T. F. MCNEIL, PLAINTIFF IN ERROR,
v.
LEMUEL WILLIAMS, DEFENDANT IN ERROR
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In this replevin action, the Florida Supreme Court reversed a judgment awarding ten cows to the defendant because the trial court refused to instruct the jury on the doctrine of estoppel by acquiescence, which could have applied to a married woman whose husband sold her separate property with her knowledge and without her objection.
The court held that the trial court erred in refusing the estoppel instruction. If Mrs. Williams knew of the sale and acquiesced by conduct that reasonably misled the purchaser, such evidence could justify a finding that she 'joined in' the sale under the statutory requirement that husband and wife join in sales of the wife's separate property.
“The husband and wife shall join in all sales, transfers and conveyances of the property of the wife.”
This quote from Section 2590 of the General Statutes establishes the statutory requirement for disposition of a wife's separate property.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceT.F. McNeil obtained a writ of replevin to recover 31 cows and one bull that he had purchased from C.D. Head, who had purchased them from Lemuel Willi…
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Whitfield, C. J.
The plaintiff in error brought replevin in the Court of Record for Escambia County for the recovery of 31 cows and one bull, and the plaintiff received possession under the writ as provided by the statute. Pleas of not guilty and that the cows were not the property of the plaintiff, but were the property of the defendant, were filed. It appears that Lemuel Williams feold the cattle to C. D. Head, and Head sold them to T. F. McNeil before they were fully paid for. Williams got possession of the cattle and T. F. McNeil recovered them under a writ of replevin. At the trial counsel for the defendant “stated to the Court and in the presence of the jury that the defendant would not claim in this suit any of the cows taken under the writ of replevin herein,” except ten named cows “as to which cows defendant would claim a verdict in this suit.” There is testimony that the ten cows claimed by the defendant Williams belonged to his wife and that she did not give her consent or know of the sale of the ten cows by her husband until some time after the sale. There is also some testimony that Mrs. Williams knew of the sale of the cattle and made no objection thereto, but after the sale talked to the purchaser about his purchase of the cows.
The Court refused to give the following charge: “A married woman who permits her husband to sell her property with knowledge of the sale and without objecting thereto or notifying the purchaser of her rights, is estopped from thereafter claiming the cows.” Error is ássigned on the refusal to give this charge. Judgment was rendered for the ten cows in favor of the defendant. After this the defendant was permitted to file a disclaimer as to twenty-one cows and one bull. The judgment was amended on the motion for new trial so as to permit a remittitur of $65.00 to be made of the amount awarded to the defendant for the value of the ten cows. This amended judgment appears only in the hill of exceptions, but the original judgment is in the record proper. The transcript brought here on writ of error is not in a satisfactory condition, but enough appears to enable the Court to consider the propriety of the refusal to give the charge above quoted. As notice was duly given at the trial that the defendant claimed only ten of the cows, no harm resulted in permitting a disclaimer as to the other cattle to be filed after judgment.
Under the statute the property of the wife remains in the care and custody of the husband, and ordinarily the husband may recover in replevin for the wife’s personal property unlawfully detained from his custody; and the title of the wife may be shown under the plea of not guilty.
Section 2590 of the General Statutes provides that “The husband and wife shall join in all sales, transfers and conveyances of the property of the wife.” The statute does not expressly state how or in what manner or form the husband and wife “shall join” in sales and transfers of the wife’s personal property; and such sales and transfers may be accomplished in any appropriate and legal way.
If the ten cows did in fact belong to Mrs. Williams, and she did know that a sale of the cows was in fact made by her husband and that the possession of them was transferred to the bona fide purchaser, and she acquiesced therein by conduct that reasonably misled the purchaser to his injury, evidence of such facts may be sufficient to justify a finding that she did “join in” the sale and transfer of the title and possession of the cows, her separate personal property. See 21 Cyc. 1348; Warner v. Watson, 85 Fla. 402, 17 South Rep. 654; Hill v. Meinhard, 39 Fla. 111, 21 South. Rep. 805. The charge requested and refused may not be accurately worded, but it is not fatally defective. In view of the evidence that Mrs. Williams did know of and spoke to the purchaser about his purchase without .objecting to it or referring to her rights, of the refusal of the Judge to give the quoted charge, and of the large award as to the value of the cows, which was reduced by remittitur, it is apparent that justice requires a consideration-of the case by another jury.
The judgment is reversed and a new trial granted.
Taylor, Shackleford, Cockrell and Hocker, J. J., concur.
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Edgar v. Maude Milling Bacon, 97 Fla. 679 (Fla. 1929)…fee v. Groover, 20 Fla. 78; Perry’s Common Law Pldg., 121. See also an able review of this entire subject by J. E. Futch, Esq., of the DeLand, Fla., bar, in the Florida Bar Assoc. Journal, Nov., 1927. See also in this connection McNeill v. Williams, 64 Fla. 97, 59 So. R. 562; Thresher v. McElroy, 90 Fla. 435, 106 So. R. 79, and Florida Citrus Exchange v. Grisham, 65 Fla. 46, 61 So. R. 123. But the trouble with this declaration was that it joined as plaintiffs the married woman and her husband in Ms capac…
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Haddock v. Fla. Motor Lines Corp., 150 Fla. 848 (Fla. 1942)…State that the husband has a right to the custody and management of the wife’s property, subject to termination by the wife, and by virtue of such right he may prosecute suits and collect money due his wife. Section 5867, C.G.L. McNeil v. Williams, 64 Fla. 97, 59 So. 562; Florida Citrus Exchange v. Grisham, 65 Fla. 46, 61 So. 123. When that relationship ceases then, whatever right of action the ex-wife might have cannot be prosecuted by the former husband because he is no longer entitled to the custody a…
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Easterly v. Dorothea Wildman, 87 Fla. 73 (Fla. 1924)…p. 212; Johns v. Bowden, 68 Fla. 32, 66 South. Rep. 155; Tampa & Jacksonville Ry. Co. v. Crawford, 67 Fla. 77, 64 South. Rep. 437. Where the facts of the case warrant it, the doetorine of estoppel may be applied to married women. McNeil v. Williams, 64 Fla. 97, 59 South. Rep. 562; Cross & Johnson v. Elliott, 64 Fla. 318, 59 South. Rep. 944. We think, therefore, that there was error in the order striking the portion of the answer in which this defense to the suit was sought to be interposed. This paragrap…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Hill v. Meinhard, 39 Fla. 111 (Fla. 1897)
- Revell v. State, 85 Fla. 402 (Fla. 1923)