Miller v. Kaiser

In Miller v. Kaiser, 164 Colo. 206, 433 P.2d 772 (1967), the court held that punitive damages are unavailable on a fraudulent conveyance claim. The Miller court held that such a claim is purely equitable, and punitive damages are unavailable in equitable actions. In Miller, the court held that while the prior statute only expressly allowed the voiding of conveyances, a court of equity has the inherent power to enter a money judgment in order to fulfill its remedy. In fact, the court affirmed a personal judgment of $ 4,525 against the transferee in that case. Yet, despite its equitable monetary award, the court denied plaintiff's claim for punitive damages, concluding that, in an equitable action involving an alleged fraudulent conveyance, the trial court did not have the inherent power to award exemplary damages.