Kemp v. Kemp

154 N.E. 505, 92 Ind. App. 268, 1926 Ind. App. LEXIS 257
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 15, 1926
DocketNo. 12,499.
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 154 N.E. 505 (Kemp v. Kemp) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kemp v. Kemp, 154 N.E. 505, 92 Ind. App. 268, 1926 Ind. App. LEXIS 257 (Ind. Ct. App. 1926).

Opinion

McMahan, C. J.

Complaint by appellants to quiet title to 40 acres of land, hereinafter referred to as “tract 1.” Appellee Alva A. Kemp filed a cross-complaint, alleging that he was the owner of the undivided one-half of this land, that the land was indivisible, and asking that his title be quieted and for partition. There was a decree against appellants on their complaint and a decree in favor of the cross-complainant bn his cross-complaint, in which it was decreed that he was the owner of one-half of said land; that appellant Lulu Kemp was the owner of the other one-half as trustee for Orval J. and Virginia M. Kemp; that the property was indivisible and should be sold.

The facts were found specially and are, in substance, as follows: On August 26, 1911, Francis M. Kemp, being the owner of three tracts of land in Clinton County containing 40, 1%, and 38 acres and respectively designated as tracts 1, 2 and 3, executed a will giving his wife a life estate in all of the real estate and personal property of which he might die the owner; appellee Alva A. Kemp was given a one-half interest in said property, subject to said life-estate; he was also given a one-half interest in said property in trust for Virginia M. Kemp, a granddaughter of the testator, subject to said life estate, with the provision that the trustee should manage the trust property for the granddaughter and, when she arrived at the age of 21, to convey the same to her in fee simple; in February, 1912, Francis M. Kemp made a *270 codicil to his will, in which, after reciting the birth of appellant Orval J. Kemp, who is a brother of Virginia, provision was made by which he was to share equally with his sister in said property, and that the trustee should hold the undivided one-half of the property in trust for both of said children during their minority and to convey to them in fee as and when they arrived at the age of 21; on September 17, 1914, the testator and his wife, by warranty deed, conveyed tracts 2 and 3 to appellee Alva A. Kemp, the consideration named in the deed being one dollar; this deed was recorded on the day of its execution; the testator remained in possession of tract 1, and, on October 20,1916, died the owner thereof, his wife having predeceased him; Virginia and Orval J. Kemp are children of Orval Kemp, who was a son of the testator and who had died prior to the execution of said will; Orval J. was born after the death of his father; when the will was made, the testator had but one living child and but one grandchild; at the time of his death, his only heirs were his said son Alva, and the two grandchildren, Virginia and Orval J., children of the deceased son Orval; all the personal property except $22 was used in paying the liabilities of the estate; tract 1 at the time tracts 2 and 3 were conveyed to appellee was worth $7,000, and tracts 2 and 3, at that time, were of the same value; at the time of the execution of said will, and continuously thereafter, Virginia resided and lived with her grandfather, who resided on tract 1 till his death; Orval J., from the time of his birth, resided and lived with his grandfather until the latter’s death; the testator, during all of said time, exercised parental control over both of his said grandchildren and stood in loco parentis to both of them; appellee resigned as trustee under said will and appellant Lulu Kemp, mother of Virginia and Orval J., was appointed as such trustee by the Clinton Circuit *271 Court. The court also found that tract 1 was indivisible and should be sold.

On these facts, the court concluded, as a matter of law, and adjudged that appellee was the owner in fee of an undivided one-half interest in tract 1; that the same should be sold and the proceeds paid one-half to appellee and one-half to appellant Lulu Kemp, as trustee.

Appellants, contending that the conveyance of tracts 2 and 3 to appellee operated as an ademption or satisfaction of the devise to him, insist that the whole of tract 1 belongs to appellant Lulu Kemp as trustee for her co-appellants Virginia and Orval J. Kemp, for which reason they say the court erred in its conclusion of law.

Appellants, without undertaking to make any distinction between an “ademption” and “satisfaction” of a legacy, say: “Where there is nothing on the face of the will to show, and no proof of intention to give a double portion, an advancement to a child or other legatee in loco parentis with the testator will be deemed a satisfaction or ademption of the legacy, as the law will presume that the testator did not intend to give a double portion to one child.” And that, “Where a testator devises his real estate among his children in undivided shares, and afterwards conveys part of it to one of them, the conveyance is presumed to have been intended as a satisfaction and ademption of the devise.”

It is appellants’ contention that the rules applicable to the ademption and satisfaction of a bequest of personal property are applicable to a devise of real estate. If this contention can be sustained, this cause must be reversed; if not, it must be affirmed: In Weston v. Johnson (1874), 48 Ind. 1, Cary Johnson owned two adjoining quarter sections of land located in different sections. By his will, he devised one of these quarters to Francis Weston, and the-other one to Cary. J. Munger, both of whom were grandchildren of the *272 testator. After the execution of the will, the testator, by warranty deed, but without any consideration, conveyed to Francis Weston the quarter section which by the will had been devised to Cary J. Munger. At the time the deed was made, and for a year prior thereto, the grantee was and had been living with his grandfather as a member of his family. There was no evidence that the testator intended that the land conveyed should be received in lieu of that devised to Weston, although the latter testified that, when the land was deeded to him, he understood it was conveyed to him as an advancement of what he was to take by the will. After the death of the testator, Weston took possession of the land so devised to him. Appellees, claiming the land so specifically devised to the appellant therein as heirs of the decedent, commenced an action to quiet their title, and contended that the conveyance of the one tract to Weston operated as an ademption or satisfaction of the specific devise of the tract of land. The cause was decided upon the theory that the doctrine of the ademption of legacies by advancement to the legatee by the testator in his lifetime had no application to specific legacies or to devises of real estate. And, in Swails v. Swails (1884), 98 Ind. 511, 514, the court says: “The doctrine of ademption applies only to legacies, and not to specific devises of real estate.” Attention was also called to Campbell v. Martin (1882), 87 Ind. 577, where the court in discussing the doctrine of ademption, said: “But we know of no reason whatever for the extension of this doctrine, and making it applicable to devises of real estate. ”

Section 3462 Burns 1926,2 R. S. 1852 p.

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Bluebook (online)
154 N.E. 505, 92 Ind. App. 268, 1926 Ind. App. LEXIS 257, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kemp-v-kemp-indctapp-1926.