Scott v. Scott

26 S.W.2d 598, 324 Mo. 1055, 1930 Mo. LEXIS 579
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedApril 2, 1930
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 26 S.W.2d 598 (Scott v. Scott) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Scott v. Scott, 26 S.W.2d 598, 324 Mo. 1055, 1930 Mo. LEXIS 579 (Mo. 1930).

Opinion

*1056 PRANK, J.

Action by B. F. Scott against George S. Scott and R. L. Scott. The petition is in two counts. The first count seeks a decree vesting the title to the lands described in the petition in the plaintiff. The second count is in ejectment, and asks judgment for possession of said lands, and for damages in the sum of $475 for the unlawful withholding of the possession of said premises, and the sum of sixteen dollars per month until possession is restored to plaintiff.

" Judgment went for plaintiff on both counts of the petition, and defendant George S. Scott appealed.

Appellant George S. Scott and one Mary J. Scott were husband and wife. Respondent B. F. Scott and defendant R. L. Scott are brothers and are children of George S. and Mary J. Scott.

The charging part of the first count of the petition is as follows:

"Plaintiff states that he is claiming the fee simple title of, in and to the following described real estate, situate in the City of Dixon, in the County of Pulaski and State of Missouri, to-wit: The North half of Lots One, Two and Three in Block One (1) of Santee’s Addition to the Town of Dixon, Missouri.”

"That he claims to have derived his title by, through and under Mary J. Scott, his mother, in the following manner, to-wit: That the *1057 said Mary J. Scott was the wife of George S. Scott.; that she died on the 19th day of February, 1925; that before her death she was the owner of the above described land, having acquired the same on the 28th day of August, 1908, by a general warranty deed; that said deed was executed and delivered to her for a valuable consideration, moving to the grantor therein George S. Scott, Jr.; that the said purchase price so paid therefor was her separate money and means; that at the time of her death she was .the wife of the said George S. Scott; that the said George S. Scott, without reasonable cause, for the space of one whole year, abandoned his said wife, and continued to live separate and apart from her for said space of more than one year next preceding her death, so as to be barred from any claim of inheritance or curtesy of, in and to said property, and after he forfeited any claim thereto as aforesaid, the said Mary J. Scott, for a good and valuable consideration, conveyed, by a general warranty deed, the above described property to this plaintiff, so that the plaintiff became vested with the fee simple title thereto, free and clear of any claim on the part of the said George S. Scott, as her former husband or otherwise; that notwithstanding the fact that the said George S. Scott never, had any curtesy in said property for the reason that the same constituted her separate statutory estate and because of the desertion of the said Mary J. Scott as aforesaid, he is nevertheless claiming and asserting some interest of, in and to said piuperty, which plaintiff is informed is an estate by curtesy; that said defendant R. L. Scott is in the actual possession of said property, claiming by, and through the said George S. Scott, but has no claim of title thereto of record. ’ ’

The second count of the petition is in ejectment and is in. conventional form, as heretofore indicated.

The answer of defendant George S. Scott, among other things, alleges :

‘ ‘ Comes now George S. Scott and for his separate answer to plaintiff’s petition admits that Mary J. Scott was formerly the wife of the defendant George S. Scott, and that she departed this life on the 19th day of February, 1925, and denies generally and specifically each and every other allegation in plaintiff’s petition contained.

“Further answering defendant says that he is the widower of the said Mary J. Scott, deceased, who at the time of her death was the owner of the real estate described in plaintiff’s petition; that the deed under which plaintiff claims title to said lands was not the voluntary act and deed of the said Mary J. Scott, but that said deed, if made by the said Mary J. Scott, is and was the result of coercion, over-persuasion and undue influence exercised over the mind of the said Mary J. Scott by the plaintiff, B. F. Scott; that there was no consideration passed from the said B. F. Scott to the said Mary J. *1058 Scott for said deed and that said deed is therefore void as a matter of law. . . . Defendant further says that as the ividower of Mary J. Scott he has a curtesy in the real estate described in plaintiff ’s petition and has the right to the possession and control thereof until his death.”

This answer also pleads facts tending to show that defendant did not desert and abandon his wife.

The answer of defendant R. L. Scott pleads that he is the tenant of defendant George S. Scott, and is in possession of the property under a contract and agreement with said George S. Scott, who had authority to lease said real estate by reason of his curtesy therein as the widower of Mary J. Scott, deceased.

Appellant’s wife acquired title to the property in 1908 by warranty deed from the then owner, and she and her husband thereafter made their home thereon. In 1922 appellant and his wife were both past eighty years of age and physically unable to live alone and care for themselves. In June, 1922, appellant went to the Soldier’s Home at St. James and thereafter made his home there. In September of the same year his wife went to the home of respondent, her son, and lived with him until the date of her death in February, 1925. Prior to her death, and on March 8, 1923, she conveyed the property in question to respondent by warranty deed, in which appellant did not join.

The gist of plaintiff’s petition is that defendant’s wife, Mary J. Scott, acquired title in her own right to the property in question in the year 1908, and that she thereafter conveyed the property to respondent by her separate warranty deed and that he is now the owner thereof.

The answer of defendant denies that his wife conveyed the property to-respondent and alleges that she was the owner thereof at the date of her death and for that reason he, as her widower, has curtesy therein and is entitled to possession thereof during his lifetime. The theory of defendant, as expressed in his answer, is that the deed under which plaintiff claims title was not the voluntary act of his wife, but was the result of coercion, over-persuasion and undue influence exerted by respondent. -No evidence was offered in support of this theory and no such contention is made in this court, so this point drops out of the case.

The case is presented here on two theories. (1) That the deed from defendant’s wife to respondent was without consideration and for that reason void, and (2) that since, the passage of the 1921 statute, to which we will later refer, the deed of a married woman conveying her separate real estate does not prejudice the statutory rights of her husband in the land so conveyed, where he does not join in the conveyance.

*1059 The deed recites that “said party of the first part, for and in consideration of one dollar and love and affection . . . do by these premises grant,” etc.

In addition to above clause, the body of the deed contains the following further recitation:

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Bluebook (online)
26 S.W.2d 598, 324 Mo. 1055, 1930 Mo. LEXIS 579, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/scott-v-scott-mo-1930.