FRANCES B. GRAY, APPELLANT,
v.
STANDARD DREDGING COMPANY, ET AL., APPELLEES
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Plaintiff Gray appealed dismissal orders seeking to enforce an equitable trust or lien against a dredge purchased by Reliable Dredging Company using $2,500 withdrawn from Standard Dredging Company's account by its president. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal, holding that Florida does not recognize the trust fund doctrine that would support Gray's claim.
The court affirmed the dismissal, holding that Florida does not recognize the trust fund doctrine and therefore Gray's claim for equitable relief fails. The allegations of the bill presented no ground for equitable relief against any of the named defendants.
“There is but one theory upon which the complainant could hope to recover in this suit and that is upon the theory that the so-called trust fund doctrine applies in Florida and this Court has repeatedly held that it does not.”
Establishes that the trust fund doctrine is the sole basis for plaintiff's claim and that Florida law does not recognize this doctrine.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceStandard Dredging Company owed plaintiff Gray money. George V. Greene, president of Standard Dredging Company, withdrew $2,500 from the company's chec…
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The appeal in this case is from an order dismissing the bill of complaint as to the defendant Reliable Dredging Company and also from an order dismissing the amended bill of complaint as to all defendants. The salient facts as shown by the bill of complaint are:
*89That Standard Dredging Company was' indebted to the plaintiff. That one George V. Greene was President of said company; that after the maturity of the obligation of Standard Dredging Company to the complainant, Greene withdrew from the checking account of Standard Dredging Company $2,500.00 in payment of salary due to Greene by Standard Dredging Company and thereafter used the same $2,500.00 as part payment in the purchase of a dredge for Reliable Dredging Company, a corporation, the title to which was taken in the name of the corporation, and that Greene was then the President of that corporation. That thereafter Reliable Dredging Company agreed to sell to the defendant Duval Engineering & Construction Co. and that company agreed to purchase the same dredge and the latter named company deposited $5,000.00 with Barnett National Bank to be delivered to Reliable Dredging Company as part payment of the dredge on the happening of certain unknown contingencies.
The bill alleges that the -complainant has'- recovered a judgment against the defendant Standard Dredging Company in the sum of $14,505.11 together with $7.50 costs. The bill seeks a decree holding that there exists in favor of Standard Dredging Company and all of its creditors an equitable trust or lien upon the “Dredge Reliable,” “and/or its proceeds to the extent of $2,500.00 and/or to the extent of the increase and profits thereof,” and that the trust be enforced in favor of complainant.
The bill also contains alternative prayers' of relief which we feel it is not necessary for us to discuss.
Greene was not made a party by the original bill of complaint, and while he was made a party to the amended bill of complaint, we are unable to discern why he was so included because the last paragraph of the amended bill of complaint is as follows:
*90“And as' to the defendant George V. Greene who has not heretofore been a party to this suit, your oratrix specifies that she seeks no direct relief, and that she does not require him to appear or to answer thereto.”
There is but one theory upon which the complainant could hope to recover in this suit and that is upon the theory that the so-called trust fund doctrine applies in Florida and this Court has repeatedly held that it does' not. See Wheeler v. Mathews, 70 Fla. 317, 70 So. 416; Guaranty Trust & Savings Bank v. U. S. Trust Co., 89 Fla. 324, 103 So. 620.
Inasmuch as the complainant has not seen fit to pray for any relief against the defendant Greene, we are not called upon to determine whether or not the complainant is entitled to have an accounting against Greene because of an alleged violation of Section 43 of Chapter 10096, Acts of 1925, now section 6569 C. G. L., and, therefore, we express no opinion in that regard.
The allegations of the bill presented no ground for equitable relief in behalf of the complainant against any other of the named defendants. Therefore, the orders appealed from should be affirmed and it is so ordered.
Affirmed.
Davis, C. J., and Whitfield, Terrell and Brown, J. J., concur.
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Citator
Cited By (11 total)
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Hayes v. Belleair Dev. Co., 120 Fla. 326 (Fla. 1935)…and is followed in many states and was' incorporated into the law of this state by Chapter 10096, Acts of 1925, Section 6569, Compiled General Laws of 1927. It had not been approved nor followed here prior to this act. Gray v. Standard Dredging Co., 109 Fla. 87, 111 Fla. 149, 149 So. 733. Appellee having been organized under the law as it existed prior to the enactment of Chapter 10096, Acts of 1925, its assets were not a trust fund in the hands' of its officers but could become such only when taken in han…
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Depfer v. Walker, 125 Fla. 189 (Fla. 1935)…e construction contended for in State, ex rel. Carter, v. Call, was approved and became a part of the statutory law of the state. The rule contended for is correct and has often been approved by this and other courts. Gray v. Standard Dredging Co., 109 Fla. 87, 111 Fla. 149, 149 So. 733; Layne v. Tribune Co., 108 Fla. 177, 146 So. 234; State v. Ensley, 177 Ind. 483, 97 N. E. 113; Barnewall v. Murrell, 108 Ala. 366, 18 So. 831; Ex Parte Carey, 306 Mo. 287, 267 S. W. 806; People, ex rel., v. Stewart, 281 Il…
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Akey v. Murphy, 238 So. 2d 94 (Fla. 1970)…m which it has been adopted, in so far as that construction is not inharmonious with the spirit and policy of our own general legislation on the same subject.” This rule has been many times followed by this court. See Gray v. Standard Dredging Co., 109 Fla. 87, 149 So. 733 (1933); State ex rel. Porter v. Atkinson, 108 Fla. 325, 146 So. 581 (1933); and, most recently, Blank v. Yoo Hoo of Florida Corp., Fla.1969, 222 So. 2d 420. It seems that the statutes of California and Oklahoma prohibiting contracts res…
Previewing 3 of 11 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- The Guar. Tr. & Sav. Bank v. United States Tr. Co., 89 Fla. 324 (Fla. 1925)
- Wheeler v. Matthews, 70 Fla. 317 (Fla. 1915)