Paddon v. Harris

THOMPSON, J.

This is an appeal from a judgment quieting title against the claims of plaintiff and appellant to the property of the estate of Charles Locke Paddon, deceased. Inasmuch as four persons who are to be mentioned herein bear the surname of Locke Paddon, it is well to emphasize, as an aid to clarity, that appellant Una Margaret Locke Paddon is the divorced wife of plaintiff, William Locke Paddon. Her claim to the property is based

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upon a property settlement agreement with her former husband, which included a provision that each should have an undivided one-half interest in any undisclosed property standing in the name of the other. In her pleading herein she alleged that her former husband, the plaintiff, had conveyed property to his brother Charles Locke Paddon in order to secrete the same and to cheat and defraud her of her rights. She also alleged that if the plaintiff recovered anything by virtue of his action against respondent she was entitled to a one-half thereof.

Having briefly stated the substance of appellant’s claim, let us observe the procedure by which the issue thereon was framed by the pleadings. According to plaintiff’s complaint, on May 9, 1928, Evalynne D. Locke Paddon brought suit for divorce against her husband, Charles Locke Paddon, who at the time was in poor health. The plaintiff alleged that he took his brother to Canada and then alone returned to Oakland for the purpose of negotiating a property settlement with his brother’s wife, it being agreed between him and his brother that he, the ^plaintiff, should have one-half of whatever property he could secure for them through agreement with the complaining wife. He further alleged that the property was to be transferred to his brother, and that he was to hold one-half thereof as trustee for plaintiff. As a result of his negotiations with Evalynne D. Locke Paddon a settlement was agreed upon, he alleged, and the property was conveyed to Charles Locke Paddon; and that all of the estate left by decedent consisted of the property so secured, or the result of the exchange of that property for other property, and asked that he be declared to be the owner of one-half of all the property and that it be conveyed to him.

The respondent brought appellant in as a necessary party and by cross-complaint sought to quiet the title of the estate against the claims of both. As already indicated, the court found in favor of respondent and rendered judgment accordingly.