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19 Me. 79

Sparrow v. Chesley

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine

Decided April 15, 1841

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine · decided 1841-04-15

From the trustee’s disclosure it appeared, that she purchased of Susan Chesley, certain bank shares, for which she paid by her negotiable note for the amount agreed upon, upon which she had made divers payments —- that she was the daughter of Joseph and Susan Chesley — that her father had more than twenty-five years before the death of her brother Albert, absconded and left her mother and family without making any provision for their maintenance — that he had resided in…

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1841-04-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 5 later decisions — most recently September 1932

1 federal appellate · 4 state decisions

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Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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¶1The opinion of the Court was delivered by

Weston C. J.

¶2The conveyance made by the principal defendant, of property in trust for the benefit of his wife and children, which furnished the means of purchasing the stocks, now held by the supposed trustee, being voluntary, is void as against his creditors, but until they manifested themselves, or interfered, we are not aware that the sale or disposal of the trust property, in pursuance of the trust, can be defeated or vacated, as against a bona fide purchaser. The principal debt- or was at liberty to purchase stocks with the property conveyed, and afterwards to sell them to his daughter, or any, other person, for a valuable consideration, his indebtedness notwith*81standing, provided it was not done to defeat or defraud creditors. What he could lawfully do directly, he might do indirectly, through trustees and the authorized act of his wife. By an instrument under his hand and seal, executed to trustees he placed the property at her disposal. Property purchased with the trust fund, in virtue of this authority, she sold for a valuable, and for aught appears, adequate, consideration to her daughter. The notes and payment received from her was a substitute for the stocks, as they were a substitute for the trust moneys, with which they were purchased. The whole being done by a power from the husband is of equal validity, as if done by himself. From the disclosure, the transaction must bo taken to have been fair and in good faith, on the part of the supposed trustee. It docs not appear to us that the rights of the creditor, or the justice of the case require, that it should be unravelled and defeated as against her, and that she, against whom no fraud is imputable under the disclosure, should be subjected for his benefit to the loss of the consideration paid. Whatever may be our judgment, she may be hoi den to pay the notes, if negotiated. And she has, in our opinion, discharged herself upon the facts disclosed.

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