## Facts

- Cora W. Verity (plaintiff) and Charles H. Verity, Jr. (defendant) married in 1915. At marriage, neither owned money or real property, and they initially lived in a small home on land owned by Charles’s father.
- Charles earned income from farming and contracting work. Cora assisted in the farm work to the extent she could, including picking and crating tomatoes and doing other tasks to help the family enterprise.
- Over time, the couple acquired multiple parcels of real property using income from the farming/contracting work and the parties’ combined efforts. Deeds to the parcels were taken solely in Charles’s name.
- In about 1924, Cora questioned why title was only in Charles’s name. Charles told her that it did not matter how title was held because the properties belonged to both of them. Cora accepted that statement and believed she was a joint owner.
- For many years, Cora handled substantial administrative and management work connected to the properties, including bookkeeping, collecting rents, and paying taxes.
- In 1953, Charles took over property management functions.
- Between 1952 and 1957, Cora paid $1,401 from her own funds for taxes and insurance on the properties, acting on her belief that she owned the properties jointly with Charles.
- One parcel had been sold before the action to Arthur W. Stenzel and Sophie Stenzel. By stipulation, the only relief sought against the Stenzels was a lien on the purchase-money mortgage (or its proceeds) arising from that sale.
- Patrick McGuire and Ruth McGuire, and William Spickerman and Dorothy Spickerman, were joined as defendants as tenants occupying parts of the property.
- David Friedman, an attorney and real-estate broker, was joined based on allegations that he received money connected to Charles and the properties during a period when Charles was allegedly insane.
- Cora sued seeking equitable relief: to impress a trust on the parcels (and sale proceeds), to declare that Charles held the properties for both spouses as tenants by the entirety, to compel conveyance into both names, and to obtain an accounting for rents and related proceeds.

## Issues

1. Whether a court of equity should impose a constructive trust (or similar equitable trust) in favor of a wife on real property titled solely in the husband’s name where the spouses acquired the property through joint efforts and the husband assured the wife the property “belonged to both,” leading to her continued contributions and payments.
2. Whether the court could order conveyance of legal title to reflect joint spousal ownership as tenants by the entirety and require an accounting of rents and proceeds.
3. What relief, if any, should be granted as to third parties connected to a sold parcel, existing tenancies, or property-related funds.

## Decision

- The court granted equitable relief to Cora, recognizing that Charles could not, in fairness, retain sole beneficial ownership of property acquired through the parties’ marital efforts after assuring Cora it was jointly owned.
- The court impressed a trust on the parcels (and, where appropriate, traceable proceeds tied to a parcel sold before suit) to protect Cora’s equitable interest.
- The court directed relief consistent with joint ownership between spouses, including conveyance-type relief and an accounting tied to rents and property-related receipts to the extent of Cora’s interest.
- As to the Stenzels, relief was limited (by stipulation) to a lien on the purchase-money mortgage or its proceeds rather than disturbing the purchasers’ title.
- The tenants were joined to bind their tenancy interests to the judgment and to address rent-related relief.
- Any relief involving intermediaries who received property-related funds was treated as ancillary to the main equitable determination regarding the marital property and its proceeds.

## Legal Principles

- A constructive trust may be imposed to prevent unjust enrichment when one spouse holds title in a confidential relationship and, by promise or assurance, induces the other spouse’s contributions of labor or money in reliance on shared ownership.
- In a marriage, assurances that property “belongs to both,” combined with the other spouse’s long-term work in the family enterprise and payments made in the belief of co-ownership, can support equitable recognition of a beneficial interest even though record title is in one spouse’s name.
- Equitable remedies may include impressing a trust on real property and identifiable proceeds, ordering conveyance to place title in both spouses as tenants by the entirety, and ordering an accounting for rents and related receipts.
- When property has been transferred to a purchaser, equitable relief may be tailored to reach a purchase-money mortgage or its proceeds, rather than setting aside the transfer, when that is the relief sought and supported by the circumstances.

## Conclusion

Verity v. Verity holds that where spouses acquired real property through their combined marital efforts, the husband took title in his name, and he assured his wife that title form did not matter because the properties belonged to both, equity may treat the husband as holding the property (and traceable proceeds) in trust to prevent unjust enrichment, and may order conveyance into a tenancy by the entirety along with an accounting and tailored relief affecting third-party interests.


Verity v. Verity, 21 Misc. 2d 385, 191 N.Y.S.2d 204 (1959)