46 FIDBBAL —BlPOBTEB•
A i . Strom- v. McGaum¤1z and another.
» · (Circuit Uowt, E. D. Virginia. May 29, 1884.)
Hoirnsrmrns-Cmuor mr Rasanvnn our or- Pxnrnnnsm Pnormnrr on In-
sonvmsr Frau.
Under the Virginia homestead law, partners in an insolvent ilrm cannot re·
serve to themselves homestead exemptions out of partnership property, as such,
` to the detriment of partnership creditors.
A In Equity. . i
C. H. McGruder and H. Condon were partners in the retail shoe
trade inthe city of Richmond, who, finding themselves insolvent, ex-
ecuted, on the fourth of January, 1884, an assignment of their stock in
trade, and all debts due the firm, to Sol. Cutchins, by deed of rec-
ord, and charged the fund that should arise from sales with various
preferences, which it is unnecessary to specify. Of the goods as-
signed a portion listed on Schedule A had been paid for, and those
‘ listed on Schedule B had not been paid for. The two lists, A and
B, were attached to the trust deed; but the value of the goods were
not specihed on these lists, and they do not show the aggregate value
of the goods embraced in each list. In the state of Virginia home—
stead exemptions cannot be claimed out of property which has not
been paid for. The deed, among other things, recites that "whereas,
the said C. H. McGruder and H. Condon, each being a householder
and head of a family, desire to secure each for himself and his fam-
ily the benefit of their homestead exemptions out of such of their
property as has been paid for by them," etc., they "d0 hereby declare
theirintention to claim, and do, each for himself, claim such home-
stead exemptions, with a description of the property so claimed as
hereinafter contained;" and “whereas, said McGruder and Condon,
after securing each to himself thebeneht of their homestead exemp-
tions, as above stated, desire to secure their creditors as fully and as far
as their means will permit them; now, therefore," they go on to assign
their stock in trade for the purposes which they mention in the deed:
first, to pay the necessary expenses of executing the trust, taxes, etc.,
and next they direct that "out of the proceeds of sale of that portion
of the property which has been paid for, or which might in any way
be lawfully set apart and claimed as homestead exemptions, the
trustee shall set apart four thousand dollars, (two thousand dollars
for each partner,) if so much there be, of such proceeds of such prop.-
erty, and pay the same over to each partner when, and not until, all
creditors, afterwards mentioned as class first, shall be paid in full;
and shall permit the partners, upon the same footing as other pur-
chasers, to become purchasers of such part of the property embraced
in Schedule A as they may desire, and charge them with the amount
of such purchases in settlement of their homestead exemptions."
The deed then proceeds to provide for the payment of creditors by
classes.