate in the lands at a profit to a person who had been previously negotiating for them at a price named, but had postponed acceptance, the second cannot compel his associate to account for half the profits, if it appears that he knew of the pending negotiations, and there is no evidence that, at the time he sold out, an agreement of sale had been made with the final purchaser.</p> <p>2. Where, in an equity suit, it appears that plaintiff and defendant were about to enter into an agreement, and that defendant refused to sign a paper unless a change of a word was made therein, and thereupon caused the word to be changed in plaintiff’s presence, and plaintiff subsequently caused the paper to be written in its original form, and plaintiff then signed it without being aware that a change had been made, plaintiff was bound to call the attention of defendant to the fact that he had presented a redrawn copy of the agreement in its original form, and, failing to do so, he could not ask a court of equity to assist him in taking advantage of defendant’s mistake.</p>