In Re Estate of Pick

186 N.W.2d 919, 186 Neb. 828, 1971 Neb. LEXIS 806
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedMay 14, 1971
Docket37737
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 186 N.W.2d 919 (In Re Estate of Pick) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Estate of Pick, 186 N.W.2d 919, 186 Neb. 828, 1971 Neb. LEXIS 806 (Neb. 1971).

Opinion

White, C. J.

This is an action by a guardian in the district court for authority to execute a renewal extension of an existing mortgage and to pay the interest on it. The issues involved are: First, whether the conditions inserted in a deed to the ward were void because of imposing an illegal restraint on alienation, and second, may the guardian execute a renewal mortgage increasing the indebtedness on the ward’s property to include the past interest due under the provisions of section 30-1201, R. R. S. 1943. The district court found that the deed and the mortgage based thereon were valid and that the guardian was authorized to execute a renewal extension of the mortgáge for a period of 5 years. We affirm the judgment of the district court.

On May 15, 1924, Ottillia Pick deeded a fee simple interest in the land involved herein in Cedar County, Nebraska, to her son, (Frank) Joseph Pick, the ward herein. The first essential question involved in this case is the construction and interpretation of the following restriction contained in the deed: “Provided, however, that (Frank) Joseph Pick, the grantee herein, shall not have the right or power to sell or mortgage or in any way encumber the above described land and premises, excepting and provided he shall first secure the written consent of his brothers, Louis Pick, William Pick, John Pick and Frank A. Pick, or such of said brothers as may survive so to do.”

At the institution of this action, (Frank) Joseph Pick, the ward herein, was a bachelor of advanced years. Beginning in 1961, several guardians were appointed for Joseph, the most recent one being Willard W. Burney, the appellee herein. On February 28, 1971, while the action was pending in this court, Joseph died and Wil *830 lard. W. Burney was appointed special administrator of his estate and continues as the appellee in this action.

On January 27, 1970, the appellee filed his petition in the district court alleging that his ward, Joseph Pick,' was the owner of the land described in the 1924 deed containing the condition above described. The land was encumbered by a $21,620.63 mortgage dated December 21, 1959, wherein William H. Pick was the mortgagee. This mortgage was assigned on January 3, 1970, to William H. Pick, Jr., and Wilma C. Pick, as joint tenants with right of survivorship. On December 23, 1965, this mortgage was renewed in the sum of $27,200 by the then guardian of Joseph Pick, said mortgage being executed and renewed pursuant to an order of the county court of Cedar County, Nebraska. Neither of these two mortgages was obtained with the consent of any of Joseph’s brothers as was required by the condition of the original deed as recited herein. The issue arose here because of the appellee Willard W. Burney’s petition in the district court stating that there were insufficient funds in Joseph’s estate to redeem or release the mortgages and requested that a new or extension mortgage be executed to encroach the past due interest on the previous one.

It' is undisputed that the consent of the brothers of Joseph Pick was not secured in the execution of the deed or mortgage. It is the contention of the appellants that the deeds and mortgages are therefore invalid. This presents the issue of whether the -restriction by way of condition on Joseph Pick on mortgaging' or selling the property is valid’. It" is first- observed that the restriction ón alienation in this case* as-’distinguished from the restriction by way of conditional limitation in Cast v. National Bank of Commerce T. & S. Assn., on rehearing, 186 Neb. 385, 183 N. W. 2d 485, is a direct restraint against the' grantee'to'convey or'mortgage in any manriet’without se'eúrmg'the consent of the ASmed pérs'offs, this ñ‘aih.écl pérkbns not'having any infer'ést in theprop¿ eirfy" itselfY'The debt! pufpórtéd-’ah’d"did-grant • an’abso-» *831 lute fee simple interest to the grantee, Joseph Pick. We have no difficulty in coming to the conclusion that this direct restraint on alienation was illegal, invalid, and against the public policy of the State of Nebraska. We will not repeat herein the extensive discussion of the reasoning behind and the public policy of the State of Nebraska forbidding illegal and unreasonable restraints against alienation. A full discussion of this will be found in the opinion in Cast v. National Bank of Commerce T. & S. Assn., supra, recently decided by this court. Our fundamental holdings therein as to the principles involved in illegal restraint and alienation govern this case. We are not required to pass upon any distinctions between conditions, condition limitations, or indirect restraints. The restraint here is directly on Joseph Pick and forbids him to do anything with reference to alienating the property unless the consent is secured of his brothers who have no interest in the property, by the very terms of the deed itself. Where a grantor or testator grants or devises a fee simple title, he is not permitted to fetter the title that he created with inconsequential and unreasonable conditions otherwise valid. The conveyance of real estate is of such importance to the state that one will not be permitted to become whimsical and unreasonable after creating an estate recognized by the law, such as an estate in fee simple, by attaching conditions repugnant to the estate created. Cast v. National Bank of Commerce T. & S. Assn., supra; Andrews v. Hall, 156 Neb. 817, 58 N. W. 2d 201; Watson v. Dalton, on rehearing, 146 Neb. 86, 20 N. W. 2d 610.

. The grantor in this case specifically gave Joseph Pick a fee, simple interest in the land. She then attempted to unreasonably limit the grantee’s right to, deed, or encumber the property by reqúiring him to obtain, hig brothers’ consent.' In other words, á testator or grantor may not create a vested fee simple estate and dt; the samé timé'forbid ife alienation.''This'id bédausedh'é con *832 ditions which restrict alienation are repugnant to the very estate that the grantor or testator has created. Cast v. National Bank of Commerce T. & S. Assn., supra. In the present case, not only is the restraint on alienation a direct one against the named grantee in an absolute fee simple deed, but it is not coupled with or attached with any interest on the part of the brothers of Joseph Pick, and there is no time limitation or special conditions relating to the conveyance of the property from which it could possibly be argued that the restriction was reasonable. The right to deed, convey, encumber, or alienate property is one of the fundamental elements of a fee simple title. As was pointed out in Cast v. National Bank of Commerce T. & S. Assn., supra, it is one of the rights that has been carefully protected by the public policy of the State of Nebraska and the law of real property. The grantee, Joseph Pick, became the owner of the property and yet was forbidden forever, either by deed or by will, to dispose of the property. The title, the use of his property, and its productive use was made to depend upon the unknown and perhaps whimsical consent of brothers who in turn had no power in themselves to effectively convey, use, or make productive the original unlimited fee simple title granted to Joseph Pick. We said in Cast v. National Bank of Commerce T. & S. Assn., supra,

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Bluebook (online)
186 N.W.2d 919, 186 Neb. 828, 1971 Neb. LEXIS 806, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-estate-of-pick-neb-1971.