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26 Mo. 190

George v. Williamson

Supreme Court of Missouri

Decided January 15, 1858

Supreme Court of Missouri · decided 1858-01-15

The county court had power to order the sale of real estate for the payment of debts, and whether the decedent may or may not have made a conveyance of his land in his lifetime, or whether such conveyance was valid or void, is not a question for the county- court to determine, as they, simply to satisfy the demands of creditors, order a sale of all the interest which the intestate had in the land which could be subjected to the demands of creditors.

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

““The conveyance ol' Williamson, however fraudulent against his creditors, was valid against him and his heirs. At his death the land constituted no part of Ms estate, nor could the administrator, who represented his interests, undertake to set it aside; nor had the county court any jurisdiction over the matter. The sale, therefore, under the order of the county court conveyed no title.””

quoted by 1 later decision, including Byrd v. Haul

Relies on Brown's Administrator v. Finley · Bank of United States v. Burke

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1858-01-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 24 later decisions — most recently October 1933

2 federal appellate · 21 state decisions

70185818601870188018901900191019201930decided

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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Napton, Judge,

¶1delivered the opinion of the court.

¶2The administrator of the estate of Thomas Williamson, at the instance of the creditors, applied to the county court of Callaway county for an order to sell the real estate of the deceased for the payment of his debts, the personal property having been exhausted. Among other tracts of land desired to be soid, the administrator represented that a certain tract, describing it, had been conveyed by the deceased in his lifetime to his daughter, and that this conveyance was fraudulent and void as against said Williamson’s creditors. The county court made the order. The land in question was sold in the usual way, and the administrator became the purchaser. He then filed his bill in the circuit court against the daughter of Williamson, setting out' the facts above stated, and praying the court to set aside the conveyance to the said daughter and -decree the title to the land in the plaintiff. There was a demurrer to the bill, which was sustained.

¶3*193Ill our opinion the demurrer was properly sustained. The conveyance of Williamson, however fraudulent against his creditors, was valid against him and his heirs. At his death the land constituted no part of his estate, nor could the administrator, who represented his interests, undertake to set it aside; nor had the county court any jurisdiction over the matter. The sale therefore under the order of the county court conveyed no title.

¶4Where a fraudulent conveyance is made, the creditors or any one of them may file a bill in equity to have thé same set aside; and in such cases it seems to be the better opinion that the creditor who first files his bill obtains a priority, and is entitled to be first paid from the proceeds of the sale, if a sale is decreed. (4 Blackf. 145.)

¶5Such has been substantially declared to be the law by several previous adjudications of this court, and whatever opinion I might entertain individually in relation to the policy or propriety of the course pursued in this case, its illegality is too well settled to be now sanctioned without a change of legislation. (Brown v. Finley, 18 Mo. 375.)

¶6The other judges concurring, the judgment is affirmed.

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