Richards v. Reeves

49 N.E. 348, 149 Ind. 427, 1898 Ind. LEXIS 29
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 4, 1898
DocketNo. 18,305
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 49 N.E. 348 (Richards v. Reeves) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Richards v. Reeves, 49 N.E. 348, 149 Ind. 427, 1898 Ind. LEXIS 29 (Ind. 1898).

Opinion

Howard, C. J.

This was an action by appellees against appellant and his grantee; one James M. Hummel, to enforce in favor of appellees a lien alleged to exist upon a certain forty acres of land, by virtue of a conveyance thereof made to appellant. From the complaint it appears that the appellant is the son, and the appelles are the grandchildren, of one Sarah I. Thompson, who departed this life intestate May 9, 1888, her husand having died before her. On September 9,1879, the said Sarah I. Thompson was the owner [428]*428in fee of the land upon which the lien is claimed; and on that day, by warranty deed, she and her husband conveyed said land to her son, the appellant, reserving a life estate therein for herself and her husband. One consideration of the conveyance so made was that appellant, his heirs or assigns, should pay, or cause to be paid, to each of the appellees, the sum of $100.00 on the arrival of each, respectively, at the age of twenty-one years. It is alleged that the appellant accepted said deed, and placed the same on record, that the appellees, who were minors at the execution of the deed, are all now of full age; and that no part of said sum of $100.00 due to each has been paid.

It is contended by appellant that the complaint is insufficient, for the reason that no demand is shown. In the very similar case of Pruitt v. Pruitt, 91 Ind. 595, it was held that, the time for payment being fixed in the contract, no demand was necessary. The deed in this case provided that the money should be paid to •appellees by their uncle on their coming of age, respectively, and this time was ascertainable on inquiry. The court did not, therefore, err in overruling the demurrer to the complaint.

The appellant filed an answer in which it was averred that at the time of making the deeds the said Sarah I. Thompson and her husband were old and infirm; that the land so disposed of was all the property that either she or her husband then or at any time thereafter owned; that she and her husband,.being unable to work and earn their living thereby, believed that said forty acres of land would afford them necessary maintenance during their natural lives, and desired, in case the rents and profits of the land were sufficient so to support them, that, on their death, the property should go to her son, subject to the payments to her grandchildren provided for in the deed; that she and [429]*429her husband also believed that, besides their support, the rents and profits of the land would be sufficient to pay all assessments and taxes on the property and keep up all necessary repairs thereon. But., it is averred, the said Sarah I. Thompson had no purpose or intention, in executing said deed, to make the same irrevocable; that, on the contrary, she reserved to herself the right to revoke the same should she find the interest thus reserved insufficient for her support and that of her husband, but, by ignorance and mistake on her part and on the part of the scrivener, she did not express in the deed such right of revocation; that after the execution of the deed she attempted to support herself and her husband, and pay said taxes and other expenses, by the use, control, rents and profits of said property; but that after about one year she became sick, and incurred obligations for medical treatment, and then discovered that it would be impossible to obtain support for herself and her husband from said premises, and also to pay said medical charges, taxes, and other expenses, besides keeping said property in repair; that thereupon the said Sarah I. Thompson and her husband, for the purpose of carrying out their intention that said land should furnish them a support during their natural lives, demanded of appellant a reconveyance of the land, agreeing that, as a part of the consideration for such reconveyance, appellant should not be required to pay to appellees said sums made a charge upon said land. It is finally averred, that, in order to enable the said Sarah I. Thompson to revoke the deed mentioned in the complaint, with the view to carry out her purpose to obtain her livelihood from said land, and in pursuance of her promise to reconvey said land to appellant, and to revoke and annul the conditions as to appellees, and in further consideration that appellant would pay all [430]*430taxes and assessments against said premises, and keep np the necessary repairs thereon during the natural lives of the said Sarah I. Thompson and her husband, said appellant and wife did reconvey said land by warranty deed to the said Sarah. I. Thompson. To this answer a demurrer was sustained, and, the appellant refusing to plead further, judgment was rendered in favor of appellees. The amounts found due the appellees were declared liens on said land, and the liens ordered foreclosed, and, on failure to recover from appellant the sums so found due on such liens, the land was directed to be sold to satisfy the same.

There is no doubt that, in the making of the deed referred to in the complaint, Mrs. Thompson designed to give the property which she should have left at her death and the death of her husband to her son and her minor, grandchildren, and it is equally clear that the deed was accepted by her son with the agreement that he would pay to the grandchildren the consideration in their favor named in the deed. As a general rule, such- a deed is irrevocable, without the consent of the beneficiaries. By the reconveyance, appellant could, of course, as he did, consent to the revocation of the deed, but such action on his part could not bind appellees. As said in Pruitt v. Pruitt, supra, the delivery of the deed to appellant, containing the provision for paying the money to the appellees, became, as to Mrs. Thompson, an executed gift of appellant’s promise to pay the money. The placing of the deed upon record operated in favor of appellees as well as • of appellant. From the beneficial character of the provision for appellees, an acceptance may be presumed. In the case of minors, no formal acceptance of a gift is required in order to make it binding. The law implies an acceptance, even though the infant is ignorant of the gift. It becomes binding and irrevo[431]*431cable as soon as it passes from the control and dominion of the donor. See, further, Waterman v. Morgan, 114 Ind. 237; Copeland v. Summers, 138 Ind. 219, and authorities cited in those three cases. In 1 Perry Trusts, section 104, as cited in Ewing v. Jones, 130 Ind. 247, is found a like statement: “A trust once created and accepted without reservation of power can only be revoked by the full consent of all parties in inter- ' est; if any of the parties are not in being, or are not sui juris, it cannot be revoked at all.”

But it is averred in the answer that the donor here did intend to reserve in her deed a right to revoke the same, in case it should turn out that the income from the property should not be sufficient for her support and that of her husband, besides paying the necessary expenses of caring for the property; and that, through her own ignorance and mistake and that of the scrivener, such reservation was not put in the deed. We are inclined to think that Mrs. Thompson herself might have secured a revocation or a reformation of her deed by giving evidence in support of allegations . such as those made in this answer. If she could, it is not apparent why she might not attain the same end by revoking her deed in the manner disclosed in the answer.

As said in Ewing v. Wilson, 132 Ind.

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Bluebook (online)
49 N.E. 348, 149 Ind. 427, 1898 Ind. LEXIS 29, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/richards-v-reeves-ind-1898.