Devers v. Dalonas

WILKINSON, Circuit Judge:

This case involves one scoundrel and several innocent parties. The scoundrel, Malcolm Devers, conveyed his substantial interest in a property without the knowledge or consent of his wife, and with the intent to deceive the purchasers as to his marital status. The question, as it often is in commercial conveyances, is how to do justice among the innocents. Here, that path lies in assessing as accurately as possible the value of that to which the wife’s admitted dower rights attach and the true nature of what Malcolm Devers held during coverture.

Doris Devers brought…