13 Cal. 2d 754 | Cal. | 1939
This was an action to quiet title to certain real property located in Stanislaus County, referred to by the parties herein as the “Newman Ranch”. Prior to August 5, 1929, the undisputed title to the property was in Marcia Brooks (now deceased), who at that time was the wife of defendant Emery Brooks. The latter claimed title to the land by virtue of a deed executed in his favor on said August 5, 1.929, by his then wife, the said Marcia Brooks. The plaintiffs herein are, respectively, the two sisters and a brother of Marcia Brooks, all of whom claimed title to the property as respective residuary legatees under the will of Marcia Brooks.
The trial court found in favor of defendant on all material issues, and in accordance therewith rendered its decree quieting the title to the property in favor of defendant herein. The plaintiffs have appealed from the judgment, their principal contention being that there was no “delivery” of the deed to respondent by his wifé, and, consequently, that the findings of the trial court are without support in the evidence.
The record herein shows that respondent and Marcia Brooks intermarried on September 27, 1928, and lived together as husband and wife until the death of the latter in October, 1933; that Marcia Brooks was the owner of considerable real property at the time of her marriage to the respondent herein; that prior to the marriage the spouses had mutually agreed that all money acquired by either of them would be deposited in a joint bank account, and that the wife would give the husband a parcel of her real property as a home, in consideration of his taking over the management, control and improvement of the said properties. Pursuant to that agreement, and during the marriage, the husband deposited $700 or more of his own funds in the joint account, and devoted the greater part of his time to the management and operation of his wife’s properties.
After the death of Marcia Brooks, the three deeds were found in the safety deposit box and, according to some of the testimony, they were in the same envelope in which they had been placed originally by Mr. Ford,—and when so found the envelope which contained them was sealed, and there was a conspicuous “dirty smudge” on the outside of the flap of the envelope.
In accordance with well-established law, it is clear that if the findings relating to the delivery of the deed to the respondent are substantially supported by the evidence, or if there is a substantial conflict in the evidence upon which the findings are made to rest, the resulting judgment may not be disturbed. The appellants contend, however, that there is not sufficient evidentiary support for the finding as to the delivery of the deed. They call attention to testimony of the witness Ford to the effect that at the time the deeds were executed, and at the request of Marcia Brooks, he placed them in an envelope and sealed the envelope—and point out that there was evidence to show that after the death of Marcia Brooks the three deeds were found in a sealed envelope, which was conceded to be the same envelope in which the deeds originally had been placed by Mr. Ford. From a consideration of these two circumstances, appellants contend that the only inference that could be drawn therefrom was that the envelope had not been opened subsequent to the time it left Mr. Ford’s possession and until after the death of Marcia Brooks, and that, as a consequence thereof, the testimony of respondent to the effect that on August 5th, while he and his wife were at the bank, she exhibited and delivered to him the deed, was inherently improbable—and could form no basis for the finding of the trial court that on the occasion last mentioned the deed was in fact delivered to respondent. However, as stated hereinbefore, the trial court found that when Mr. Ford handed the deeds to Marcia Brooks, he sealed or partially sealed” (emphasis added) the envelope in which the deeds were placed,—and that when Marcia and Emery Brooks were at the bank, the former “opened” the envelope and delivered
In further support of their contention that there was no evidence showing delivery of the deed by Marcia Brooks to the respondent herein, the appellants rely upon the testimony of the witness, Frances McGovern, in effect, that some months
