Brace v. Van Eps

80 N.W. 197, 12 S.D. 191, 1899 S.D. LEXIS 103
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 2, 1899
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 80 N.W. 197 (Brace v. Van Eps) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brace v. Van Eps, 80 N.W. 197, 12 S.D. 191, 1899 S.D. LEXIS 103 (S.D. 1899).

Opinion

Corson, P. J.

This is an action brought under the provisions of Section 5-119, Comp. Laws, which reads as follows: ‘‘An action may be brought by any person against any other who claims an estate or interest in real property adverse to him, for the purpose of determining such adverse claim.”

The plaintiffs allege in their complaint that they are the owner's and in exclusive possession of certain lots in the city of Sioux Falls, constituting the property generally known as the “Commercial House”; that the plaintiffs are the owners in fee, and have been for many years past, of the said premises; that the defendant unjustly claims an estate or interest in said property adverse to the said plaintiffs, and that the claim of said defendant is without any right whatever, and plaintiffs pray that the defendant may be required to set forth the nature of his claim, etc., and that all adverse claims of the defendant may be determined by a decree of this court; that it may be adjudged that the defendant has no estate or interest whatever in or to the said land and premises; and that it be decreed and adjudged that the title of plaintiffs is good and valid, and that the defendant be forever enjoined and debarred from asserting any claim whatever in or to the said land and premises adverse to the plaintiffs. The defendant in his answer, after denying certain allegations of the complaint, alleges, in substance, as follows: That on the 12th day of April, 1889, he secured a [193]*193judgment in the circuit court of Minnehaha county against one Mary E. Wyman for the sum of $347.29, which judgment was duly docketed in the office of the clerk of said court. He further alleges that in December; 1888, one David F. Wyman, the husband of Mary E. Wyman, aforesaid, died intestate, and that at the lime of his death said Mary E. Wyman became possessed of one-third interest in and to all the real estate theretofore owned by said Wyman, and that said judgment of the defendant aforesaid against the said Mary E. Wyman thenceforth became a lien upon her one-third interest in and to all the said property; that among the real estate possessed by the said David P. Wyman at the time of his death was the property described in the complaint; that in May, 1897, an execution was duly issued, and the said one-third interest of the said Mary E. Wyman in the said property was sold by the sheriff of the said county thereunder, a nd bid in by the defendant for the sum of $553, and that the defendant received a sheriff’s certificate, which was duly filed for record on the 1st day of May, 1897, and duly recorded. A trial was had before the court without a jury, and it made findings of fact, and entered judgment in favor of the plaintiffs. A motion for a new trial was made and denied, and from the judgment and order denying a new trial the defendant appeals to this court.

It was admitted on the trial that on the 20th day of December, 1888, the said David P. Wyman was the owner in fee of the property in controversy. The plaintiff, to maintain his title to the property, introduced a certain deed, bearing date December 20, 1888, by which it appeared that David P. Wyman and Mary E. Wynan , his wife, as parties of the first part, conveyed to Thomas W. Tasker and Henry Westover all and [194]*194singular the real estate, and appurtenances and hereditaments thereunto belonging, of the said David F. Wyman, wheresoever the same might be situated, together with all right, title, or interest in any and all real estate, whether legal or equitable, and all chattels personal, rights, claims, choses in action, and ail securities for the same, of the said David F. Wyman, of which he was then possessed, or was entitled to be possessed, in trust, nevertheless, for the following uses and purposes, to-wit: “To be held, managed, controlled, transferred, sold, leased, or otherwise disposed of by the said trustees, in such manner as may be for the best interests for the family of David F. Wyman, and for the preservation of said property, and to be distributed to and between the family of said Wyman as soon as practicable after his death, in such manner and in such proportion as is prescribed by the laws of the territory of Dakota for the distribution of estates of intestates, first paying and discharging all legal demands and claims against the said David F. Wyman and the expenses of carrying out this trust; and said David F. Wyman hereby declares that his family, for whose use and benefit this trust is made, are as follows: Mary E. Wyman, his wife, and Frank E., Bert O., Fred K., Maútie A., and Henry B., his children. And it is hereby declared to be a condition of this trust that the same may be exercised conjointly by the said parties of the second part, or by any other such person in lieu of either one of them, as such one may se lect, by and with the assent of a majority of the cestuis que trustent. In witness whereof the said parties of the first part have hereunto set their hands and seals at the city of Sioux Falls, in the county of Minnehaha and territory of Dakota, this 20th day of December, 1888, This deed was acknowledged [195]*195on the 20th day of December, 1888, and duly recorded on the 11th day of January, 1889, in the office of the register of deeds of Minnehaha county. The plaintiffs and respondents deráigned title through that deed. At the close of the plaintiffs’ evidence the defendant moved the court for judgment for the reason that plaintiffs had not established facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. This motion was overruled, and, as it was not renewed at the close of all the evidence, the error, if any, in overruling the motion, was waived. Haggarty v. Strong, 10 S. D. 585, 74 N. W. 1037; Colby v. McDermont (N. D.) 71 N. W. 772; Illstad v. Anderson, 2 N. D. 167, 49 N. W. 659.

The defendant and appellant then introduced "evidence tending to sustain the allegations of his answer. The appellant contends that the respondents showed no present, threatened, or probable injury which might result from defendant’s certificate of sale, and that the certificate of sale was void upon its face. We think there is no merit in this contention. The certificate of sale constituted an interest of appellant in the property adverse to the respondents. Clark v. Darlington, 7 S. D. 148, 63 N. W. 771. This action, as we understand it, was not brought under Sections 4644, 4645, Comp. Laws, and hence the provisions of those sections are not applicable. But, could the provisions of Section 4645 be made appplicable to actions like the one at bar, the contention of the appellant is not tenable, for the reason that the certificate of sale is not void upon its face. It being admitted that the title of the property in controversy was in David F. Wyman, the husband of Mary E. Wyman, and that ho died in December, 1888, the said Mary E. Wyman presumptively would be entitled to one-third of the property. To defeat such claim, it would be necessary to show [196]*196that the said David F. Wyman conveyed said property prior to his death, and, when such is the case, the invalidity of the instrument is not “apparent upon its face or upon the face of another instrument which is necessary to the use of the former in evidence” (Section 4645), as it would not be necessary for one claiming under Mrs. Wyman to introduce in evidence the trust deed from Wyman and wife to the trustees.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
80 N.W. 197, 12 S.D. 191, 1899 S.D. LEXIS 103, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brace-v-van-eps-sd-1899.