Ford v. Ford

SLOANE, J.

Plaintiff, Josephine Ford, brought this action against the defendant, Louis M. Ford, her husband, to establish her title to several parcels of land in the city of Los Angeles. She acquired title to one of the properties before her marriage, and, as the court finds, was at the time of her marriage also “the owner of and in the possession of a large sum of money. ’ ’ Shortly after her marriage with defendant she conveyed by deed an undivided one-half interest in this real property to the defendant. The court also finds that after her marriage the other parcels of land were purchased with her separate funds, and the title taken in the names of herself and husband as tenants in common. These properties were subsequently handled by the parties jointly, mortgages and releases were made in their joint names, and moneys collected, handled, and deposited in bank to their joint account. The court further finds that the defendant acquired his apparent interest in this property as follows: That as to the real property she owned before marriage, “after said marriage, and on or about the sixth day of July, 1904, and prior thereto, defendant desired to have it appear that he was the owner of an interest in said property, and importuned that plaintiff should make a conveyance to him of an undivided one-half in said lands and premises, and then and there promised plaintiff that defendant would, whenever plaintiff should demand, reconvey said lands and premises to plaintiff. Plaintiff believed said promises and representations of defendant, and relied upon said representations and promises, and induced solely by

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her reliance and belief in said representations and without other consideration moving to her from defendant, than said belief and said promises on the part of the defendant, and the ■ confidence which she then had in said defendant, did on or about the sixth day of July, 1904, execute and deliver to defendant a conveyance in the form of a grant, bargain, and sale deed, conveying to the defendant an undivided one-half of, in, and to said lands and premises”; and as to the property acquired after marriage: “That the defendant desiring to have it appear that he was the owner of an interest in said lands and premises, at the time of the purchase of each of said last-mentioned pieces and parcels of land, requested plaintiff to permit and to cause conveyances to be made, at the time of each of said purchases, by the predecessors and owners of said lands and -from whom the plaintiff purchased said pieces of land, to the plaintiff and defendant, as tenants in common, and for that purpose to permit the name of defendant to be mentioned in each of said conveyances as a grantee therein, together with the name of plaintiff, and then and there promised plaintiff that if plaintiff should permit said conveyances to be so executed, that he would at any time upon demand by plaintiff convey to her said lands and premises by a good and sufficient deed of conveyance, in such form and of such character so that the legal title to the whole of said lands should be and appear of record in her own name and as her own separate estate and property.” It is also found that there was no other consideration for these conveyances to defendant, that the plaintiff relied on the promises to reconvey, and that the promises were made in bad faith, with no intention to carry them out, but with intent to deceive and defraud the plaintiff.