Bartholomew v. Thieding

The question presented is whether or not the memorandum upon the note of December 2, 1935, was, as the trial court found, an assignment pro tanto of the insurance money to become due to the plaintiff, Bessie Bartholomew. One of the leading cases upon equitable assignment is Christmas v. Russell (1871), 14 Wall. 69, 20 L. Ed. 762. In that case it was held that an agreement to pay out of a particular fund, however clear in its terms, is not an equitable assignment; that to constitute an equitable assignment the transfer must be of such a character that the fundholder can safely pay the assignee…