Cahill v. Goecke

PLUMMER, J.

At the conclusion of the trial of the above-named action the court made its findings of fact No. Ill, which reads as follows:

‘1 That the said sum of One Thousand Seven Hundred Sixty-nine and 28/100 Dollars ($1,769.28), now on deposit with L. E. Lampton, County Clerk of Los Angeles County, California, belongs to, and is the property of, plaintiff, Mary Elizabeth Cahill, and should be paid to the said plaintiff, Mary Elizabeth Cahill.”

Judgment was thereupon entered in favor of the plaintiff, from which judgment the defendant appeals.

The money mentioned in the finding and judgment is the value of a certain building and loan certificate which was converted into cash during the pendency of the trial and the money placed in the custody of the clerk of the court to await the termination thereof.

Some time prior to the year 1931, W. L. Waldo and Laura Waldo, his wife, acquired an accumulative investment certificate of the Mutual Building and Loan Association at Long Beach. The certificate was attached to a pass-book, and on the front of the pass-book the name of “W. L. Waldo” was written. The records of the association show that the certifi

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cate just mentioned belonged to W. L. Waldo and Laura Waldo, as joint tenants with the right of survivorship. Laura Waldo died during the year 1931, and while it appears that no proceedings were taken to obtain a decree of any court that the wife’s interest in the certificate had terminated and that W. L. Waldo became the sole owner thereof by reason of the right of survivorship, it is sufficient to say that by reason of the right of survivorship under the certificate, the sole ownership immediately vested in W. L. Waldo without any adjudication of court evidencing that fact. The decree of the court establishing the death of Laura Waldo would be an evidence of title, and an evidence that the title had passed to W. L. Waldo, but would not constitute, in and of itself, transfer of title, as the title would have already passed by operation of law.

The plaintiff in this action appears to have been a foster daughter of W. L. Waldo and Laura Waldo, and had lived with them for a great many years. It appears in the record that some time during September, 1932, W. L. Waldo handed to the plaintiff a joint tenancy card and asked the plaintiff to sign the same. This card was signed, returned by the plaintiff, but just what became of the card does not appear. However, it does appear that the name of the plaintiff was thereafter written upon the pass-book just referred to by someone other than the plaintiff. The record would indicate that it was written by some officer, clerk or employee of the Mutual Building and Loan Association. The pass-book with the certificate attached remained in possession of W. L. Waldo until on or about the 6th or 7th day of February, 1933, at which time the pass-book was handed to the plaintiff by W. L. Waldo, together with the statement made by W. L. Waldo to the plaintiff that “this is yours’’. Shortly thereafter W. L. Waldo, who had been ill for several months, was taken to an hospital, where he subsequently died. It appears that small sums of money were drawn from the building association both by W. L. Waldo and also by the plaintiff. After the delivery of the pass-book, with the certificate attached, to the plaintiff, it remained in her custody and control. Upon the death of W. L. Waldo the executor of his estate claimed the ownership of the property. Hence, this action.