Rubenstein v. Rubenstein

120 A.2d 11 (1956)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Plaintiff (P) filed a complaint in which he claimed that he was put under duress by his estranged wife (D) and that from this duress he conveyed all his right and interest in a farm of 126 acres with a value of $90,000, and a plot of ground and a factory building with a value of $12,000 held by P and D in a tenancy by entirety. An intervener respondent was made a third-party defendant as the purchaser of 110 acres of the farm sold for $23,000 in a contract made by the wife and her corporate codefendant, a price significantly below market. When P made the conveyances, his wife promised she would use the property to care for their two minor children. However, if the 110 acres were sold at the stated price, the interest of the infants would be seriously jeopardized. The trial judge would not allow P to testify to his state of mind. P’s child was diagnosed with childhood schizophrenia, and at this time P’s wife demanded the properties. P testified about gangster violence and arsenic poisoning. The wife’s father was serving a life sentence for arsenic poisoning to defraud insurance companies. The threats were made and the first demand to transfer the property was refused, but both the threats and the demands were made at intervals for a fairly long period of time. There was strong evidence or psychological factors bearing on the subjective standard of the free will of P. A motion to dismiss was made at the close of evidence, and it was granted by the trial court. P appealed.