In re Torrez v. Torrez

TANG, Circuit Judge:

In this case we decide whether, in the context of a bankruptcy proceeding, a resulting trust may survive a challenge of illegal purpose under California law. At stake is who is entitled to a parcel of land: the purchasers, who attempted to circumvent federal reclamation law by putting title in the names of their children; or those children, who never paid for the land but nonetheless seek to wrest it from their parents. We reject the children’s theory of illegal purpose, hold in favor of the parents and affirm.

I

The facts are not in dispute. On January 15, 1975, John and…