Sabine Production Co. v. Guaranty Bank & Trust

432 So. 2d 1047
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 17, 1983
Docket82 CA 0603, 82 CA 0604
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 432 So. 2d 1047 (Sabine Production Co. v. Guaranty Bank & Trust) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sabine Production Co. v. Guaranty Bank & Trust, 432 So. 2d 1047 (La. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

432 So.2d 1047 (1983)

SABINE PRODUCTION COMPANY, et al.
v.
GUARANTY BANK & TRUST COMPANY, as Trustee and J.N. Shilling, as Trustee.
The CHRISTINE MAE SHILLING INTER VIVOS TRUST NO. 1, et al.
v.
SABINE PRODUCTION COMPANY, et al.

Nos. 82 CA 0603, 82 CA 0604.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

May 17, 1983.

*1048 Victor Roy, James E. Kuhn, Michael A. Patterson, Paul S. West, Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-appellant, Shilling Trust.

Lawrence P. Simon, Jr., Thomas M. McNamara, Lafayette, for plaintiff-appellee, Sabine Prod. Co.

Joseph V. Ferguson, II, New Orleans, for exceptor-appellee, Philip Vasser.

Peter R. Monrose, New Orleans, for defendant-appellee, Exchange Oil & Gas.

Kenneth J. Berke, New Orleans, for defendant-appellee, C.T. Carden.

Before EDWARDS, WATKINS and SHORTESS, JJ.

SHORTESS, Judge.

This is an appeal from a trial court judgment which granted certain motions for summary judgment filed in these consolidated suits.[1] The trial judge, in his written reasons, aptly expressed the pertinent background information involved herein. We therefore adopt his factual summary as our own:

"1. Plaintiffs filed this action seeking a judicial declaration of the invalidity of a certain donation dated March 3, 1972 from Eddie and Ruby McCartney Shilling to their son, J.N. Shilling. Plaintiffs claim that the donation in question is an absolute nullity and pray that this Court decree the invalidity of the donation and *1049 all rights deriving therefrom. Specifically at issue is the validity of an oil, gas and mineral lease granted by J.N. Shilling on February 1, 1976 to C.T. Carden, predecessor in title to Defendants, Sabine Production Company, Amoco Production Company, Exchange Oil & Gas Company, J.P. Robbins, III, and Charles M. Meeks (hereinafter `the Carden lease'), and a royalty deed dated June 29, 1979 executed by J.N. Shilling in favor of Philip W. Vasser.
2. In furtherance of their claim, the Plaintiffs filed a Motion for Partial Summary Judgment asking this Court to declare that the donation dated March 3, 1972 from Eddie and Ruby Shilling to J.N. Shilling is an absolute nullity and to declare the invalidity of the donation and all rights deriving therefrom. Defendants, C.T. Carden, Sabine Production Company, Amoco Production Company, J.P. Robbins, III, Charles Meeks, and Exchange Oil & Gas Corporation, filed oppositions to the Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, and in addition, filed motions for summary judgment asking the Court to declare the Carden lease to be a valid and binding lease. Similarly, Defendant, Philip W. Vasser, filed a motion for summary judgment to confirm his title to the royalty deed previously described.
3. The record establishes that the following documents, all duly recorded in the Conveyance Records of Livingston Parish, affect the property that is the subject of this dispute:
On March 3, 1972, Eddie and Ruby McCartney Shilling (hereinafter collectively `Eddie Shilling') donated the land in question to their son, J.N. Shilling.
On March 4, 1975, J.N. Shilling executed a cash sale of the property to the Livingston Savings & Loan Association, and on that same date the Livingston Savings & Loan Association resold the property to J.N. Shilling.
On February 1, 1976, J.N. Shilling executed an oil, gas and mineral lease in favor of C.T. Carden. Through various assignments, the validity of which are not contested in this lawsuit, Sabine Production Company (hereinafter sometimes `Sabine'), Amoco Production Company (hereinafter sometimes `Amoco'), and Exchange Oil & Gas Corporation (hereinafter sometimes `Exchange'), became and are now the owners of the working interest of the Carden lease. C.T. Carden, J.P. Robbins, III, Charles M. Meeks and others claiming under their titles presently own overriding royalty interests in the Carden lease.
On January 14, 1977, J.N. Shilling mortgaged the property in question to Ford Motor Credit Corporation. In conjunction with that mortgage, Ford Motor Credit required Eddie and Ruby McCartney Shilling to execute an `Act of Joinder,' which instrument first references the Act of Cash Sale dated March 4, 1975 by which J.N. Shilling sold the property in question to the Livingston Savings & Loan Association and then provides:
For good and valuable consideration, the sufficiency of which is acknowledged, Eddie Shilling and Ruby McCartney Shilling hereby join in said transfer as fully as though they had appeared in said act.
On June 29, 1979, J.N. Shilling executed a royalty deed in favor of P.W. Vasser."

The property in dispute, consisting of approximately 29.7 acres, is located in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, and is described as follows:

"A certain tract or parcel of ground, containing 29.7 acres, more or less, together with all the buildings and improvements thereon, situated in the Parish of Livingston, Louisiana, in Section 43, T-6-S, R-3-E, Greensburg Land District of Louisiana, and being more particularly described as follows, to-wit: From the Northeast corner of said Section 43, proceed South 9.62 chains and South 89° 30' West 31.18 chains to point and corner; thence North 9.62 chains to point and corner; thence North 89° 30' East 31.18 chains and corner; thence South 9.62 chains back to point of beginning. LESS AND EXCEPT *1050 THEREFROM, one (1) acre of land sold by J.W. Fleniken to J.T. Modlin out of the Southwest corner of the above described tract and a right of way 25 feet in width across the entire southern boundary of said tract."

The trial judge denied another motion for summary judgment[2] and found that the act of joinder executed by Eddie and Ruby Shilling cured any previous title deficiency and vested title to the property in J.N. Shilling. He further stated:

"6. Even assuming that J.N. Shilling had no interest in the property on the date of the original sale to the savings and loan on March 4, 1975, by virtue of Eddie Shilling's execution of the Act of Joinder, the property was sold and transferred from Eddie Shilling to the Livingston Savings & Loan Association to J.N. Shilling through operation of the after-acquired title doctrine. Alternatively, the Act of Joinder constituted a ratification by Eddie Shilling of J.N. Shilling's title to the property and the transfer of the property from J.N. Shilling to the Livingston Savings & Loan Association."

The trial judge held the after-acquired title doctrine mandated that the 1976 Carden lease, from which Sabine, Amoco, and Exchange derived their rights, be declared valid and binding, and also that Vasser's royalty deed be declared valid. Vasser's claim was further supported by the fact that he acquired his deed after the act of joinder had been recorded, and that he purchased in good faith relying on the public records. Thus, having determined there was no genuine issue of material fact, the trial judge granted defendants' motions for summary judgment. From judgment dated April 22, 1982, plaintiffs perfected this appeal.

This appeal essentially presents two issues:

1. Was the trial judge correct in concluding that there was no genuine issue of material fact as to the effect of the act of joinder, executed on January 14, 1977?

2.

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432 So. 2d 1047, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sabine-production-co-v-guaranty-bank-trust-lactapp-1983.