Zambrano v. Olivas

490 S.W.2d 218
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 24, 1973
Docket6276
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 490 S.W.2d 218 (Zambrano v. Olivas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Zambrano v. Olivas, 490 S.W.2d 218 (Tex. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinion

OPINION

WARD, Justice.

This is a summary judgment case. Suit having been brought by the appellees for the title and possession of certain real estate in El Paso, they moved for summary judgment on the ground that the pleadings, admissions and supporting affidavits on file showed there was no genuine issue as to any material fact as to the title and possession of the property. Upon hearing, judgment was rendered for the plaintiffs for title and possession. We now have a final judgment where on the first appeal we were only presented with a partial summary judgment interlocutory in nature and not appealable. Zambrano v. Olivas, 477 S.W.2d 299 (Tex.Civ.App.—El Paso 1972, no writ). The judgment of the trial Court on the present appeal is reversed and the cause is remanded.

The common source of title to the property was in Esteban Sambrano on February 18, 1922. This suit turns on the construction of the provisions in a deed executed on that date by Esteban Sambrano to his sister, Elisa S. de Olivas, covering certain lots 6 through 18 in the Sambrano Suburb Addition in El Paso. The controlling provisions .are to the following effect:

“. . . That I, Esteban Sambrano . for and in consideration of the the promise and agreement of Elisa S. de Olivas, to supply the residents in Sambrano Surburb with water for domestic purposes, and to keep the pump, tank and pipes now used for such purpose in repair for three years, and for a reasonable char_es for such service to be paid by such residents,
“have Granted, Sold and conveyed, and by these presents do Grant, Sell and convey unto Elisa S. de Sambrano as her sole and separate property for and during her life and the remainder to her children who survive her, all that certain . . . parcel of land, . . . conditioned upon the performance of the stipulations hereinafter mentioned.
“TO HAVE AND TO HOLD, the above described premises, . . . unto the said purchasers Elisa S. de Olivas for and during her life and afterwards her children who survive her, forever, h and I do hereby bind myself, ... to warrant and forever defend, all and sin- *220 guiar the said premises unto the said purchaser, Elisa S. de Sambrano, for and during her life and afterwards unto her children who survive her . .

Between the end of the deed and the acknowledgment and to the left of the grant- or’s signature there was added the following statement:

“I agree to furnish water and perform the service for the time mentioned and agree that in the event of my failure to do so, this deed may be cancelled by the grantor: X - X -

On September 5, 1923, Elisa S. de Olivas and her husband, Joaquin Olivas, conveyed the four lots, IS through 18, containing the waterworks and the subject of the present suit to Victor Sambrano. Victor was a son of Esteban Sambrano. Elisa S. de Olivas died on August 23, 1969, and left as her survivors three children, who are the plaintiffs in the present suit.

Our attention has been directed by the parties to the case of Olivas v. Sambrano, 117 S.W.2d 482 (Tex.Civ.App., no writ), decided by this Court in 1938 as to the later history and litigation concerning the four lots. After Victor received the lots, there is a deed to Esteban Sambrano, deed from Esteban Sambrano back to Victor Sambrano, and Will of Victor Sambrano, duly probated and filed, devising to Esteban Sambrano all property belonging to Victor Sambrano, and an order granting letters of administration to Silverio Sam-brano upon the estate of Esteban Sam-brano. Silverio Sambrano, as Administrator of the Estate of Esteban Sambrano, then brought suit against Elisa S. de Olivas and Joaquin Olivas and recovered judgment in trespass to try title to the four lots. The Civil Appeals opinion affirmed the jury finding as to the proper execution of the deed from Elisa S. de Olivas and her husband to Victor Sambrano and further approved the jury determination that Esteban Sambrano, and those under whom he claimed, had established their title by adverse possession for the statutory period of ten years subsequent to the deed dated September 5, 1923. The defendants in our present suit hold under the estate of Esteban Sambrano, and are now in possession of the property. Over the years, the letter “Z” has been substituted for the letter “S” at the beginning of the surname and the family is now known as Zambrano.

Though no specific grounds are set forth in the motion for summary judgment, as required by Rule 166-A, subdivision (c), Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, as amended effective January 1, 1971, no complaint has been made thereto, and the position of the plaintiffs is clear. They assert that the first deed, dated February 18, 1922, created a life estate with the remainder to the children of the life tenant who survived, and the second deed of September 5, 1923, regardless of its terms conveyed only the interest of the life tenant. They argue that the life tenant generally cannot by later agreement with the grantor who originally created the estate or by conveyance divest the remaindermen of the interest which they acquired under the terms of the original deed. Henson v. Peterson, 218 S.W. 126 (Tex.Civ.App.—Texarkana 1920, writ ref’d); 37 Tex.Jur.2d 58. The conveyance by a life tenant operates only to the extent of transferring his own life interest though the deed purports to convey the fee simple title, Gibbs v. Barkley, 242 S.W. 462 (Tex.Comm’n App.1922), and as a general rule the statute of limitation does not commence to run against one who is entitled to an estate in remainder until the death of the life tenant. 2 Tex. Jur.2d 115. Therefore, it is the position of the plaintiffs that upon the death of the life tenant in August, 1969, they, as her surviving children, became entitled to the full fee simple title and are entitled to summary judgment.

On the basis of what we now have before us, we have concluded that an issue of fact is presented. The covenants contained in the deed of February 18, 1922, are coupled with the statement therein that *221 upon failure to comply the deed may be cancelled by the grantor. This language was binding on the grantees as the deed was accepted. Greene v. White, 137 Tex. 361, 153 S.W.2d 575 (1941). Under the record, a fee simple on condition subsequent was created and the available remedy to the grantor was a forfeiture of the estate. Jeffery v. Graham, 61 Tex. 481 (1884); Houston & T. C. R. Co. v. Ennis-Calvert Compress Co., 23 Tex.Civ.App. 441, 56 S.W. 367 (1900, writ ref’d); Norris v. Coffman, 95 S.W. 1088 (Tex.Civ.App.1906); Goodman v. Bingle, 48 S.W.2d 432 (Tex.Civ.App.—Galveston 1932, no writ); Dickenson v. Board of Trustees of Chico Independent School Dist., 204 S.W.2d 418 (Tex.Civ.App.—Fort Worth 1947, writ ref’d); Deeds: Covenants and Conditions, 16 Baylor L.Rev. 147; Restrictions on the Use of Land, 27 Texas L.Rev. 158; 15 Tex.Jur.2d 722.

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225 S.W.3d 834 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2007)
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543 S.W.2d 180 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1976)
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Bluebook (online)
490 S.W.2d 218, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zambrano-v-olivas-texapp-1973.