55 P. 295 | Idaho | 1898
Lead Opinion
— Plaintiff having recovered a judgment in the district court against defendant Thomas Kirby, issued execution thereon, and levied upon, and sold thereunder, certain real estate of said defendant. Having received a sheriff’s deed of the real estate, plaintiff made demand of possession of the property of defendant, and, possession being refused by the defendant, plaintiff brought this action to recover possession. Judgment in the first action was taken by default after personal service, no appearance having been made in said action by defendant. To this action defendants appear, and set up as a defense that prior to the levy of the attachment and recovery of judgment by plaintiff against the defendant Thomas Kirby, the defendant, May Kirby, as the wife of the said Thomas Kirby, had filed a declaration of homestead upon the real estate in question, and that by reason thereof said real estate was not subject to levy and sale. The real estate in question was community property It is claimed by plaintiff that the declaration of homestead filed by said defendant May Kirby, as wife of defendant, Thomas Kirby, not having been acknowledged, as required by the statute of Idaho, the same was void and inoperative, and did not constitute a homestead under the statutes of this state. Section 3070 of the Bevised Statutes of Idaho is as follows: "In order to select a homestead, the husband or other head of the family, or in ease the husband has not made such selection, the wife must execute and acknowledge in the same manner as a conveyance of real property is acknowledged, a declaration of homestead and file the same for record.” Section 3073 provides that: "From and after the time the declaration is filed for record, the premises therein described, constitute a homestead.” It is palpable that the declaration of homestead relied upon by the defendants in this case was not, as shown by the certificate of the
But it is claimed by counsel for defendants that, as the acknowledgment was properly taken, and that the defect in the certificate arose from an oversight on the part of the notary, the defendants are entitled to have said certificate reformed in this action, and that such reformation shall relate back to the time of the filing for record of the declaration of homestead. We cannot agree with this contention. We have examined all of the authorities accessible cited by counsel in support of his position, and find that without exception they apply to cases of conveyances. A homestead is not a conveyance. It possesses none of the essential requisites of a conveyance. There is neither grantor, nor grantee, nor consideration in a declaration of homestead. There is no transfer of, or change in, the title. It is the act of the owner of the property, whereby such owner secures a right or privilege given him by the statute, and which is in derogation of the common law and common right, and which can only be secured by a substantial compliance with the provisions of the
Rehearing
ON REHEARING.
— The respondents have filed a petition for rehearing, which we have carefully considered. The certificate of acknowledgment to the declaration of homestead in question here cannot be reformed so as to affect the attachment lien of the appellant. We think that such certificate to a declaration of homestead may be amended, but not as against a- creditor who has, by attachment judgment or other means, acquired a lien on the premises claimed as a homestead. Under section 3070 of the Revised Statutes, the declaration of homestead must be acknowledged in the same manner as a conveyance of real estate. Section 3072 provides that the declaration must be recorded in the county recorder’s office, and by section 3073 the
Query: If a declaration is properly executed, properly acknowledged, but the acknowledgment defectively certified, can the declarant maintain an action to amend or reform the certificate, there being no liens on the homestead? We are asked to decide this question, but it is unnecessary to do so in this case. We will content ourselves with the suggestion that courts do not entertain idle suits, and the declarant could, in the ease suggested, get all of the relief that he is entitled to by merely executing a new declaration, and filing it for record, with a proper certificate of acknowledgment thereto, or by acknowledging and procuring a proper certificate of acknowledgment to the old declaration. Courts are averse to helping those who can help themselves, but will not do so. A rehearing is denied.