67 Iowa 494 | Iowa | 1885
I. The policy contained a clause providing that certain conditions printed upon the back of it constituted a part thereof. One of these conditions is in the following language: “ If the interest of the property to be insured be a leasehold interest, or other interest not absolute, it must be so stated in the policy, otherwise the same shall be void.” The policy also referred to the application of the assured as forming a part thereof. In this application she stated that no person, other than herself, was interested in the property.
The plaintiff’s title is based upon a deed of which the following are the material points: “'This deed of bargain and sale, made and executed the twenty-first day of November,
II. It becomes a material question for our determination whether plaintiif held an “ absolute interest” in the property insured. By the term “ absolute interest ” we understand a complete and perfect interest, not an estate for years or for
But plaintiff’s counsel insist that the deed to plaintiff does not convey such a title; the clause thereof declaring the intention of the grantor being not of the habendum part of the deed, nor of the description of the estate conveyed. But it is in fact found in what is called the “ premises ” of the deed, which contains a description of the property conveyed and the estate granted. The clause of the deed describing the estate granted in unmistakable language declares that the intention of the grantor was to convey a life-estate. That clause is, in fact, a description of the interest granted, and limits it to an estate for life. The deed is not a conveyance of an estate in fee-simple, with a limitation inconsistent with the grant, as is the case with the deed in Case v. Dwire, 60 Iowa, 442. It is a conveyance of a life-estate, and nothing more. We are unable to see how the description of the interest conveyed could be more plainly expressed than is done in this deed. We discover nothing in the cases cited by plaintiff’s counsel in conflict with this conclusion. Green Bay, etc., Co. v. Hewett, 55 Wis., 96; S. C., 12 N. W. Rep., 382, is relied upon by plaintiff’s counsel to support his conclusions. In that-case there was a conflicting description of the property conveyed, not of the estate granted. The deed, being a quitclaim, purports to convey all the grantor’s interest in certain land. Another subsequent clause further declares that the interest intended to be conveyed was the same the grantor had acquired under a sheriff’s deed. He held an undivided half of the land under that deed, and the other half from a different source. We need not determine whether the decision of the case is in accord with principles of the law. It is distinguished from this case by its facts.
III. The plaintiff holding not the absolute interest, — the fee-simple title, — but a life estate, the condition of the policy, declaring that if her interest was not disclosed the policy shall be void, is broken, and by the terms of the policy no
IV. Much is said in argument upon the question whether the declaration of plaintiff in her application as to her interest in the property operates as a warranty. We need not pursue this subject, as we find a breach of an express condition of the policy which defeats recovery. In our opinion, the district court erred in holding that plaintiff was entitled to recover upon the undisputed facts of the case relating to the estate of plaintiff and the condition of the policy.
Reversed.