As opposed to the testimony last above recited in support of appellants’ contention that there was no delivery of the deed, the respondent’s testimony was substantially as follows: that on August 5th, at the time when his wife and he were together at the bank and while he was looking at his insurance papers, his wife said to him: “ ‘I want to show my husband what a good wife he has got’, and [she] presented me the deed. . . . Q. She handed you the deed then? A. Yes, sir, gave me the deed. Q. Did you look at the deed? A. Yes, sir. Q. What deed was that ? A. I opened up the deed and read, it was—it stated on it this Orestimba Rancho of Newman. . . . Q. After you read that deed, or examined it, what did you then do with it? A. I laid it down on top of this pink [automobile] slip and insurance papers. . . . Q. What was then done with those? A. My wife picked them up. . . . Q. Did you say anything to your wife after your wife handed you the deed? A. Yes sir, I looked at it and read which place it was, what I wanted, and I thanked my wife ... Q. Was that [deed] placed in your wife’s safe deposit box with your consent? A. Yes, sir. . . . Q. And for what purpose ? A. For safe keeping. ’ ’
A question as to the delivery of a deed is one of fact (Williams v. Kidd, 170 Cal. 631 [151 Pac. 1, Ann. Cas. 1916E, 703]); and a finding made by a trial court on such a question, based on conflicting evidence, will not be disturbed on appeal. (Haralson v. Bank of America etc. Assn., 15 Cal. App. (2d) 620 [ 59 Pac. (2d) 885] ; to the same effect, see Duffy v. Duffy, 71 Cal. App. 251 [235 Pac. 62]; Donahue v. Sweeney, 171 Cal. 388 [153 Pac. 708]; and Blackledge v. McIntosh, 85 Cal. App. 475 [259 Pac. 770].) It therefore becomes apparent that the testimony of Frances McGovern that, some time after the alleged delivery of the deed, Marcia Brooks had stated to her that she (Marcia Brooks) had not shown the deed to respondent, and the testimony of Emery Brooks in respect to the delivery of the deed to him, as above
The appellants also contend that, assuming there was manual delivery of the deed to respondent on August 5, 1929, there was no intention on the part of the grantor to convey title to the property, in that, after the alleged delivery of the deed, the acts of the grantor showed she had reserved the right of dominion and control over both the deed and the property.
In answer to such contention, it may be said that the mere retention by a grantor of the custody of a deed after delivery thereof is not necessarily inconsistent with an intention to
Neither can it be said there is merit in the contention of appellants that after the asserted delivery of the deed, certain acts of the grantor allegedly showing an exercise by her of dominion or control over the property conclusively negatived an intent on her part to have transferred title to the ranch by the delivery of the deed. In view of the many circumstances which showed an intention on the part of Marcia Brooks to part with title to the land, neither the fact that after the alleged delivery of the deed to Emery Brooks the taxes on the property continued to be assessed to her, nor that, personally, she rented tire property and collected the rentals therefrom, and personally attended to other business matters relating to the property, is sufficient to overcome an inference of delivery of the deed and consequent transfer of title which was deducible from other evidence. In this regard, see: Stewart v. Silva, 192 Cal. 405, 410 [221 Pac. 191]; Follmer v. Rohrer, 158 Cal. 755 [112 Pac. 544] ; and Blackledge v. McIntosh, 85 Cal. App. 475 [259 Pac. 770]. In the last two cases cited it was held that a showing of such circumstances merely raised a conflict in the evidence on the
Nor is there merit in the contention that the deed was intended to be a testamentary disposition of the property. The will was made at the same time the deeds were executed. It made no mention of the property disposed of by the deeds. In view of all the facts and circumstances shown to be present, it is evident that the deed here involved was made for the specific purpose of taking the real property therein described entirely out of the testamentary disposition.
Likewise, the contention of the appellants that the findings are inconsistent one with the other, or the others, may not be upheld. When read as a whole, the findings are not thus conflicting in any substantial particular, and are adequate support for the judgment.
Bearing in mind the ruling by this court with reference to the merits of the cause, which hereinbefore has been indicated, the final contention of the appellants to the effect that the finding that they were estopped from maintaining the present action is not supported by the evidence, becomes immaterial. However, in that regard, the record shows that after the death of Marcia Brooks the deed here concerned was delivered to respondent by Mr. Ford, in the presence of the executrix, Frances McGovern. Thereafter respondent recorded the deed. It was found that at all times during the pendency of the probate proceedings, the appellants were aware of the existence of the deed to respondent, and that they knew he was performing labor and making expenditures on the property in reliance on the effectiveness of the conveyance to him.
The judgment is affirmed.