Restitution - Equitable Remedies - Imposition of Equitable Lien to Carry Out Provisions of Will

H and W each conveyed their separate farms to themselves as joint tenants by means of a third-party conduit. The deeds were not recorded, and H and W continued to regard their respective farms as belonging to themselves individually. In 1951, W, faced with imminent death, executed a will calling for the payment of certain bequests out of her farm or its proceeds. H agreed to act as executor and promised that the bequests would be paid.

H had recorded the joint tenancy deeds before W died, but had not paid the bequests when he died intestate two years later. W's will was discovered during the administration of H's estate. The legatees under her will brought a successful action in the lower court against H's heir to impress a constructive trust on the property. On appeal, held, affirmed.

The plaintiffs were entitled to relief in the form of an equitable lien on the property. Borsgard v. Elverum, 248 Minn. 405, 80 N.W. (2d) 604 (1957).