Baird v. Baird

1. Marriage ? Actionable fraud. Representation by a prospective husband that he was an honest, honorable man, that he loved wife and wanted her to be his wife, that he wanted to make a home for her and lead a happy, normal marriage life, did not go to the essence of the marriage contract and did not constitute actionable fraud. 2. Equity ? Jurisdiction of actionable fraud. It is only actionable fraud against which a court of equity has jurisdiction to relieve, and such fraud will never be presumed and must be pleaded and proved. 3. Marriage ? Fraudulent misrepresentations do not vitiate here. Fraudulent misrepresentations of one party as to birth, social position, fortune, good health, and temperament, cannot vitiate a marriage contract. 4. Husband and wife ? Evidence insufficient for restitution. In action by wife to secure restitution for advancements made by her to her husband, the evidence was insufficient to sustain finding of trial court that the husband procured a certain sum of money from the wife and applied the money on the purchase of a dwelling house and placed the title of the dwelling in his own name to the exclusion of the wife and against her wishes. 5. Husband and wife ? Evidence insufficient to show promise to repay and reconvey. The evidence was insufficient to sustain implied finding of trial court that at time money was advanced to pay the husbands debts, there was any promise, agreement or understanding that he would repay any part of sum or that he would promise or agree to convey title to any of his property to his wife, but rather established that the money was given to the husband as a gift by the wife. 6. Husband and wife ? Gifts ? No equitable ownership. One spouse may not make a gift of property to the other and thereafter continue to be equitable owner of such property. 7. Husband and wife ? Presumption of gift. A transfer of title to property from one spouse to another is presumed to be a gift. 8. Gifts ? Rebutting presumption of gift. To overcome the presumption that a transaction was a gift, the - Page 123 evidence must be clear, convincing and practically free from doubt and such presumption is not overcome as a matter of law merely by the positive testimony of an interested witness to the contrary. 9. Husband and wife ? Transfers here were gifts. Those funds, credits and other personalty which wife voluntarily delivered and transferred to her husband without consideration but with donative intent constituted gifts, and upon the husbands acceptance the wife had no power to revoke. 10. Gifts ? Elements of gift. The essential elements of a gift are the delivery, the accompanying donative intent and acceptance by the donee.