Ruth v. United States

37 Fed. Cl. 677, 1997 U.S. Claims LEXIS 77, 1997 WL 184392
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedApril 11, 1997
DocketNo. 96-286L
StatusPublished

This text of 37 Fed. Cl. 677 (Ruth v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ruth v. United States, 37 Fed. Cl. 677, 1997 U.S. Claims LEXIS 77, 1997 WL 184392 (uscfc 1997).

Opinion

OPINION

MILLER, Judge.

This case is before the court after argument on defendant’s motion for judgment on the pleadings. Defendant contends that it is entitled to judgment under RCFC 12(b)(1) and (e).1 The issues for decision are whether plaintiffs’ claims are barred by the statute of limitations, whether an implied-in-fact trust relationship exists between the United States and plaintiffs, and assuming, arguendo, that a trust relationship exists, whether the trust is an income-producing trust sufficient to grant the Court of Federal Claims jurisdiction.

FACTS

Plaintiffs are the heirs to Georga McAlis-ter (“Georga”). Georga’s father, Napoleon McAlister (“Napoleon”), entered property on October 19,1872, pursuant to the Homestead Act of May 20,1862, c. 75,12 Stat. 392. The Act provided that, if an entryman, such as Napoleon, resided on and cultivated the subject property for a period of five years, upon submitting proof that he had fulfilled these requirements, he would become entitled to a final certificate and patent from the United States for the property. Prior to perfecting a patent in the land, Napoleon died on December 1, 1873, and was survived by his widow, Sarah McAlister (“Sarah”) and one child, a minor daughter, Georga McAlister (“Georga”).2 Thereafter, Sarah completed the requirements of the Act and on November 24, 1877, submitted final proof that such requirements were met. Prior to issuance of the patent, however, Sarah died on December 18, 1879, and the property was conveyed to two third parties on January 19 and February 9, 1880. Plaintiffs maintain that these conveyances did not occur for Georga’s benefit.

On December 30, 1882, approximately three years after Sarah’s death, the United States issued a patent for the Homestead property to “Sarah F.A. McAlister, widow of Napoleon B. McAlister, deceased.” This patent was not actually delivered to Georga. Furthermore, the patent was not recorded in the local land office tract book; however, the patent was recorded in one of patent books for Dardanelle, Arkansas maintained by the General Land Office. Specifically, a patent issued in the name of Sarah McAlister and was recorded with the Bureau of Land Management in Dardanelle Homestead Volume 5, page 325.

Plaintiffs claim that “[ujnder the provisions of the Homestead Act, all rights to the property were to [ijnure to the benefit of Georga McAlister, Napoleon and Sarah’s minor child.” Complaint filed May 22.1996,118. By “operation of law, upon the death of Sarah McAlister, the legal right and benefit to the Property passes to Georga McAlister, with the United States holding the Property as trustee of those rights.” Compl. 119. Plaintiffs contend that Georga was a beneficiary to a land patent under the Homestead Act, Revised Statutes, and case law; that the United States failed to deliver or record a land patent; and, therefore, the United States continues to hold title to the property in question by mistake. On this basis plaintiffs assert that the United States has a [679]*679continuing trust obligation to Georga and her heirs. Furthermore, plaintiffs contend that the two conveyances of the interests in the subject property were not proper and that the United States breached an implied-in-fact trust obligation to deliver the patent to Geor-ga or sell the subject property for her benefit.

Defendant responds that the court does not have jurisdiction over plaintiffs’ claims as the claims 1) are barred by the statute of limitations; 2) represent an appeal from an 1BLA decision; 3) are implied in law; and 4) are not equivalent to an implied-in-fact contract. Argument narrowed the issues to 1) whether plaintiffs’ claims are barred by the statute of limitations, 2) whether an implied-in-fact trust exists, and 3) if a trust relationship exists, whether it is an income-producing trust over which the court has jurisdiction.

DISCUSSION

1. The Homestead Act

Section 1 of the Homestead Act provides:

That any person who is the head of a family ... shall ... be entitled to enter one quarter section or a less quantity of unappropriated lands.....

After residing on and cultivating the entered property for a specified period of time, the entryman submitted proof that the requirements of the Act were fulfilled, and the en-tryman then became entitled to receive a final certificate and patent from the United States for the subject property.

The parties agree that the dispute centers on sections 2291 and 2292 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, which are based on the provisions of the Homestead Act. Section 2291 provides:

No certificate, however, shall be given, or patent issued therefor, until the expiration of five years from the date of such entry; and if at the expiration of such time, or at any time within two years thereafter, the person making such entry; or if he be dead, his widow; or in case of her death, his heirs or devisee; or in ease of a widow making such entry, her heirs or devisee, in case of her death, proves by two credible witnesses that he, she, or they have resided upon or cultivated the same for the term of five years immediately succeeding the time of filing the affidavit, and makes affidavit that no part of said land has been alienated, ... and that he, she, or they will bear true allegiance to the Government of the United States; then, in such case, he, she, or they, if at that time citizens of the United States, shall be entitled to a patent as in other cases provided by law.

Revised Statutes § 2291 (1875). Section 2292 provides:

In case of the death of both father and mother, leaving an infant child or children under twenty-one years of age, the right and fee shall inure to the benefit of such infant child or children; and the executor, administrator, or guardian may, at any time within two years after the death of the surviving parent, and in accordance with the laws of the State in which such children for the time being, have their domicile, sell the land for the benefit of such infants, but for no other purpose; and the purchaser shall acquire the absolute title by the purchase, and be entitled to a patent from the United States on the payment of the office-fees and sum of money above specified.

Revised Statutes § 2292 (1875). “The object of the sections in. question was ... to provide the method of completing the homestead claim, and obtaining a patent therefor, and not to establish a line of descent or rales of distribution of the deceased entry man’s estate.” Bernier v. Bernier, 147 U.S. 242, 245-46, 13 S.Ct. 244, 245-46, 37 L.Ed. 152 (1893). These provisions “point out the conditions on which the homestead claim may be perfected and a patent obtained, and these conditions differ with the different position in which the family of the deceased entry man is left upon his death.” Id. at 246, 13 S.Ct. at 246.

The Supreme Court expressly has rejected any attempt to circumvent the clarity of the provisions. See, e.g., McCune v. Essig, 199 U.S. 382, 389, 26 S.Ct. 78, 80, 50 L.Ed. 237 (1905) (“It requires an exercise of ingenuity to establish uncertainty in these provisions.”). For example, in McCune, William [680]

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Bluebook (online)
37 Fed. Cl. 677, 1997 U.S. Claims LEXIS 77, 1997 WL 184392, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ruth-v-united-states-uscfc-1997.