83 P. 124 | Kan. | 1905
The opinion of the court was delivered by
William Dalton instituted this suit against Elizabeth Knight and Richard L. Knight to reform a deed purporting to convey real estate,' which they had executed to Susan Dalton, and to quiet the title of William Dalton to the real estate as against the claims made by Elizabeth Knight. On September 18, 1891, Susan Dalton, the wife of William Dalton, owned a quarter-section of land and two city lots, and on that day she and her husband joined in a conveyance of the property to her sister, Elizabeth Knight. Although there was an expressed consideration of $2000 in the deed, no consideration was in fact paid. It appears that about that time Susan Dalton had been sued on a large surety debt, and it is said that the transfer was an effort to place the property beyond danger of an adverse judgment in that litigation. There was no change of possession of the land, nor did Elizabeth Knight assert ownership under the deed during the lifetime of Susan Dalton.
On January 28, 1897, Elizabeth Knight and her husband undertook to reconvey the land to Susan Dalton, but in the deed the quarter-section of land was ihadvertently described as a part of section 32 instead of section 24. The mistake in the description was not discovered until 1899, and in the meantime Susan Dal;ton had become insane. On June 24, 1899, at the instance of the guardian of Susan Dalton, Elizabeth Knight and her husband executed another deed, purporting to convey the same land to Susan Dalton, which correctly described the land, and was intended to cure the error of description in the first conveyance.
The trial court, in effect, held that reformation of the deed was unnecessary, as the subsequent deed voluntarily made by the same parties cured the error in description, and also that the quitclaim deed of July 6, 1899, was not effectual to convey any title or interest in the property and was no more than a mortgage intended to secure Elizabeth Knight for the care of Susan Dalton.
There is complaint that the petition included two causes of action in a single count, and that the motion of the defendants separately to state and number should have been allowed. It is claimed that there
There is a contention that the original deed of Susan Dalton was made to defraud creditors, and that neither she nor her heir should be allowed to question .the validity of that conveyance. There might be force in the claim if Dalton were seeking to set aside the conveyance, but the Knights having voluntarily reconveyed the land and placed the legal title in Susan Dalton, nothing remained in them and they are not in a position to question the motive of Susan Dalton in making the transfer.
It appears that Mrs. Knight in her claim of title chiefly relies upon the quitclaim deed executed by Will-. iam Dalton. At that time the absolute title was in Susan Dalton. He had no share in the ownership of the land, and, as the trial court rightly held, had nothing to convey. He had no interest whatever, except the possibility that he might outlive his wife and inherit from her in case the property had not been transferred. As he had no estate or vested interest in the land, his mere quitclaim, if it had been so intended, would not have affected the title nor have carried to the grantee any estate or title which the grantor might subsequently acquire. (Simpson v. Greeley, 8 Kan. 586; Bruce v. Luke, 9 Kan. 201, 12 Am. Rep. 491; Ott v. Sprague, 27 Kan. 623; Johnson v. Williams, 37 Kan. 179, 14 Pac. 537, 1 Am. St. Rep. 243; Price v. King, 44 Kan. 639, 25 Pac. 43.)
In certain cases an heir may make an assignment of
As the indebtedness to Mrs. Knight under the contract had been fully paid, her pretensions to a lien or to title to the land were without foundation, and the judgment of the court quieting Dalton’s title was rightly rendered. It is therefore affirmed.