Hayes v. DiSalle (In re Hayes)

293 B.R. 420, 2002 WL 32099837
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedDecember 2, 2002
DocketNos. 02-3007, 01-34401
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 293 B.R. 420 (Hayes v. DiSalle (In re Hayes)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hayes v. DiSalle (In re Hayes), 293 B.R. 420, 2002 WL 32099837 (Ohio 2002).

Opinion

ORDER

RICHARD L. SPEER, Bankruptcy Judge.

The instant cause comes before the Court after a Trial on the Plaintiffs Complaint to Determine the Validity of a Deed of Transfer. The specific relief sought by the Plaintiff is a declaratory judgment that a certain transfer of real estate made in 1993 to the Plaintiff by the Plaintiffs parents is ineffective, and thus is excluded from the Plaintiffs Chapter 13 bankruptcy estate. As it pertains thereto, it is the Plaintiffs contention that she never “accepted” a 1993 deed executed by her parents, and therefore the deed did not effectuate a valid transfer of property for purposes of Ohio law.

On the issue of her acceptance of the 1993 deed, the following facts are not in dispute:

On April 2, 1993, the Plaintiffs parents, Ray Hayes and Shelby Hayes, executed a general warranty deed granting to the Plaintiff their interest in their home located at 823 Keil Street, Toledo, Ohio; this deed was subsequently recorded on April 6, 1993. In making this grant, the Plaintiffs parents reserved unto themselves a life estate interest in the property. At the time of this transaction, the Plaintiff, who was living with her parents in the property, was 18 years of age.
The Plaintiffs parents, who have maintained an interest in the property located at 823 Keil Street since 1971, have at all times been responsible for the taxes and other expenses associated with the property. Presently this property, which is worth approximately $70,000.00, is free and clear of all hens.
From 1993 to 1998, the Plaintiff attended Kent State University on an intermittent basis.
In March of 2001, the Plaintiff saw her attorney, Mr. Barry, about possibly filing for bankruptcy. Thereafter, on May 18, 2001, the Plaintiff executed a surviv-orship tenancy deed wherein she conveyed the Keil Street property back to her parents. In making this grant, the Plaintiff, in a similar fashion to the 1993 deed executed by her parents, retained for herself a life estate interest in the premises. (Plaintiffs Exhibit No. 2).
On July 11, 2001, the Plaintiff filed a petition in this Court for relief under Chapter 13 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. In her bankruptcy petition, the Plaintiff listed a total of $33,724.58 in unsecured debt; of this amount, $14,315.18 was comprised of student loan obligations.
After filing her bankruptcy petition, the Plaintiff began to again reside with her parents.

In addition to the above information, the Parties stipulated to, and the Court agrees with, the facts set forth in the Defen-dani/Trustee’s Chapter 13 worksheet wherein it was disclosed that the Plaintiff could, by paying her student loan obligations outside her Chapter 13 plan, accomplish a 100% repayment plan in 44 months. As it concerns this fact, however, the Plaintiff related to the Court that if she is successful in the instant matter, she will convert her case to a liquidating bankruptcy under Chapter 7.

DISCUSSION

At issue in the instant case is the validity of a transfer of an interest in real [423]*423property. As resolution of this issue concerns both the administration and liquidation of assets of the Debtor’s bankruptcy estate, this a core proceeding pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(A)/(0).

Under Ohio law, a deed will only pass title to property if (1) the deed is validly delivered by the grantor, and (2) then accepted by the grantee. Gatts v. E.G.T.G., GMBH, 14 Ohio App.3d 243, 246, 470 N.E.2d 425 (1983). As it applies to these requirements, the Parties in this case do not dispute the fact that the Plaintiffs parents, in executing and then recording a deed to their daughter in 1993, effectuated a valid delivery of the deed.1 Instead, the Plaintiff, in support of her position that she never received valid title to her parents’ property, argues that she never validly accepted the deed for purposes of Ohio law. This assertion is posited on what are essentially three different claims.

First, the Plaintiff asserts that in 1993 she had no knowledge that she was named as the grantee in the deed executed by her parents. Second, the Plaintiff claims that she only learned of her status as a named grantee of her parents’ property when, in May of 2001, after seeing an attorney regarding her financial difficulties, she discussed with Jier parents her plans to file for bankruptcy. Finally, it is the Plaintiffs position that, upon learning of the 1993 deed executed by her parents, she immediately repudiated it by executing a deed which transferred back to her parents any interest that they had attempted to put in her name. These claims were supported by the testimony of both the Plaintiff and the Plaintiffs mother.

It is a general principle of law in Ohio that a person cannot be compelled to take a conveyance against his or her consent. See, e.g., Ohio Nat. Bank v. Miller, 57 N.E.2d 717, 25 Ohio Ops.2d 465 (1943). Thus, a grantee’s acceptance of a deed is prerequisite to a valid transfer of title. Whether an acceptance has occurred is dependent on the individual facts of each case; however, in cases such as this, where the transfer is plainly beneficial to the grantee, acceptance will be presumed in the absence of proof to the contrary. Mitchell v. Ryan, 3 Ohio St. 377, 1854 WL 24 (1854). This principle was explained by the Ohio Supreme Court of Ohio as follows:

where the grant is a pure, unqualified gift, I think the true rule is that the presumption of acceptance can be rebutted only by proof of dissent; and it matters not that the grantee never knew of the conveyance, for as his assent is presumed from its beneficial character, the presumption can be overthrown only by proof that he did know of and rejected it.

Id. at 387.

For purposes of the above holding, an affirmative rejection, as the Plaintiff argues, may be accomplished by the grantee, upon learning of the transfer, immediately executing a deed which transfers back to the grantor the property originally conveyed. (For a complete list of cases see C.R. McCorkle, Annotation, What Constitutes Acceptance of Deed by Grantee, 74 A.L.R.2d 992, 1960 WL 13375 (1960)). In applying this principle to this case, the Court does not have any reason to question the Plaintiffs position, (although it is clearly self-serving) that she only became aware of her interest in her parents’ property during the period immediately preceding the filing of her bankruptcy peti[424]*424tion. In this regard, it does not seem out of the ordinary that parents would not initially tell their teenage daughter, who was about to enter college, about a significant financial matter. Along this same fine, it does not seem highly unusual that a child, such as the Plaintiff who is not yet 30 years of age, would only be told of a significant transfer of property until the circumstances so required.

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293 B.R. 420, 2002 WL 32099837, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hayes-v-disalle-in-re-hayes-ohnb-2002.