(Download) "Maclennan v. Maclennan" by Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Maclennan v. Maclennan
- Author : Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
- Release Date : January 27, 1944
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 60 KB
Description
WILKINS, Justice. Following the decision in this case reported in 311 Mass. 709, 42 N.E.2d 838, there was a hearing on the petition and the counterclaim, both of which sought an adjudication of the ownership of certain stock certificates standing in the name of 'Angus D. MacLennan and Mary R. MacLennan as joint tenants with the right of survivorship and not as tenants in common.' A final decree was entered which stated that the recording of the name of the petitioner 'as a joint tenant with the right of survivorship * * * was not an outright gift or advancement or transfer of title,' and that the said securities are the sole property of the respondent. The decree ordered the petitioner 'to assign, transfer, and issue any necessary releases, in respect to each and every certificate of stock,' ordered the State Street Trust Company (which does not appear in the record as a party) to deliver the said securities to the respondent, and dismissed the 'bill of complaint.' See Burroughs v. Wellington, 211 Mass. 494, 496, 98 N.E. 596. The petitioner appealed. There is a report of material facts, and the evidence is reported. G.L.(Ter.Ed.) c. 215, §§ 11, 18. It is the duty of this court to examine the evidence and to decide the case on its own judgment, giving due weight to the findings of the Judge, which will not be reversed on oral testimony unless plainly wrong. Trade Mutual Liability Ins. Co. v. Peters, 291 Mass. 79, 83, 84, 195 N.E. 900; Old Colony Trust Co. v. Yonge, 302 Mass. 49, 50, 18 N.E.2d 335; Hiller v. Hiller, 305 Mass. 163, 164, 25 N.E.2d 163. In this case no question of belief or disbelief of oral testimony is present, for, as will appear hereinafter, there is no variation in any essential respect in the testimony of the petitioner and the respondent, who were the only witnesses called. Compare Vergnani v. Guidetti, 308 Mass. 450, 455, 32 N.E.2d 272. Inferences of fact may be drawn, and no weight is to be attached to inferences drawn by the trial Judge. Malone v. Walsh, 315 Mass. 484, 53 N.E.2d 126, and cases cited.