Carstenson v. Weinrich

164 N.W.2d 655, 183 Neb. 821, 1969 Neb. LEXIS 698
Nebraska Supreme Court·Decided February 7, 1969·No. No. 36845·Published

Opinion

White, C. J.

This is an equity action to quiet title in real estate. At issue is the title to- 13% acres of land which on the south borders the present north bank of the Platte River and on the north borders the south edge of plaintiff’s deeded property. The district court denied the plaintiff Carstenson relief and quieted title to the property in the defendant Weinrich. We affirm the judgment.

Almost all of the material evidence in this case is undisputed. Defendants Loyal H. Denman and Bernice Weinrich are brother and sister. In 1944 their father died intestate, leaving them the deeded tract now owned by Carstenson, the disputed tract of 13% acres to the south immediately bordering on the present north channel of the Platte River, and a considerable amount of land to the east. Late in 1944, Loyal H. Denman conveyed all of his interest in the inherited property to his sister, Bernice Weinrich, and she reconveyed to him the tract.containing about 39 acres, consisting of hay and meadow land which Denman, in turn, sold to Carstenson about September 5, 1961, the description of the property in the contract being almost identical to that in the quit claim deed received by Denman in 1944 from his sister. Carstenson bought the property from Den-man for gravel purposes. Bernice Weinrich and her husband, George, have retained the record title of all of the remaining property that descended intestate to Bernice Weinrich and her brother on her father’s death in 1944. The evidence is that for a period of about 60 years the 39-acre tract, hereinafter called the Carstenson tract, was used for a different purpose and function than the 13%-acre tract immediately to the south of it bordering upon the present north channel of the Platte River.' For á period of about 60 years there has been a fence on the south side of the Carstenson deeded prop[823] erty runing diagonally from the west to the east. The 13%-acre tract stretching south from the deeded property has a different use and function than the Carstenson tract and is mainly used for pasture purposes. Also, for a period of approximately 50 to 60 years, the 13%-acre tract has had a fence enclosing three of its sides, on the west, on the south, and its north fence border being the south fence on the Carstenson deeded property of 39 acres. The east end is open and forms one contiguous and continuous unit with the rest of the Weinrich land.

Carstenson contends that he is the owner of the 13%-acre tract stretching south of his property because it is accretion and reliction land that he is entitled to because, of his ownership of the deeded Carstenson tract of 39 acres. The evidence shows that the south fence of the Carstenson tract runs generally almost on the edge of the “old” north bank channel of the Platte River. The evidence also fairly demonstrates that at sometime in the remote past the 13%-acre tract formed to the south where it now borders the present north channel of the Platte River or the edge of the “wet stream.” Also, although not pertinent in the discussion of these issues, the evidence shows that a portion of the 13%-acre tract to the north next to the old north bank channel on which the south fence of the Carstenson tract is located, fills with water intermittently during the years. The 13%-acre tract that is in dispute here, by the undisputed evidence, has been formed and been fenced for a period of at least 50 years, and many years prior to the death of the elder Denman and the conveyances and redivision of the property between Loyal H. Denman and his sister Bernice Weinrich, the defendants in this action.

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Carstenson v. Weinrich, 164 N.W.2d 655, 183 Neb. 821, 1969 Neb. LEXIS 698 (Neb. 1969).

164 N.W.2d 655 (Carstenson v. Weinrich) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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