Mosher v. Van Buskirk

William Mosher's land passed intestate to his adult children and two infant grandchildren as tenants in common; the adult heirs arranged for one of them, Elizabeth Van Buskirk (defendant), to buy the property at a partition sale, hold it in trust for the adult heirs only, and resell it privately at a better price -- deliberately excluding the infant grandchildren's interests. Van Buskirk bought the property for $5,000 under this plan, then sold two of the three tracts to Herbert Investment Company (defendant) for $15,000, which Herbert in turn sold under contract for $20,000; one adult heir (plaintiff), having second thoughts, sued seeking a constructive trust for all the heirs including the infant grandchildren, and Herbert counterclaimed to enforce its purchase contract.