Griffin v. Tomlinson

165 S.E. 374, 159 Va. 161, 1932 Va. LEXIS 181
CourtSupreme Court of Virginia
DecidedSeptember 22, 1932
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 165 S.E. 374 (Griffin v. Tomlinson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Griffin v. Tomlinson, 165 S.E. 374, 159 Va. 161, 1932 Va. LEXIS 181 (Va. 1932).

Opinion

Epes, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

This is a suit for partition which is here for the second time on appeal. See Griffin v. Tomlinson, 155 Va. 150, 154 S. E. 483.

James Tomlinson died intestate leaving eight children (Floyd Tomlinson, Elizabeth Lane, Thomas Tomlinson, Maudella Smith, Andrew Tomlinson, Amanda Griffin, Oma Qualls and Stella Qualls) and the children of a deceased son, General Tomlinson, as his heirs at law. At the time of his death he owned two tracts of land in Scott county, Virginia, the “Ridge Tract” containing about 154 acres, and ’ the “Home Place” containing about 205 acres.

The two tracts are not contiguous and have very different characteristics. The “Home Place” fronts for approximately a half mile on State highway No. 411, and is not far from Pattonsville, where there is a high school. It is rugged, but it is not as rough as the “Ridge Tract” and it is better adapted for cultivation and much more desirable for a place of residence than the “Ridge Tract.” The “Ridge Tract” is described in the evidence as being a tract of rough, steep, rocky ridge land, which lies a mile or more from a public road, and two miles or more from a public school.

[167]*167James Tomlinson died early in 1926; and soon thereafter Floyd Tomlinson, Elizabeth Lane, Thomas Tomlinson, Maudella Smith and Andrew Tomlinson filed their bill in the Circuit Court of Scott county against Amanda Griffin and the other heirs of James Tomlinson, praying a partition in kind of these two tracts of land. The bill contains no allegation that any of the heirs has made improvements upon either tract, or has any equity entitling him or her to have any particular part of either tract allotted to him or her. It does contain an allegation that James Tomlinson had advanced to Stella Qualls $700, and prays that before she “shall be permitted to participate in the distribution of the property and estate of James Tomlinson,” she be required to account for the sum so advanced to her; but this phase of the case is not involved on this appeal.

In April, 1926, Oma Qualls and Stella Qualls filed their answer. In it each alleges that during the lifetime of her father she had built a home for herself on the “Home Place” with his consent and under an understanding with him that she should have the land upon which her home was built; and asks that her share be so laid off as to include the improvements made by her without" charging it with any enhancement in the value thereof due to the improvements thereon.

In January, 1927, Amanda Griffin, by leave of court, filed her answer. In it she alleges that she is “now” living on her husband’s land some distance from the main road and so far from a school that it is almost impossible for her to educate her children; and asks that her share, or a part thereof, be laid off to her in the “Home Place,” so that she may have a home which will be accessible to school, church and road. She further alleges “that Stella Qualls and five of the other children and heirs at law of the said James Tomlinson have built their homes on the lands of the said James Tomlinson, and that all their improvements made thereon should be considered as real estate and charged against them in the partition of said real estate.” She [168]*168does not, however, name the five children who, in addition to Stella Qualls, have built homes on this land.

A guardian ad, litem was appointed for the children of General Tomlinson, all of whom were infants, and filed a formal answer for them.

On July 31, 1929, the cause came on to be heard on the pleadings above mentioned; and the court entered its decree appointing three commissioners to make partition “of the land of which James Tomlinson died seized * * * set forth in the bill.” It directed them to partition the lands “into nine parts, as nearly equal as possible having reference to quantity and quality, value, ways and waters,” and to assign one part to each of the eight living children of James Tomlinson, and one part to the children of his deceased son, General Tomlinson. It further directed the commissioners to lay off the shares assigned to each Stella Qualls and Oma Qualls so as to include the land on which she had built her home, and in valuing the share assigned her not to charge her with the value of the actual improvements made by her thereon. But it takes no cognizance of any improvements having been made on any of these lands by any of the other heirs, and contains no provision authorizing the commissioners in making a partition to disregard the value of any other improvements which were upon the land, or directing the commissioners as to how or where the share of any other heir should be laid off.

In December, 1929, the three commissioners, one of whom was the county surveyor, went upon these two tracts of land, made a survey thereof, and divided the “Home Place” into seven lots and the “Kidge Tract” into two lots, each of which lots they reported as being an one-ninth part of the lands of which James Tomlinson died seized. The seven lots laid off in the “Home Place” they assigned as follows: Lot No. 1, 22.10 acres to Stella Qualls; lot No. 2, 22.13 acres-to Oma Qualls; lot No. 3, 19.07 acres to Floyd Tomlinson; lot No. 4, 27 acres to Maudella Smith; lot No. 5, 27 acres to Andrew Tomlinson; lot No. 6, 42.08 [169]*169acres to Elizabeth Lane; lot No. 7, 46 acres to the children of General Tomlinson, deceased. The two lots laid off in the “Ridge Tract” they assigned as follows: Lot No. 8, 761 acres to Thomas Tomlinson; lot No. 9, 76 acres to Amanda Griffin.

Lots 1, 2 and 3 front on State highway No. 411. Lot 4 lies west of lot 3, lot 5 west of lot 4, lot 6 southwest of lot. 5, and lot 7 southwest of lot 6. Further than these facts, and the fact that lots 4, 5, 6 and 7 seem to be progressively (in the order named) less accessible from State highway No. 411, the report of the commissioners contains no information or suggestion as to the basis upon which the variations in the acreage of the nine lots were made. The report is silent as to what improvements, if any, are on the several lots, and as to whether the commissioners in estimating the value of the several lots regarded or disregarded the value of such improvements as are thereon.

Amanda Griffin, who alone excepted to the report of the partition made by the commissioners, alleged eight' grounds of exception; but they may be restated and all embraced in the following three grounds:

(1) The lot assigned to her lies about one mile from a public road, and in order to get from it to a public road it is necessary to go across the lot assigned to Thomas Tomlinson. The commissioners disregarded this fact, and made no provision for a right of way from the lot assigned to her across the lot assigned to Thomas Tomlinson.

(2) The lot assigned to her is not equal in value to the shares assigned to the other heirs. Particularly it is not equal in value to the lot assigned to Floyd Tomlinson, which has on it two dwellings, the “one occupied by Floyd Tomlinson and the other in which your exceptor lives,” and is [170]*170worth more than three times the value of the lot assigned to her.

(3) The commissioners should have laid off her share, or at least a part thereof, so as to include therein the old James Tomlinson house which stands on the lot assigned to Floyd Tomlinson, which could be done without violating the rights of any of the other heirs.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
165 S.E. 374, 159 Va. 161, 1932 Va. LEXIS 181, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/griffin-v-tomlinson-va-1932.