110 Kan. 504 | Kan. | 1922
The opinion of the court was delivered by
This action was brought by Alonzo E. Brown and his wife, Edith M. Brown, against the defendants to cancel an oil and gas reservation in a deed under which the land was transferred, and to quiet their title to the oil and gas rights.
A tract of 160 acres of land in Elk county was owned by W. E. Evans. In October, 1915, he conveyed it to Jessie L. Goodwine. She in turn conveyed' the land in September, 1916, to Fannie E. Hott, subject to an incumbrance amounting to $5,000, which was treated as part of the purchase price, and in the instrument all oil, gas and mineral rights in the land were expressly reserved to the grantor. The following day Mrs. Hott, who was the mother of Alonzo E. Brown, transferred the land to him. With a knowledge of the reservation in the deed he accepted it, placed it of record, took possession of the land and has since executed several mortgages upon it. The consideration for the transfer by Mrs. Goodwine and her husband was mainly real and personal property in Missouri, and the negotiations in the exchange were conducted by one Joseph
The Goodwines are not questioning the validity of their deed but are rather insisting that the reservation involved in this proceeding is a valid and binding one. After an opening statement by plaintiffs and the production of their evidence, the court sustained a demurrer to the evidence holding that they had not shown that they were entitled to the relief asked, and judgment for Ulmer was accordingly entered.
Plaintiffs contend that the deed containing the reservation was never delivered to Mrs. Hott, because it was executed in blank. When the deed was executed the grantee was not named in the instrument. Authority was given, however, to write in the name of the grantee, and it was so written and made complete before the delivery of the deed to Mrs. Hott. While the instrument was defective without a description of the grantee, the subsequent acceptance and recording of the deed after the grantee was named therein amounted to a ratification of the insertion that was made, cured the defect and made the deed a valid conveyance. (Tucker v. Allen, 16 Kan. 312, 319; Wilkins v. Tourtellott, 28 Kan. 825, 839; Frayer v. Holtom, 8 Kan. App. 718.)
The contention that the reservation in the deed ought not to be binding upon plaintiffs, because of the fraud of Harrah in dealing with the grantor, Mrs. Goodwine, cannot be upheld. The fraudulent action of the agent in withholding from Mrs. Goodwine a part of the consideration for the sale of her land is of no avail to the plaintiffs. In the negotiations she distinctly stated that she intended to reserve the oil and gas interest in the land. The reservation was expressly made in the instrument which she executed. Mrs. Goodwine is not questioning the validity of the reservation,
It is immaterial that Brown may have had no actual notice of the reservation when the deed was executed. He took a conveyance containing the specific recital and is chargeable with notice of the recital, and with knowledge of all facts suggested by the recital. (Knowles v. Williams, 58 Kan. 221, 48 Pac. 856; Moore v. Griffin, 72 Kan. 164, 83 Pac. 395.) When Mrs. Goodwine reserved the oil and gas rights in the land she carved out a separate estate in the tract, the title and ownership of which remained in her and which was subject to the law of descent, devise and conveyance. (Moore v. Griffin, supra.) That interest has been transferred to Ulmer by a conveyance about the validity of which there can be no question. The plaintiffs, having accepted and recorded the deed and having taken and held possession under the deed containing the exception
The'judgment is affirmed.