Laymon v. Minn. Premier Props., LLC, 913 N.W.2d 449

Howard Laymon died testate in January 2015; his will devised the residue of his estate equally to his three children (Mary, John, Janet). The residuary estate included Howard's house, which was mortgaged.
After Howard's death the mortgage went into default and Wells Fargo bought the property at a sheriff's sale on June 29, 2015.
Within days of the sheriff's sale, John and his wife quitclaimed whatever interest they had in the property to Minnesota Premier Properties (Premier) for $10,000; Premier later conveyed to other entities, culminating in Blue Gold Ventures redeeming the property on October 6, 2015.
Mary, as personal representative, sued to quiet title and for slander of title, arguing John had no transferable interest to convey because the property was subject to administration and residuary devisees do not take title instantly under Minn. Stat. § 524.3-101.
The district court granted summary judgment for Mary; the court of appeals reversed, holding that under § 524.3-101 real property devised in a residuary clause devolves immediately on death to residuary devisees, so John had a transferable interest. The Minnesota Supreme Court granted review on that statutory interpretation issue.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether "persons to whom [property] is devised by last will" in Minn. Stat. § 524.3-101 includes residuary devisees so that residuary property devolves immediately on death	Laymon: residuary property does not devolve immediately; administration (and personal representative powers) affects devolution, so John had no transferable interest	Premier: the statute unambiguously refers to "persons to whom it is devised" and includes residuary devisees; thus property in residue devolves on death and John had an interest to convey	Court: Held that the phrase unambiguously includes residuary devisees; property in residue devolves upon death, so John had a transferable interest; affirming court of appeals

Commerce Bank v. W. Bend Mut. Ins. Co., 870 N.W.2d 770 (Minn. 2015) (standard of review for summary judgment)
Christianson v. Henke, 831 N.W.2d 532 (Minn. 2013) (statutory interpretation reviewed de novo)
Allan v. R.D. Offutt Co., 869 N.W.2d 31 (Minn. 2015) (give effect to all statutory provisions)
J.D. Donovan, Inc. v. Minn. Dep't of Transp., 878 N.W.2d 1 (Minn. 2016) (courts may not add words omitted by the Legislature)
Emp'rs Liab. Assurance Corp. v. Morse, 111 N.W.2d 620 (Minn. 1961) (ejusdem generis canon explanation)
Bengtson v. Setterberg, 35 N.W.2d 623 (Minn. 1949) (common-law rule that specific devises vest at death)
Everest v. Ferris, 16 Minn. 26 (Minn. 1870) (quitclaim passes only estate the grantor could convey)
State v. Myhre, 875 N.W.2d 799 (Minn. 2016) (courts decline to reach issues not raised in petition for review)