163 Ga. 236 | Ga. | 1926
The present case was tried upon an agreed statement of facts, in substance as follows: J. I. Warren was the father of Eunice Pearl Warren. On September 19, 1917, he executed and delivered to her a certain deed which was duly recorded on the same date. On October 5, 1917, Eunice Pearl Warren married Eufus Lanier, and to them one child was born, Eunice Lanier. On July 11, 1918, Eunice Pearl Warren, the wife of Eufus Lanier, died; the estate of Eunice Pearl Lanier was never administered upon. On October 5, 1925, J. I. Warren executed and delivered to E. J. Eegister & Co. a turpentine lease to the timber upon the same land described in the deed from J. I. Warren to Eunice Pearl Warren, which lease was recorded December 28, 1925. On December 17, 1925, J. I. Warren died, and George M. Byrd, who was then in possession of the land, having purchased the life-estate of J. I. Warren in said land, vacated, and Eufus Lanier and his child, Eunice Lanier, took possession of the land, and H. Lanier moved upon the place, taking with him Eunice Lanier, and H. Lanier is still in possession as tenant of Eufus Lanier and Eunice Lanier, and is proceeding to cultivate the cleared lands upon the
This case was tried upon the assumption that the instrument in question was a deed, and not a will; and we so treat it here. In Collier v. Carter, 146 Ga. 476, 477 (91 S. E. 551, 11 A. L. R. 1), this court held that “Where an instrument in the form of and attested as a deed contains a clause that it is ‘to go into effect at the ’ signer’s death,, and where there is no other indication as to the intention of the signer, and the paper is duly delivered, it will be construed to be a deed postponing possession.” And see eases cited. The learned trial judge in the court below held that the above-recited language in the deed from Warren to his daughter authorized the grantor to afterwards lease the timber for tur
Judgment reversed.