Ballinger v. Ballinger

CURTIS, J.

This appeal is from a judgment adjudging the plaintiff to be the owner of certain shares of stock which were admittedly the community property of plaintiff and Frederick S. Ballinger, her deceased husband, during the lifetime of the latter. Plaintiff and Frederick S. Ballinger were married in 1910, and lived together as husband and wife at all times since said date up to' the time of his death, which occurred on the 12th day of February, 1934. On April 12, 1924, almost ten years prior to his death, the said Frederick S. Ballinger was the owner, as community property, of 298 out of the 300 shares of common stock and 200 shares

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of the preferred stock, being all of the preferred stock, of W. B. Ballinger & Son, a corporation which he had been instrumental in organizing. During the years from 1926 to 1929, inclusive, Frederick S. Ballinger endorsed his. shares of common stock and had new certificates issued, one to himself for 151 shares and two to Warren N. Ballinger for 147 shares. Thereafter he endorsed the certificate of stock issued to himself and had two new certificates issued, one to Warren N. Ballinger for twelve shares and one for 139 shares in the name of the plaintiff, Minna Ballinger. On November 8, 1929, Frederick S. Ballinger endorsed the certificate for the 200 shares of the preferred stock owned by him and had a new certificate issued and delivered to Warren N. Ballinger. During the same period of time, comparatively speaking, in which the above transfers were made, Frederick S. Ballinger was the owner of ninety-six shares of the common stock, out of 100 shares, of the W. B. Ballinger & Son Investment Company, a corporation. On November 8, 1929, Frederick S. Ballinger endorsed his certificate for said ninety-six shares of his common stock of the W. B. Ballinger & Son Investment Company and had new certificates issued to Warren N. Ballinger for a total of fifty-three shares, and one to Minna for forty-three shares, of said stock. About this same time Frederick S. Ballinger had ten shares of the capital stock of the Wheeler Island Land Company, which were the community property of himself and wife, issued in the name of and delivered to Warren N. Ballinger.

The court found that all of these shares of stock were the community property of the plaintiff and her husband, that all of the transfers thereof to Warren N. Ballinger were made without the knowledge or consent of the plaintiff and were without consideration; that plaintiff did not know of any of the transfers, either to Warren N. Ballinger or to herself, until after the death of her husband, when Warren N. Ballinger delivered to plaintiff those shares of said stock which had theretofore been issued in her name. The court further found that all of said shares of stock so transferred by Frederick S. Ballinger and delivered by him to Warren N. Ballinger were gifts to the said Warren N. Ballinger by the said Frederick S. Ballinger without consideration. Judgment was rendered, therefore, in favor of the plaintiff for one-half of each and all of the shares of stock which were transferred