McGill v. Headrick

578 S.W.2d 377, 1978 Tenn. App. LEXIS 280
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedOctober 13, 1978
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 578 S.W.2d 377 (McGill v. Headrick) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McGill v. Headrick, 578 S.W.2d 377, 1978 Tenn. App. LEXIS 280 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1978).

Opinion

OPINION

SANDERS, Judge.

The pertinent issue in this case involves setting aside a deed to real estate.

A. V. Adams died intestate in Sevier County in 1972. His estate consisted of a small amount of personal property and a farm containing approximately 125 acres. He had no children and left surviving his widow, the Defendant-Appellant, Anna Lee Adams (Headrick). His next of kin were three brothers, Earl Adams, Leonard Adams and Ervie Adams. One brother and one sister had predeceased the intestate and they each left children surviving. The deceased’s brother, Ed Adams, had two children, Appellee Margaret Fowler, and Roy E. Adams. The deceased sister left seven children, being the Plaintiffs, Charles “Chuck” McGill, Jr., Hugh “Jerry” McGill, Perman “Pete” Giles McGill, and Plaintiff-Appellees, Ima Lee Bennett, Robert E. McGill, Doris Hampton, and Ralph McGill.

During his lifetime the deceased, A. V. Adams, had told his brother, Leonard Adams, that if he should predecease his wife, the Defendant, he wanted her to have everything he owned. Shortly after his death on July 18, 1972, Earl, Leonard, and Ervie Adams, each of whom owned a one-fifth interest in the farm subject to Defendant’s homestead and dower, executed a deed to the Defendant for their interests in the property.

The Defendant was A. V. Adams’ second wife and they had been married a little over three years when he died. Consequently, she was not acquainted with some of the nephews and nieces and had only a limited acquaintance with the others. For this reason it was decided Mr. Leonard Adams would contact the nephews and nieces about conveying their interest in the land to the Defendant. Mr. Adams contacted the nephews and nieces concerning conveying their interests to the Defendant and all but three of them executed deeds for their interests in the property. After the three brothers had conveyed their interests in the property, but before any of the nephews and nieces had conveyed their interests, the state filed a condemnation suit to condemn 26 acres of the land for highway purposes. At the time the suit was filed the state deposited $5,200 as the value of the land taken. However, when the case was tried in March, 1974, the jury awarded $33,868.90 in damages.

In August, 1975, the three nephews who had not conveyed their interests in the property to the Defendant filed suit in the Chancery Court seeking to have the balance of the land sold for partition. These Plaintiffs were Charles “Chuck” McGill, Jr., Hugh “Jerry” McGill and Perman “Pete” Giles McGill. They are three of the seven children of the deceased sister and each owned a ⅛5 interest, subject to Defendant’s homestead and dower. The complaint also asks that the funds in the clerk’s office from the condemnation suit be impounded in the hands of the clerk and master; that the interests of the respective parties in the funds be determined; that the Defendant be required to render an accounting as ad-ministratrix of her husband’s estate. It also named the remaining nephews and nieces as parties defendant and asked the Court to determine what interest their deed to the Defendant had conveyed to her. All of the nephews and nieces except Roy E. Adams filed answers and asked to be realigned as Plaintiffs.

Ima Lee Bennett, Robert E. McGill, Doris Hampton and Ralph McGill filed a cross [379]*379complaint in which they sought to have their deed to the Defendant set aside. In general, they contended they thought they were signing a deed to a cemetery lot and not a deed to the farm. They also seek a pro rata share of the funds in the condemnation proceeding.

The case was heard by a Special Chancellor sitting by interchange. The Chancellor held the deed from the Plaintiffs, Ima Lee Bennett, Robert E. McGill, Doris Hampton and Ralph McGill to' the Defendant was void insofar as the conveyance of their interests in the farm was concerned, but it was valid and binding insofar as the conveyance of their interests in the cemetery lot was concerned. He also held each of these four Plaintiffs had a Vas interest in the farm and a Vas interest in the proceeds from the condemnation after payment of expenses. He held Margaret Fowler had a Vio interest in the proceeds from the condemnation but, since neither she nor her brother, Roy E. Adams, contested the validity of their deed to the Defendant, it was valid. He ordered the Defendant’s homestead and dower set aside to her and the remainder of the property sold for partition.

The Defendant has appealed and assigned error. In her brief the only part of the Chancellor’s decree which the Defendant challenges is the voiding of the deed as to the four Plaintiffs’ interests in the farm.

The Chancellor filed a memorandum opinion and his reasons for setting the deed aside as to the farm were (1) lack of consideration, (2) failure of the Defendant to disclose to the Plaintiffs what property was included in the deed, (3) Plaintiffs did not read the deed before signing it, (4) since the Defendant was the administratrix of her husband’s estate, a fiduciary relationship existed between her and the Plaintiffs, and (5) the Defendant had the benefit of counsel and the Plaintiffs did not have the benefit of independent advice.

It appears the Chancellor was impressed by the fact it was not reasonable that Plaintiffs would have conveyed their interests in a valuable piece of property to the Defendant without being paid for it. As he put it, “. . . none of the litigants were close or even knew each other enough to negotiate.”

The record reveals the condemnation suit was filed September 29, 1972. The deed from the Plaintiffs to the Defendant is dated November 22,1972. The state deposited $5,200 as the value of the land taken. This was approximately $200 per acre. Each of the Plaintiffs’ interests in the property was ½5. Their portion of these proceeds would have been less than $150 each. Based on these figures each of their interests in the farm would have had a value of approximately $700. It was only after the jury returned a verdict of over $33,000, almost two and a half years after the deed was executed, that it appeared to be valuable property.

The deed was executed by Plaintiffs, Ima Lee Bennett, Ralph E. McGill and Doris A. Hampton, at the same time. They were all at the home of Mrs. Hampton in Knoxville at the time. At the time of the execution of the deed the Defendant and Leonard Adams, as well as Betty Rose, a notary public, were present. Ima Lee Bennett testified her home was in Toledo, Ohio, and she was visiting her sister, Mrs. Hampton, in Knoxville at the time she signed the deed. She testified she did not read the deed prior to signing it. She said the deed was handed to her folded over and the Defendant told her it was a deed for a cemetery lot. She said she was not deprived of an opportunity to read the deed had she desired to do so. Although she insisted she thought she was signing a deed only for a cemetery lot, on cross-examination she testified her uncle, Leonard Adams, had called her in Toledo. He told her about the condemnation suit. She said, “Leonard Adams told me how it was about each part and how much it would be an heir. He said it wouldn’t be over, our part, over $600 or $700 when we got through with attorneys. That us kids would probably have $300 or $400 out of the estate. That’s what he told me over the phone.” She further testified:

[380]*380“MRS. BENNETT: I don’t have no lies to tell. You can ask me anything. I don’t care. I don’t go around I/e ing if that’s what you’re inferring.

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Related

Fry v. Emmanuel Churches of Christ, Inc.
839 S.W.2d 406 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1992)
Williamson v. Upchurch
768 S.W.2d 265 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1988)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
578 S.W.2d 377, 1978 Tenn. App. LEXIS 280, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcgill-v-headrick-tennctapp-1978.