Gwynn v. Dierssen

California Supreme Court Mar 13, 1894 No. No. 18244Published

Before: Paterson

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Holding. The court held that a swamp-land assessment and subsequent foreclosure sale against a wife were void because the property was community property owned by both spouses, and the assessment failed to name the husband as the owner. Consequently, the husband's prior conveyance of the property to the plaintiff remained valid and was not divested by the void judicial proceedings.

Issues

Whether property acquired during marriage in the wife's name is presumed to be community property.
Whether a swamp-land assessment and foreclosure sale are valid when the assessment fails to name the actual owner of the community property.
Whether the 1889 amendment to Section 164 of the Civil Code applies retroactively.

Disposition. reversed

Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion

“The deed from Taylor to Cornelia S. Gwynn vested the title in the marital community.”

“The sale of the land under the decree of foreclosure did not affect the title of William Gwynn, Sr. The assessment in the name of Cornelia S. Gwynn was void.”

Synopsis

Husband and Wife—Community Property—Conveyance to Wife—Presumption.—A deed of bargain and sale to a married woman, executed prior to the amendment of 1889 to section ] 64 of the Civil Code, must be presumed to have been paid for from the community funds, and to have vested the title in the marital community, subject to the absolute disposition of the husband, in the absence of rebutting proof that it was purchased with money belonging to the separate estate of the wife.

Id.—Property Taken in Name of Wife—Notice to Purchaser.—The fact that the property was taken in the name of the wife alone does not of itself give a purchaser notice of a separate claim or right of the wife to the property, where the deed does not show upon its face any intention on the part of the husband to have the property conveyed to her as her separate estate.

Id,—Conveyance From Wife.—All parties purchasing real estate standing in the name of a wife, where the deed presumptively or in fact was given for a money consideration, during coverture, do so at their peril.

Id.—Construction of Code—Amendment Not Retroactive.—The amendment of 1889 to section 164 of the Civil Code is not retroactive in its effect.

Id.—Swamp-Land Assessment—Sale of Land Under Foreclosure.—The sale of land under a decree foreclosing a swamp-land assessment lien against the wife, to whom a grant, bargain, and sale deed was made in the year 1880, cannot affect the title of the husband, and such assessment in the name of the wife is void.

Id.—Taxation—Proceedings In Invitum.—The provisions of statutes upon the subject of taxation for the assessment of property are in invitum, and must he strictly followed to divest title.

Id.—Name cm Party Assessed.—Where a swamp-land assessment named a person as the owner, no liability is created against anybody else, and none against the person named, unless such person is the owner of the property.

Id.—Void Assessment.—A swamp-land assessment to a party named and to unknown owners is void.

Paterson, J.— This is an action to quiet title. The plaintiff’s title to the locus in quo is derived as follows: 1. A grant, no consideration being named, from W. B. Taylor, who was at the time the owner of the land, to Cornelia S. Gwynn, November 5, 1880; 2. Deed, grant, bargain, and sale in form, expressing a consideration of three hundred and fifty dollars, from Cornelia S. Gwynn to R. W. Bessinger, June 4, 1887; 3. Deed from R. W. Bessinger to plaintiff, December, 1887; 4. Deed from plaintiff to C. S. Gwynn, consideration love and affection, dated September 6,1888; 5. Deed from C. S. Gwynn to plaintiff, February 21, 1889; 6. Deed from William Gwynn, Sr., father of plaintiff, to the plaintiff, expressing consideration of five hundred dollars, February 20,1889; 7. Deed from William Gwynn, Sr., to plaintiff, November 20, 1889.

The defendant claims title under a certificate of sale by the sheriff of Yolo county, dated April 18,1891. The sale was made pursuant to a decree rendered against Cornelia S. Gwynn, June 11, 1888, in an action brought to foreclose the lien of a delinquent swamp-land assessment upon the land in controversy. At the time of the conveyance by Taylor to Cornelia S. Gwynn, the latter and William Gwynn, Sr., were, and ever since have been, husband and wife.

[565]The court below rendered judgment for the defendant. The plaintiff moved for a new trial, and from the order denying the same he has appealed.

The deed from Taylor to Cornelia S. Gwynn vested the title in the marital community. It does not appear whether the purchase price was paid from separate or community funds—the presumption is they were community funds. Such a presumption may be rebutted by showing that it was purchased with money belonging to the separate estate of the wife, but. no attempt to do so was made in this case. The defendant could take no better title under the decree foreclosing the swamp-land assessment lien than he would have acquired if the plaintiff had conveyed directly to him, and all parties purchasing real estate standing in the name of a wife, where the deed presumptively or in fact was given for a money consideration during coverture, do so at their peril. (Ramsdell v. Fuller, 28 Cal. 43.) The rule stated in the case just cited has been approved over and over again in this state, and has become a settled rule of property. Whether a deed be taken in the name of one or the other of the spouses upon a valuable consideration, the presumption is the same. The fact that the property is taken in the name of the wife alone does not of itself give a purchaser notice of any separate claim or right to the property. It is otherwise where the deed upon its face shows an intention on the part of the husband to have the property conveyed to her as her separate estate. The fact that the deed from the plaintiff to his mother was a deed of gift is immaterial, it being shown that at the time the deed was given he had no title to convey. Section 164 of the Civil Code, as amended in 1889, is not retroactive in effect. (Tolman v. Smith, 85 Cal. 280; Jordan v. Fay, 98 Cal. 267.)

Gwynn v. Dierssen

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