Wallick v. Wallick

58 Pa. D. & C.2d 286, 1972 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 231
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, York County
DecidedMarch 30, 1972
Docketno. 19
StatusPublished

This text of 58 Pa. D. & C.2d 286 (Wallick v. Wallick) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, York County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wallick v. Wallick, 58 Pa. D. & C.2d 286, 1972 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 231 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1972).

Opinion

ATKINS, P. J.,

Glenn R. Wallick and Doris V. Wallick were married December 24, 1953. The marriage terminated by divorce May 26, 1969. By deed dated July 12, 1963, they took title as tenants by the entireties to the real property which is the subject of this litigation. On October 8, 1969, Doris V. Wallick, plaintiff, filed her complaint in equity seeking a decree in partition and the appointment of a trustee to sell the property and divide the proceeds. The matter proceeded under the procedures provided in Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure 1551-1591.

After two attempts to complete a private sale, each [288]*288of which was not completed because the respective purchasers failed to produce the purchase money, the trustee sold the property at public sale. Parenthetically, we point out that defendant was the purchaser in the first private sale.

A return of sale was filed September 30, 1971, by the trustee, which included a proposed schedule of distribution of the funds in his hands composed of a forfeited down payment from the first abortive private sale, and the proceeds generated by the public sale.

On October 5, 1971, defendant filed a petition to set aside the sale. A rule was granted on plaintiff and on the trustee to show cause why the sale should not be set aside. We observe that no notice was given to the purchaser at the public sale, but in the light of the disposition we make of the case, it appears that no harm has resulted from that omission. At the same time, defendant filed exceptions to the proposed schedule of distribution. Arguments on the rule and the exceptions were heard by the court en banc, and this is written for the court en banc.

We first shall deal with the petition to set the sale aside. This raises one issue: that the exclusive procedure for partition in this kind of case is that provided by the Act of May 27, 1927, P. L. 884, as amended by the Act of May 17, 1949, P. L. 1394, 68 PS §501-504. Although the complaint originally filed by plaintiff in the prayer specifically requests a partition in accordance with the aforementioned Acts of Assembly, plaintiff in pursuit of her case ignored these Acts of Assembly and proceeded under the rules of Pa. R. C. P. 1551-1591. No objection was made to this apparent inconsistency at any time while the case was in progress until after the trustee had filed his return of sale. Neither does defendant now allege that any of the procedural steps followed were in any way violative [289]*289of the Pa. R. C. P. 1551-1591. Defendant’s position now is that this procedure was void and that the exclusive procedure for partition of real estate acquired by husband and wife as tenants by the entireties who are subsequently divorced, is by following the Acts of 1927 and 1949. We then must determine whether the failure to proceed under these statutory enactments is fatal in this case.

Prior to the Act of May 13, 1925, P. L. 649, repealed by the Act of May 27, 1927, P. L. 884, both of which provided a procedure for a partition of property by tenants of the entireties after the divorce, by providing a sale of the property and a division of the proceeds, such an estate was in no way changed by divorce: Alles v. Lyon 216 Pa. 604; O’Malley v. O’Malley 272 Pa. 528; Gasner v. Pierce 286 Pa. 529; Collins v. Wilkinson 366 Pa. 108. Neither did the Act of 1925, nor the Act of 1927, affect the character of the estate nor the rights of the parties therein, except to provide for the sale of the property and a division of the proceeds: Lazare v. Lazare, 365 Pa. 591; Collins v. Wilkinson, supra; McAuly Estate, 49 D. & C. 2d 407.

Since this property was acquired by the parties after the effective date of the Act of May 17, 1949, P. L. 1394, the divorce of the parties did have the effect of changing the nature of the estate from one of tenants by the entireties to one of tenants in common by the clearly expressed language of section 1 of that act: 68 PS §501. This change in the nature of the estate of the parties is far reaching. The right of survivorship is lost. The undivided interest of the former wife may be sold under an execution on a judgment obtained during coverture against her alone: Weir v. Taylor, 45 D. & C. 2d 197.

The question then becomes whether partition under Pa. R. C. P. 1551-1591 will lie regarding property for[290]*290merly held by a husband and wife as tenants by entireties, but now by reason of divorce, held by them as tenants in common.

Land held as tenants in common has always been subject to partition in Pennsylvania, although the action of partition at common law was available only to coparceners. It was made available to tenants in common by Statute 31, Henry VIII, which is extended to Pennsylvania: Coleman v. Coleman, 19 Pa. 100; Seiders v. Giles, 141 Pa. 93.

It is suggested that when the Supreme Court in Pa. R. C. P. 1590 (10) saved the Act of May 10, 1927, P. L. 884, as amended by the Act of May 17, 1949, P. L. 1394, from suspension, it was intended that the procedure set up in those acts was intended to apply exclusively to all cases of partition of land acquired as husband and wife as tenants by entireties who subsequently become divorced.

We do not believe that this was the reason for saving those acts from suspension. As we have heretofore pointed out, where land was acquired between September 1, 1927, and September 1, 1949, by husbands and wives as tenants by the entireties, the nature of the estate was not changed by divorce. Except for the Acts of 1927 and 1949, there is no method whereby land held by the entireties may be partitioned even after divorce: Lazare v. Lazare, supra. Thus, there was a very important reason to save those acts from suspension, otherwise, there would be many cases where no partition could now be had.

The Act of 1949 states no limits or restrictions upon the attributes of the tenancies in common created by it; such as, limiting the procedure for partition, nor do we envision any reason for such a restriction. We, therefore, conclude that in a case where land is acquired after September 1, 1949, by husband and wife as [291]*291tenants by the entireties and the tenancy is changed by a divorce to a tenancy in common, partition in the manner prescribed by Pa. R. C. P. 1551-1591 may be had.

We turn now to the exceptions to the return of sale. The first three exceptions relate to procedures followed in this case, and these have been answered by our discussion to set the sale aside.

The fourth reason is stated: “Refused to allow the defendant to bid at the sale.” The depositions filed in the case indicate that defendant was arrested on a warrant based on information charging him with interference with the execution of process or order. The order involved here was directed to the trustee commanding him to sell the premises. The testimony showed defendant had blocked the driveway to the property with his automobile on which he had displayed a sign bearing the legend, “No Sale.” He also testified that he had told people there would be no sale. It seems clear that his arrest and subsequent removal prior to the sale resulted from his own actions, and were not designed by the trustees or anyone connected with the sale, for the purpose of preventing him from bidding. Furthermore, he never testified that he had any intention to bid. Under the circumstances, we do not consider this exception well taken.

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Related

Lazare v. Lazare
76 A.2d 190 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1950)
Collins v. Wilkinson
76 A.2d 649 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1950)
Gaul v. McLAUGHLIN
217 A.2d 757 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1966)
Gasner v. Pierce
134 A. 494 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1926)
Lohr's Estate
200 A. 135 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1938)
Coleman v. Coleman
19 Pa. 100 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1852)
Seiders v. Giles
21 A. 514 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1891)
Alles v. Lyon
66 A. 81 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1907)
O'Malley v. O'Malley
116 A. 500 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1922)
Hickman's Estate
40 Pa. Super. 244 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1909)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
58 Pa. D. & C.2d 286, 1972 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 231, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wallick-v-wallick-pactcomplyork-1972.