Trigg v. Trigg

101 So. 2d 507, 233 Miss. 84, 9 Oil & Gas Rep. 30, 1958 Miss. LEXIS 360
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 17, 1958
DocketNo. 40611
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 101 So. 2d 507 (Trigg v. Trigg) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Trigg v. Trigg, 101 So. 2d 507, 233 Miss. 84, 9 Oil & Gas Rep. 30, 1958 Miss. LEXIS 360 (Mich. 1958).

Opinion

Kyle, J.

This case is before us on appeal by Roy L. Trigg, who is also referred to in the record as R. L. Trigg, and his wife, Juanita Janet Trigg, defendants in the court below, from a decree of the Chancery Court of Wayne County, rendered in favor of Beverly P. Trigg and others, complainants in the court below, establishing a resulting trust for the benefit of the complainants and the defendant, Roy L. Trigg, in 174 acres of land conveyed to Roy L. Trigg by W. S. Trigg, now deceased, by a warranty deed of conveyance absolute on its face, dated July 26, 1937.

The record shows that W. S. Trigg died on February 8, 1942, and that he left surviving him as his only heirs-at-law his widow, Mrs. Viola Trigg, and nine children, namely, Roy L. Trigg, Billy B. Trigg, Mrs Allie Hutto, O. K. Trigg, Edgar Trigg, Victor E. Trigg, Carlos Trigg, Norman Trigg, and Mrs. Léttie Trigg Cooper, and also five grandchildren,, including the above mentioned Beverly P. Trigg, who were the children of W. L. Trigg, deceased son of the said W. S. Trigg. Mrs. Lettie Trigg Cooper died sometime before the filing of the bill of complaint and left surviving her as her only heirs-at-law five children, one of whom, Jimmy Cooper, died sometime [87]*87after the death of his mother, leaving as his only heirs four children. All of the above mentioned children and other lineal descendants of the said W. S. Trigg were named as parties complainant or as parties defendant in the bill of complaint, except Carlos Trigg, who had conveyed his interest in the above mentioned land to his granddaughter, Carol Day, and Norman Trigg who had conveyed his interest in the land to his son, Norman Trigg, Jr. Carol Day and Norman Trigg, Jr., were also named as parties complainant.

The bill of complaint was filed on February 20, 1956. Roy L. Trigg and his wife, Juanita Janet Trigg, and Winston L. Stokes, lessee under an oil, gas and mineral lease executed by Roy L. Trigg and his wife on September 1, 1955, and also Mrs. Viola Trigg, Billy B. Trigg and certain nonresident and minor heirs of Jimmy Cooper, deceased, were named as defendants. The Humble Oil and Refining Company, assignee of the above mentioned oil, gas and mineral lease, was later permitted to intervene as a defendant.

In their bill the complainants alleged that on November 1, 1923, W. S. Trigg executed a mortgage deed of trust on the above mentioned 174 acres of land and other lands owned by him to the Federal Land Bank of New Orleans, for the purpose of securing the repayment of a loan of $2500 made to him by the Federal Land Bank; that thereafter W. S. Trigg became indebted to Roy L. Trigg for money advanced to him by Roy L. Trigg during the depression years, and being thus indebted to Roy L. Trigg in the sum of $958, on July 26, 1937, executed a deed purporting to convey the 174 acres of land to Roy L. Trigg in an effort to secure the payment of said indebtedness ; that although the deed was absolute in form, it was executed with the intention that it should be a mortgage as security for the indebtedness then owing by W. S. Trigg to Roy L. Trigg and any future advancements which might be made thereafter by Roy L. Trigg to W. [88]*88S. Trigg; that the said W. S. Trigg remained in possession of the 174 acres of land until his death on February 8, 1942; and that after his death the heirs remained in possession of the land. The complainants further alleged that the above mentioned deed was not delivered to Roy L. Trigg during the lifetime of W. S. Trigg, but was placed among the papers of W. S. Trigg in his home at Clara, Mississippi, and was found in a trunk among his papers after his death; that Roy L. Trigg came into possession of the deed a short time after the death of his father, but withheld it from record until June 11, 1951. The complainants further alleged in their bill that after ■ the death of W. S. Trigg defaults were made in the payment of the annual installments of principal and interest becoming due on the mortgage indebtedness due and owing to the Federal Land Bank, and to prevent a foreclosure of the mortgage, Donald L. Cooper and James L. Cooper, two of the heirs, paid the past due installments and interest, leaving a balance of $689 still owing to the Federal Land Bank, and that said balance was paid on January 1,1946, out of the proceeds of the sale of timber. The complainants further alleged that another sale of merchantable timber was made in 1951, and out of the proceeds of that sale the said Roy L. Trigg was paid the sum of $2,697, which represented the balance due him on account of the advancements made by him to W. S. Trigg during his lifetime, with interest; that Roy L. Trigg, on June 18, 1951, advised the other heirs that the balance of the proceeds derived from the sale of said timber, after the payment to him of said sum of $2,697 would be distributed among the heirs in the proportions which they owned in the surface of the land; and that the balance of the proceeds derived from the sale of said timber was so distributed among the heirs. The complainants further alleged that the said Roy L. Trigg had conducted himself in all respects as a trustee, under the circumstances, would do or should do, until September 1, .1955, [89]*89when he and his wife executed an oil, gas and mineral lease on the 174 acres of land to Winston L. Stokes, for oil, gas and mineral exploration, and received the full cash consideration therefor, which amounted to $3,480, but failed and refused to make a distribution thereof among the heirs; and that since that time the said Roy L. Trigg had claimed to be the sole owner of the land to the exclusion of the other heirs.

The complainants alleged that Roy L. Trigg had been fully paid for all amounts due him by the said W. S. Trigg, deceased; and that by the execution of the above mentioned oil, gas and mineral lease purporting to lease the entire interest in said land for oil, gas and mineral exploration, the said Roy L. Trigg had breached his trust; and that the deed dated July 26, 1937, should be cancelled as a cloud upon the title of the heirs, and that Roy L. Trigg should be required to divide the proceeds of said oil, gas and mineral lease among the heirs according to their respective interests. The complainants therefore prayed that the deed from W. S. Trigg and his wife to Roy L. Trigg be cancelled as a cloud upon the title of the heirs, as mortgages are cancelled after satisfaction, and that the oil, gas and mineral lease executed by Roy L. Trigg and his wife to Winston L. Stokes be cancelled as a cloud upon the title of the heirs, or in the alternative that a judgment be rendered against Roy L. Trigg in favor of the heirs for ten-elevenths of the total consideration received for said lease. The complainants also prayed for general relief.

The defendants, Roy L. Trigg and his wife Juanita Janet Trigg, in their answer, admitted the ownership of the above mentioned land by W. S. Trigg, deceased, during his lifetime, and the execution by him of the mortgage deed of trust to the Federal Land Bank on November 1, 1923. The defendants also admitted the execution of the deed of conveyance by W. S. Trigg and his wife to Roy L. Trigg on July 26, 1937, but denied that the deed was [90]*90intended as a mortgage to secure advancements made by Roy L. Trigg to tbe said W. S. Trigg. Tbe defendants denied tbat the deed was placed among tbe papers of W. S. Trigg at bis home in Clara and was not delivered during bis lifetime; and tbe defendants denied that Roy L. Trigg bad advised tbe other heirs at any time tbat be was bolding tbe land in trust for them.

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Bluebook (online)
101 So. 2d 507, 233 Miss. 84, 9 Oil & Gas Rep. 30, 1958 Miss. LEXIS 360, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/trigg-v-trigg-miss-1958.