Dumas v. Owen

196 S.W.2d 987, 210 Ark. 505, 1946 Ark. LEXIS 385
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedOctober 21, 1946
Docket4-7950
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 196 S.W.2d 987 (Dumas v. Owen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dumas v. Owen, 196 S.W.2d 987, 210 Ark. 505, 1946 Ark. LEXIS 385 (Ark. 1946).

Opinion

Smith, J.

This is the fourth appearance of this case in this court. Opinions on former appeals are Owen v. Dumas, 200 Ark. 601, 140 S. W. 2d 101; Dumas v. Smith, Chancellor, 201 Ark. 1057, 147 S. W. 2d 1013, and Dumas v. Owen, 205 Ark. 777, 171 S. W. 2d 294. We will not review these decisions except in so far as they are important to the decision of the question raised on this appeal.

The relevant points decided on those appeals were as follows: E. L. Owen owned, at the time of -his death in 1912, 240 acres of land, and was survived by his widow and ten children. W. E., one o£ these children, claimed to have acquired title to all the lands owned by his father, at the time of his death, under deeds from his mother, his insistence being' that the will of his father empowered his mother to execute these deeds. We held on the first appeal that the will liad not conferred the power to execute these deeds, and that they were ineffective to convey the title. The primary purpose of the will, as appears from the opinion on the first appeal was to support testator’s widow after his death, and while we held that W. E. Owen had not acquired title to the. land, we did hold that he had a valid claim against the estate to be reimbursed for contributions made to .his mother for her support, and was entitled also to be reimbursed for the discharge of certain liens against the lands, and the decree was remanded with directions to state an account. It was sought to prohibit that proceeding in the case reported in 205 Ark. supra, where that relief was denied.

The account was stated and the decree approving it was affirmed October 26, 1943. See 205 Ark. 777, supra. The decree there affirmed, which was rendered June 22, 1942, recited, “that the plaintiff is entitled to haVe and recover of and from the following described land to-wit: southeast quarter of section 18, and the west half, southwest quarter of section 17, all in township 18 south, range 20 west, being the property of the estate of E. L. Owen, deceased, the sum of $2,635.12, with six per cent, interest thereon from the 19th day of April, 1942, until paid. That said sum is declared to be a lien upon said land to secure the payment thereof, which lien is now and forever established and fixed, provided, however, that the defendants or either of them, or any one of them, may redeem from' said lien and discharge same by the payment of said amount, together with interest and any costs of this proceeding which might be due the plaintiff herein.” It was .ordered that the foreclosure of this lien shall be postponed during the life of the widow of E. L. Owen. The right there given to pay this debt and discharge the lien was never exercised. Had it been the litigation might have ended.

On August 5, 1945, the widow of E. L. Owen, the testator, and certain of his heirs, executed a mineral deed to Henry Stevens, trustee, conveying to Stevens an undivided 9/20ths interest in the oil and gas in and under the southeast quarter of section 18, and-the west half of the southwest quarter of section 19. The purpose of this trust was not stated, but was for the evident purpose of defending litigation prosecuted bjr W. E. Owen in regard to the land.

Subsequently, on a date not stated, W. E. Owen filed a petition for an order to sell the above described lands in satisfaction of the decree which had awarded him judgment for $2,635.12, in which he alleged the death of his mother, and that no part of the decree had been satisfied.

On a date not stated, a response to this motion and petition was filed, which recited the previous history of this litigation. It was alleged that on July 21, 1937, the widow and the heirs of E. L. Owen executed to W. E. Owen a mineral deed covering all the land, that this deed was procured through the false and fraudulent representation that it was required to negotiate and sell an advantageous oil and gas lease which was to be executed for the purpose of satisfying the lien of W. E. Owen against the land, and of providing for the support of Mrs. E. L. Owen, their mother, and. that there was no other consideration for the deed, that after receiving this deed, W. E. Owen made no effort to lease the land as had been agreed he would do, but instead brought suit to quiet title under the deeds he had obtained from his mother, which were canceled under the opinion in the first appeal. It was further alleged that this deed to W. E. Owen, dated July 21, 1937, was not filed for record until June 29, 1939, and since being placed of record has so clouded the title that Mrs. Owen, the widow, could make no lease or other disposition of the land as the will of her husband authorized her to do. She and the \heirs who joined in the response to W. E. Owen’s petition for an order of sale, prayed that the deed to W. E. Owen be canceled as having been obtained hy fraudulent representation, and without any consideration except these fraudulent representations.

These respondents further alleged that in May, 1940, they had obtained a purchaser for a lease, which they could not consummate without the consent of W. E. Owen, which he refused to give.

This petition for an order to sell in satisfaction of the judgment in favor of W. E. Owen, and the response thereto, apparently raised all the issues which were raised in the subsequent proceedings, some- of which will presently be discussed.

The prayer for an order of sale was granted, and in the decree ordering this sale, rendered May 22, 1944, it was ordered that unless the judgment was paid within forty days from the date of the decree, the land should be sold by a commissioner appointed to make the sale on July 27, 1944. There is no ambiguity in this decree as to the interest in the land ordered sold.

The decree reads: “That upon the sale of said ■property as aforesaid, and the confirmation thereof by the court, all the right, title and equity of redemption of,the defendants (and all the heirs and their wives are named) in and to said property, and any part thereof, shall be and the same is hereby adjudged from that date to be foreclosed and forever barred thereafter.”'

> In the response filed by Stevens, it was alleged that the said W. E. Owen, after obtaining this conveyance dated July 21, 1937, not only refused to execute an oil and gas lease, but refused and prevented them from doing so, that they did in fact negotiate a lease conveying 17/20th of the mineral. interest for a consideration of $4,600 to a purchaser ready and willing and able to pay that sum for the lease, but that they were unable to consummate the sale for the reason that the deed to W. E. Owen constituted a cloud on the title which he declined to remove, and he declined also to join in the execution of the lease which they had negotiated. It was prayed in this response that the deed to W. E. Owen, dated July 21, 1937, be canceled, and that the judgment in W. E. Owen’s favor be reduced by crediting thereon certain expenses incurred by other heirs of E. L. Owen in the support of their mother. Notwithstanding this response, the court made the order for the sale of the property set out above.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Williams v. Hall
250 S.W.3d 581 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2007)
PARTITION OF REAL PROPERTY v. Blevins
198 S.W.3d 567 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2004)
State v. Cate
371 S.W.2d 541 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1963)
Stevens v. Owen
246 S.W.2d 728 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1952)
Person v. Johnson
235 S.W.2d 876 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1950)
Stevens, Trustee v. Owen
214 S.W.2d 503 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1948)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
196 S.W.2d 987, 210 Ark. 505, 1946 Ark. LEXIS 385, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dumas-v-owen-ark-1946.