Wimberley v. Wimberley

360 S.W.2d 779, 50 Tenn. App. 242, 1960 Tenn. App. LEXIS 142
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedNovember 30, 1960
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 360 S.W.2d 779 (Wimberley v. Wimberley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wimberley v. Wimberley, 360 S.W.2d 779, 50 Tenn. App. 242, 1960 Tenn. App. LEXIS 142 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1960).

Opinion

CARNEY, J.

The complainants below, Rupert F. Wimberley and wife, Lela Wimberley, individually and on behalf of Mrs. Olive Wimberley and Miss Nora Wim-berley, brought suit to set aside a deed to 264 acres of land in Henry County, Tennessee, executed by Rupert F. Wimberley and wife, Mrs. Lela Wimberley, to the defendants, R. C. Wimberley and wife, Lucille Wimber-ley. The bill charged that the defendants, by the acceptance of said deed, agreed to reside on said farm and furnish a home for and look after certain life tenants, namely William Clark Wimberley and wife, Mrs. Olive Wimberley, and their daughter, Miss Nora Wimberley, who is a non compos.

The bill further averred that the defendants had wil-fully breached their agreement, had moved off the farm, failed to look after and care for the life tenants forcing the complainant, R. F. Wimberley and wife, Mrs. Lela Wimberley, to look after said life tenants. The bill prayed that the deed be cancelled and that the complainants, R. F. Wimberley and wife, Mrs. Lela Wimberley, be restored to full title and possession of said farm.

The cause was tried upon depositions. The Chancellor dismissed the original bill and the complainants have appealed from his action.

William Clark Wimberley and wife, Olive Wimberley, were the father and mother respectively of the complainant R. F. Wimberley, and the grandfather and grandmother respectively of the defendant, Raymond C. Wimberley. Raymond C. Wimberley is a son of B. C. Wimberley who is a brother of the complainant, R. F. Wimberley, and who was originally a defendant to the [245]*245lawsuit and a demurrer on Ms behalf was sustained. There is no appeal from this action of the court.

Miss Nora Wimberley is a maiden daughter of William C. Wimberley and wife, Olive Wimberley, and therefore a sister of the complainant, R. F. Wimberley, and an aunt of the defendant, Raymond C. Wimberley. Apparently she has always lived in the home of her father and mother, William 0. Wimberley and wife, Olive Wim-berley.

On August 24, 1946, William Clark Wimberley and wife, Mrs. Olive Wimberley, by warranty deed conveyed to their son, R. F. Wimberley, the complainant, and his wife, Mrs. Lela Wimberley, the farm supposed to have contained 293 acres located in Henry County, Tennessee. The consideration for this conveyance was recited as being $1.00 and love and affection and the deed also reserved a life estate in said farm to the grantor, William Clark Wimberley and wife, Mrs. Olive Wimberley. At the time this deed was executed Miss Nora Wimberley was living on the farm with her father and mother as a member of their household.

The complainants, R. F. Wimberley and wife, went into the possession of the farm, made some improvements to the barn and possibly other buildings, cut some timber and encumbered the farm by deed of trust in the amount of approximately $1,500.00. We understand from the record that this $1,500.00 was borrowed for the purpose of making the improvements to the farm. At the time of the transfer the farm was estimated to have been worth not over $5,000.00.

Sometime prior to August 6, 1948, the complainants, R. F. Wimberley and wife, decided to leave the farm and [246]*246go up north to get a job. They discussed with the defendant, Raymond C. Wimberley, tbeir nephew, the matter of transferring the farm oyer to him. These negotiations resulted in a deed being executed of date August 6, 1948, by the complainants, R. F. Wimberley and wife, Lela, to the defendants, Raymond 0. Wimberley and wife, Lucille, to said farm which was shown to contain 264 acres by survey. The deed was a warranty deed regular in form and purported to convey to the grantees a fee simple title to said property subject only to the following reservation: “By their acceptance of this deed the grantees agree to pay the 1948 taxes on the above described property. By their acceptance of this deed, they also evidence their agreement that our mother, Mrs. Olive Wimberley, and our sister, Miss Nora Wimberley, are to have a home on the above described property as long as they live.”

The deed recited a consideration of $1,500.00 cash paid to the complainants, R. F. Wimberley and wife, and the said R. F. Wimberley and wife reserve the 1948 crops on said farm.

William Clark Wimberley, the original grantor, had died July 8, 1948, leaving only his widow, Mrs. Olive Wimberley, and a maiden daughter, Miss Nora Wimber-ley, to be cared for.

Effective January, 1949, the defendant, Raymond C. Wimberley and wife, Lucille, went into the possession of said farm and made crops thereon; furnished a home for Mrs. Olive Wimberley and her daughter, Miss Nora Wim-berley; assisted them by getting in wood and procuring groceries for Mrs. Olive Wimberley and her daughter. They did not pay for any groceries during this time. At the time this deed was made Mrs. Olive Wimberley was [247]*247drawing $40.00 per month from the welfare department of Henry Connty which was the principal source of her funds.

Sometime about December, 1952, the welfare department cut off the monthly checks to Mrs. Olive Wimberley and the complainants, R. P. Wimberley and wife, Mrs. Lela Wimberley, who were then working in Chicago, Illinois, sent her $50.00 per month for a period of nineteen months beginning January 1, 1953, and ending July 13,1954.

Sometime about 1954 the defendant, Raymond O. Wimberley and wife, Lucille Wimberley, decided that they were not making any progress on the farm and determined to move to Paris, Tennessee, where Mrs. Lucille Wimberley obtained employment as a practical nurse and/or receptionist at a local physician’s office. Raymond O. Wimberley made an offer to Mrs. Olive Wim-berley to move her and Miss Nora to town and furnish her a room in Paris in their home which she refused.

Thereupon Raymond C. Wimberley and wife, Lucille, moved to Paris leaving Mrs. Olive Wimberley and her daughter, Miss Nora Wimberley, alone on the farm. Thereupon the complainants, R. P. Wimberley and wife, Lela, quit their job in Chicago and returned to the farm in Henry County to look after their mother and sister and they have continued to do so to the time of the trial.

On August 18,1954, the complainant, R. P. Wimberley, by letter made an offer to the defendant, R. C. Wimber-ley, to refund him the purchase price paid by R. O. Wim-berley on the farm stating that R. C. Wimberley failed to carry out his agreement to care for his grandmother and aunt for the remainder of their lives. The letter further [248]*248stated that apon refusal of R. 0. Wimberley to accept the offer the present litigation would follow.

The letter offered to refund $1,100.00 as the purchase price and the complainant testified the discrepancy between the figure $1,100.00 and the $1,500.00 shown in the deed was that he received $1,500.00 to pay off the deed of trust on the property and he refunded $400.00 of this amount out of his crops during the fall of 1948 to the defendant, R. C. Wimberley, or his father, B. O. Wim-berley. The defendant, R. O. Wimberley, refused to accept the agreement and the present bill was filed.

The complainant, R. F. Wimberley, testified that he and his wife received the deed from his father and mother under agreement not only to furnish a home for them for the remainder of their lives but also to look after and care for them and give them full support; further that when he sold the farm to the defendants, Raymond O.

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Related

Hargis v. Collier
578 S.W.2d 953 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1978)

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Bluebook (online)
360 S.W.2d 779, 50 Tenn. App. 242, 1960 Tenn. App. LEXIS 142, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wimberley-v-wimberley-tennctapp-1960.