Pfeiffer v. . Adler

It does not appear that the husband left any property, or that the widow had any interest to subserve by assuming the payment of his debts. She was under no obligation to the plaintiffs, unless one was created by her unwritten promise to pay what she did not owe. The original demand was not extinguished by the arrangement, and there was no such new consideration as would suffice to take the case out of the statute of frauds. The settlements which the plaintiffs were to aid her in negotiating, were of the debts of another, for which she was not liable and in which she had no personal concern.…