Kesselman v. Goldsten

27 N.W.2d 692, 148 Neb. 452, 1947 Neb. LEXIS 69
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedMay 29, 1947
DocketNo. 32209
StatusPublished

This text of 27 N.W.2d 692 (Kesselman v. Goldsten) 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
Kesselman v. Goldsten, 27 N.W.2d 692, 148 Neb. 452, 1947 Neb. LEXIS 69 (Neb. 1947).

Opinion

Yeager, J.

This is an action by plaintiffs and appellants against the defendant Congregation B’Nai Israel to require the said defendant to specifically perform an alleged oral agreement to remove a cement walk over what plaintiffs claimed was a portion of a burial plot purchased [454]*454by them from the said defendant in Golden Hill Cemetery. This defendant will be hereinafter referred to as the Congregation. Herbert Goldsten and David Goldsten were made parties defendant for the reason, as it was alleged, that they wrongfully placed the walk and that they and the defendant Congregation B’Nai Israel refused to remove it. All defendants are appellees here.

A trial was had to the court whereupon a decree was rendered denying the relief prayed by plaintiffs and dismissing their petition. From this decree plaintiffs have appealed.

There are four assignments of error but they may all be summarized in the single statement that plaintiffs contend that under the facts and the law the trial court should have by its decree granted the relief prayed for in the petition.

Pertinent proved facts are that the Congregation at all times involved herein was the owner of Golden Hill Cemetery, a platted cemetery, the plat of which apparently was never recorded. On March 6, 1941, plaintiffs went with William Milder, a member of the Congregation and its representative, to the cemetery and selected a burial plot. The plot was not selected by reference to the cemetery plat but from observation and description by Milder. Milder gave the dimensions as 12 by 18 feet. The length was east and west. On the east end of the plot- selected and across its width was a cement walk 18 inches in width. Milder stated that this was a part of the plot and that the synagogue (Congregation B’Nai Israel) would remove it. He said that the defendants Goldsten Brothers had placed it there without authority. No dealings were had by plaintiffs with any other member of the Congregation until long after the date of selection of the plot. The day after the plot was selected the body of plaintiffs’ father was buried thereon. Receipt for payment of the purchase price of the lot was issued March 26, 1941.

It is the substantial contention of plaintiffs that they [455]*455contracted with William Milder as the representative of the Congregation and that by the contract with him the Congregation is bound; that by the contract thus entered into with Milder they purchased burial rights upon the plot described to them which included the area occupied by the 18-inch cement walk on the east end thereof; and that they are entitled to a decree of specific performance the effect of which would require the Congregation to remove the walk.

The contention of the Congregation is that plaintiffs purchased Plot 11, as it appears on the plat of the cemetery, whose dimensions were 12 feet by 16 feet and nothing more, and that the 18-inch strip on which the cement walk rests is no part of this plot but is a path reserved for the use and benefit of all owners of burial lots in the cemetery; that plaintiffs purchased their plot with full notice of the cement walk and its purpose and that they are barred and estopped from claiming any interest therein.

The defendants Goldsten for their defense substantially assert that they caused to be laid the 18-inch walk in question; that it is not a part of Plot 11 or of plaintiffs’ plot but belongs to the Congregation and was reserved and dedicated by the Congregation and in the plat of the cemetery for the use and benefit of all owners of burial lots in the cemetery; that they own burial lots therein and have the right to its use; that plaintiffs purchased their plot with full notice of the walk; and that the said defendants are entitled to a decree protecting their right to the use of the walk against interference by the plaintiffs.

In support of their contention plaintiffs say substantially that the only contract of purchase they had was with William Milder on behalf of the Congregation, that it was entire, that it included the 18-inch strip, that it called for the removal of the walk, and that the agreement of purchase was binding on the Congregation in its entirety. They rely for support of their contention [456]*456upon the facts as disclosed by the record and on the following legal principles.

An act of an agent, although without actual authority from his principal, may be with such apparent authority as to bind his principal. Such apparent authority of the agent cannot be extended or restricted by bylaws or other instructions to the agent by the principal in the absence of actual notice thereof. Sindelar v. Hord Grain Co., 116 Neb. 776, 219 N. W. 145; Drainage District v. Dawson County Irrigation Co., 140 Neb. 866, 2 N. W. 2d 321.

“Whatever an agent or employee does in the lawful exercise of his authority is imputable to the principal, and where the acts of an agent or employee will bind the principal, his representations, declarations and admissions respecting the subject matter will also bind him, if made at the same time and constitute a part of the same transaction.” Whitaker v. Keogh, 144 Neb. 790, 14 N. W. 2d 596. See Webster v. Wray, 17 Neb. 579, 24 N. W. 207; Oberne v. Burke, 30 Neb. 581, 46 N. W. 838.

In opposition to this position of plaintiffs the appellees contend substantially that there was no valid and enforceable contract with the Congregation for the sale of the 18-inch strip for the following reasons: That the plaintiffs purchased their plot with reference to the description contained in the plat and the physical boundaries thereof as disclosed by boundary stakes; that William Milder was without authority to bind the Congregation to the sale of the 18-inch strip; that there was no contract in writing for the sale of the strip; that the cemetery was duly platted for cemetery purposes and lots and plots had been sold therein with reference to the plat which gave lot and plot owners vested rights in and to the use of the 18-inch strip as a passageway and that therefore no sale could be made thereof which would take away or burden these rights; and that the plaintiffs purchased their plot with full -knowledge of [457]*457the condition and use to which the strip was being put which knowledge estopped them to assert any right to it as a part of their plot.

On the facts and the legal principles set forth it must be said that what William Milder did and what he said with regard to the sale of the plot in question, within the limits of which the Congregation could be legally bound, were binding upon it. This must be true because no other person ever participated in any negotiations with the plaintiffs, and on what took place between him and plaintiffs, they paid the price exacted of them, received the conveyance, and entered upon the use and occupancy of the plot. The contract was fully consummated by the Congregation on the action of William Milder as its agent. It cannot now in equity well be said that the Congregation should not be bound by the exercise of the apparent authority which plaintiffs had every right to believe was actual.

Further on the facts the claim of plaintiffs as to content and substance of the contract must be accepted as true. This is true because their testimony contains the only competent information as to its content and substance. There is no evidence to the contrary.

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Bluebook (online)
27 N.W.2d 692, 148 Neb. 452, 1947 Neb. LEXIS 69, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kesselman-v-goldsten-neb-1947.