Roberts v. Corbett

265 S.W.2d 127
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided February 25, 1954·No. 12653·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

HAMBLEN, Jr., Chief Justice.

This suit in trespass-to-try title was ip-, stituted by appellants in the District Court of Brazoria County to recover title and possession of certain minerals under 100 acres of land. Trial was ,to a jury, to whom the cause was submitted on special issues. After receipt of a verdict, appel-lees, who were defendants below, moved for judgment thereon. This motion was overruled. Appellants then moved the court to disregard one of the findings made by the jury, which motion was granted. Appellees thereupon moved for judgment non obstante veredicto, which motion was granted and judgment was entered that appellants take nothing. The asserted error of the court, in so rendering judgment forms the basis of this appeal, which is presented by appellants in one point of error. Appellees, after replying to appellants’ argument, present four cross-assignments of error, directed-to the court’s refusal to .enter judgment upon the vferdict of the jury and to certain asserted substantive, and procedural errors, which, if sustained, would require an affirmance of the trial cohrt’s judgment. Since this Court takes the view that appellants’ one point of error is without merit, which requires an af-firmance of the judgment of the trial court, no necessity exists for, and no purpose would be served by any discussion of ap-pellees’ cross-assignments. Before the trial court there were named certain corporate *128 defendants. Since it is agreed % all par-' ties that the rights of such defendants are determinable from and directly dependent upon, the rights of the litigants before this Court, an affirmance of the trial court’s judgment disposes1 of all issues and parties.

The facts, insofar as necessary to our discussion, are simple. On September 18, 1907, W. C. Corbett, Sr., was vested with fee simple title to the land and minerals in controversy. On that date he conveyed all of the minerals under the land, save and except a ¾a royalty,, to his mother, Z. J. Greene. On November 9, 1907, W. C. Corbett, Sr., for a valuable consideration, conveyed the property involved to T. J. Poole without mention or exeption of the minerals previously conveyed to his mother, Z. J. Greene. On October 5, 1917, Z. J. Greene died intestate, leaving W. C. Cor-bett, Sr., ás her sole heir with no administration necessary. Appellants thereafter acquired the title of T..J. Poole and appel-lees acquired the title of W. C. Corbett, Sr.

It is the contention of appellants that the deed from W. C. Corbett, Sr., to T. J. Poole effectively vested in the grantee not only such interest as was owned by the grantor oh the date of its execution but also such interest as was thereafter ■ acquired by inheritance. Appellees, on the contrary, ■ contend, that the deed evidences an intention- to convey only such interest as the grantor then owned in the described property and that therefore they are not estojiped to assert title to the after-acquired interest; Since our determination' of this appeal depends solely upon the construction of that instrument, a copy thereof, omitting a field note description, -acknowledgment and other portions immaterial to' otir discussion, ' is, for the' purpose of clarity, attached as Exhibit A to this opinion.

After the entry of judgment, the trial court, upon the request of appellants, ■made certain conclusions-of law, including therein the conclusion that the deed from Corbett to Poole was a quit-claim deed-and therefore ■ insufficient to pass an after-acquired title. Upon the apparent assumption that the trial court’s judgment must be sustained, if at all, upon the correctness of that conclusion, appellants have addressed a substantial portion of their argument to the proposition that the deed is not a quitclaim but is a conveyance. With this portion of appellants’ argument, this Court is in agreement. The deed is a conveyance. The granting clause, the ha-bendum clause, the warranty cláuse, the fact that a vendor’s lien is reserved — these and many other indicia — characterize it indelibly as a conveyance, but it does not follow a fortiori, as appellants contend, that if it is a conveyance and not a quitclaim it would pass the after-acquired title as a matter of law. The precise question here is not whether Corbett quitclaimed to Poole rather than conveying to Poole. The question for determination is the estate which Corbett conveyed. If, by his deed, Corbett may properly be said to have conveyed an indefeasible,' absolute estate in the described property, then he, and those holding under him would be estopped, to assert title to an interest thereafter acquired by Corbett. If, on the other hand, it appears that the grantor intended to convey no greater estate than he was possessed of, the doctrine of estoppel has been considered not to apply. The trial court, upon appellees’ request, amended his original conclusions by declaring that the deed was a conveyance but that it conveyed only the interest which Corbett owned at the time it was executed and would not, therefore, support an estoppel' against Corbett' and those holding under him to claim an interest thereafter acquired by Corbett. This, we believe, is the correct construction of the instrument in question.

In reaching the conclusion which we have expressed, this Court’s labors have been greatly diminished by the decision of the Commission of Appeals of Texas in the cáse of, Clark v. Gauntt, 138 Tex. 558, 161 S.W.2d 270, 271; In an opinion by Judge Smedley,' which was expressly adopted by the Supreme Court, the Commission of Appeals^'construed an instrument differing in no -material respect from that here involved except that it was a deed of trust-rather than a deed. But since the Court *129 expressly held that the rule as to after-acquired title is the same when applied to mortgages as to deeds, we feel that the reasoning employed in that opinion is decisive of the issue in this case.

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Roberts v. Corbett, 265 S.W.2d 127 (Tex. Ct. App. 1954).

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