Moore v. Scott

759 S.W.2d 827, 1988 Ky. App. LEXIS 170, 1988 WL 121475
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedNovember 11, 1988
DocketNo. 88-CA-0289-S
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 759 S.W.2d 827 (Moore v. Scott) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moore v. Scott, 759 S.W.2d 827, 1988 Ky. App. LEXIS 170, 1988 WL 121475 (Ky. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

MILLER, Judge.

This appeal is from a summary judgment entered in the Floyd Circuit Court. Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure (CR) 56.

Appellee, Hawley Scott, and his first wife, Effie Scott, acquired title as tenants in common to certain real property situated in Floyd County, Kentucky. Effie died intestate in December 1944, being survived by Hawley and their children. Title to Effie’s share of the jointly-held.property vested in her children, subject to Hawley’s curtesy interest. Hawley remarried and fathered children by his second wife, Ruby. Hawley and Ruby acquired certain tracts of real property.1 In addition, certain parcels of land had been conveyed to Hawley only.

Hawley, Ruby, and all the children and their spouses signed a general power of attorney, appointing Hawley and two of his children (James A. Scott and Harold L. Scott) as attorneys-in-fact. The instrument executed on November 23, 1986, contained the following clauses:

... hereby make, constitute and appoint HAWLEY SCOTT, JAMES A. SCOTT and HAROLD L. SCOTT, all of Garrett, Floyd County, Kentucky, our true and lawful Attomeys-in-Fact for each of us and in our names to sell and convey those sixteen (16) certain tracts of land, as described below....
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.... The rights, powers and authority of our Attomeys-in-Fact to exercise any and all the rights and powers herein granted shall commence and be in full force and effect on December 10, 1986, and such rights, powers and authority shall remain in full force and effect thereafter until revoked by written notice delivered to these Attomeys-in-Fact, and in no case is to terminate before the 31st day of December, 1989.

On August 7, 1987, Hawley filed an action to partition three of the aforementioned tracts of land owned jointly by himself and the children by his first marriage. The children resisted and offered the power of attorney as proof that partition could not be accomplished.

The trial court ruled that Hawley’s partition action constituted a permissible revocation of the power of attorney and transferred the case to the Master Commissioner for appropriate proceedings. In the course of its ruling, the trial court suggested that the appellants (defendants below) might bring a suit for breach of contract, but that same had no bearing on the partition action. This appeal followed.

Appellants contend that the general power of attorney was not a mere “naked” power of attorney, but constituted a “power coupled with interest,” which is irrevocable. It follows, they urge, that the suit to partition constitutes an impermissible attempt to revoke the power. We affirm.

We begin by noting that a power of attorney is a form of agency. See Jay v. Dollarhide, 3 Cal.App.3d 1001, 84 Cal.Rptr. 538 (Cal.Ct.App.1970). A “naked” power of attorney (one not coupled with interest) terminates upon the death of the principal. [829]*829See Moore v, Garred, 223 Ky. 20, 2 S.W.2d 1036 (1928), and is revocable by the principal. See Louisville Ry. Co. v. Louisville Area Transp. Workers Union, 312 Ky. 656, 228 S.W.2d 652 (1950), and 62 Am.Jur.2d Powers, § 23 (1972). This is true notwithstanding the written instrument creating the agency states that it is irrevocable. See Jay v. Dollarhide, 84 Cal.Rptr. at 551; Hill v. United Public Workers Union of America, 314 Ky. 791, 236 S.W.2d 887 (1951). Of course, revocation of the authority contrary to its terms may render the principal liable for damages suffered by the agent. See Smith v. Brasseale, 213 Ala. 387,105 So. 199 (1925); Geyler v. Dailey, 70 Ariz. 135, 217 P.2d 583 (1950); 3 Am.Jur.2d Agency, § 46 (1986).

In contrast, a power coupled with interest differs markedly from a “naked” power in that the former is irrevocable by act of the principal and survives his death. See Drake v. O’Brien, 99 W.Va. 582, 130 S.E. 276 (1925); 2 S. Williston, A Treatise on the Law of Contracts, § 280 (3d ed. 1959). It has been held that the rights conferred inure to the benefit of the personal representative of the agent upon the agent’s death. See Phoenix Title and Trust Co. v. Grimes, 101 Ariz. 182, 416 P.2d 979 (1966). The definition of “power coupled with interest” is somewhat obscure. Reference is frequently made to Chief Justice Marshall’s opinion in Hunt v. Rousmanier’s Adm’r, 8 Wheat. 205, 5 L.Ed. 589 (1823). In Moore v. Garred, 2 S.W.2d at 1037-38, our Court of Appeals quoted from the Chief Justice’s opinion as follows:

The interest or title in the thing being vested in the person who gives the power remains in him, unless it be conveyed with the power, and can pass out of him only by a regular act in his own name. The act of the substitute, therefore, which, in such a case, is the act of the principal, to be legally effectual, must be in his name, must be such an act as the principal himself would be capable of performing, and which would be valid if performed by him. Such a power necessarily ceases with the life of the person making it. But if the interest, or estate, passes with the power, and vests in the person by whom the power is to be exercised, such person acts in his own name. The estate, being in him, passes from him by a conveyance in his own name. He is no longer a substitute, acting in the place and name of another, but is a principal acting in his own name, in pursuance of powers which limit his estate, (emphasis added)

The creation and existence of a power coupled with interest can best be illustrated by example. In Bonzo v. Nowlin, Ky., 285 S.W.2d 153 (1955), Esther Falloway and her husband conveyed one-half of their interest in a tract of real property to D.T. Bonzo. In addition, the deed authorized Bonzo “to lease the entire interest both of himself and the said Esther Falloway and husband to whomsoever he may choose....” Id. at 154. Subsequent grantees of the parties filed a declaratory judgment action seeking construction of the deed. Judge Moremen noted criticism of the Marshall definition, but held that the original agency between Falloway and Bonzo created a power coupled with interest and, as such, was irrevocable.2 Similar factual situations are presented in the cases of Odstrcil v. McGlaun, 230 S.W.2d 353 (Tex.Civ.App.1950), and Superior Oil Co. v. Stanolind Oil & Gas Co., 230 S.W.2d 346 (Tex.Civ.App.1950).

Courts are in agreement that where an agent merely has an interest in proceeds from the sale of property, no power coupled with interest is created. See Moore v. Garred, 2 S.W.2d at 1038, and Bryson v. United Gas Public Serv. Co., 169 So. 350 (La.Ct.App.1936). See generally

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Bluebook (online)
759 S.W.2d 827, 1988 Ky. App. LEXIS 170, 1988 WL 121475, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moore-v-scott-kyctapp-1988.