183 Ga. 458 | Ga. | 1936
This action sought an equitable partitioning of certain realty and personalty treated as realty by equitable conversion, a receiver for the same, and an accounting from the defendant, Haslett McCullough. A temporary receiver was appointed ex parte. By consent of all parties the case was tried on its merits by the judge, who by consent determined as to the law and the facts.- He rendered a decree on January 24, 1936. Without making a motion for new trial, Mrs. Ola McDaniel, the plaintiff, brought the matter before this court on a direct bill of exceptions, complaining only of that portion of the decree which determines the parties’ respective interests in the personalty involved herein. The judge found that Mrs. Ola McDaniel owned one undivided third interest, B. V. Haslett one undivided third interest, and Mrs. Clara McCullough Mayfair one undivided third interest. Mrs. Ola McDaniel and J. H. Porter contended that Mrs. Ola McDaniel owns four ninths undivided interest, Mrs. Clara McCullough Mayfair four ninths undivided interest, and B. V. Haslett one ninth undivided interest. The admissions in the pleadings and the evidence disclose the follow-
In the year 1882 Samuel D. Haslett conveyed a lot of land on Peters Street (parcel one), and a lot of land fronting 79-1/2 feet on Walker Street and running 268 feet to Bradberry Street (2AB), to his wife, Georgia Ann Haslett, for life, remainder in common or equal shares to their children, born or to be born and surviving their mother. The grantor, by virtue of this deed, appointed the life-tenant trustee of the children during their minority, authorized her to alienate the fee if necessary, and directed her, in such an event, to reinvest the proceeds of such sale in equally valuable real estate, to be held on the same tenures and uses as that so sold. Samuel D. Haslett and his wife, Georgia Ann Haslett, had four children, Claude, Clara, Ola, and Robert Y. Haslett. Clara is now Mrs. Clara McCullough Mayfair. Ola is now Mrs. Ola McDaniel. On June 19, 1903, E. E. Pomeroy as trustee of the estate of R. Y. Haslett, bankrupt, conveyed to J. H. Porter in fee all the right, title, and interest of R. Y. Haslett, the bankrupt, in and to the Peters Street tract (parcel one) and the tract 79-1/2 by 268 feet on Walker Street to Bradberry Street or Alley (2AB), which R. Y. Haslett had under and by virtue of the trust deed from his father, Samuel D. Haslett, to his mother, Georgia Ann Haslett, and his sisters and brothers. In describing
In January, 1929, Massell Eealty Company conveyed parcel 2A to Massell Investment Company. On September 24, 1930, Massell Investment Company conveyed parcel 2A to Massell Eealty Improvement Company, which conveyed it to Crumley Investment Company on the same day. Approximately five years later, on December 31, 1935, during the pendency of this action, Massell Investment Company executed and delivered to E. V. Haslett a deed identically like the deed from Massell Eealty Improvement Company to E. Y. Haslett, supra, thereby conveying to Haslett one undivided fourth interest in the tract. Mrs. Georgia Ann Haslett died on February 5, 1935. There is no controverted issue of fact in this case. But, according to the contention of the plaintiffs in error, the division of the personalty should be as follows: Mrs. Ola McDaniel owns four ninths, Mrs. Clara McCullough four ninths, and E. Y. Haslett.one ninth; while the defendants in error contend, as was found by the court, that Mrs» McDaniel’s interest is one third, Mrs. McCullough’s one third, and E. Y. Haslett’s one third. There is no contest as to the respective interests in the realty now owned by the parties. Immediately before June 19, 1903, Claude, Clara, Ola, and Eobert, children of Samuel D. and Georgia Ann Haslett, each owned one fourth undivided remainder interest in the Peters Street, tract, herein referred to as parcel one, and the Walker to Bradberry tract, referred to as parcel 2AB. When Eobert or E. Y. Haslett went into bankruptcy, he started a train of circumstances that on June 19, 1903, carried his one fourth undivided remainder interest in the Peters Street tract into J. H. Porter, and twenty-four years later carried his same interest in the Walker to Brad-berry tract (2AB) through Porter and into Massell Investment Company. Claude Haslett had one fourth undivided remainder interest in the two original tracts. When Claude died without issue in 1904, the year following his brother’s bankruptcy, Claude’s right or interest terminated, and the rights or interests of his
J. H. Porter, who at that time (1904) owned Eobert’s original interest, did not by Claude’s death acquire any part of the interest which Claude had or might have had. This is true because, first, Porter could have only that which was conveyed to him by the deed of Pomeroy, trustee for Eobert. This deed specified one undivided fourth remainder interest. Second, Pomeroy, as trustee in bankruptcy for Eobert, could neither acquire nor pass title to a mere possibility or prospect of property, which is all that Eobert had in Claude’s property during Claude’s lifetime, Claude being in life at the time Eobert went into bankruptcy and when Pomeroy conveyed to Porter. Therefore, upon Claude’s death in 1904, his right and interest terminated, and the rights or interests of his sisters and brother were enlarged. Clara, Ola, and Eobert share equally Claude’s interest. Claude had one undivided fourth; therefore Clara, Ola, and Eobert, as the three remaining children, each received one third of one fourth, or one twelfth; which added to their one fourth each made the interest of each one third. Clara now has one third, and Ola now has one third. But Eobert, through his trustee in bankruptcy, had at this time alienated his original fourth interest, and from the time of that alienation until Claude’s death had no interest whatever. But upon Claude’s death, Eobert became invested with one third of Claude’s one fourth; so that now Eobert has one twelfth interest. The holdings of J. H. Porter remain unchanged, as we have just pointed out. It follows that the status of the title to the' Peters Street tract and the Walker to Bradberry tract in the year 1904 can be stated as follows: Mrs. Georgia Ann Haslett had a life-estate. Clara had one undivided third remainder interest. Ola had one undivided third remainder interest. Eobert had one undivided twelfth remainder interest. J. H. Porter had one undivided fourth remainder interest. These several interests complete the 'four fourths or total fee in all the 'property. On June 20, 1927, Porter passed Eobert’s original quarter interest in the Walker to
On December 17, 1928, Georgia Ann Haslett, Clara, now Mrs. Mayfair, Ola, now Mrs. McDaniel, and Robert or R. V. Haslett, and'Mrs. Haslett’s grandchildren conveyed a portion of the Walker to Bradberry tract to Massell Realty Cpmpany for $18,000. The question is, what interest in tract or parcel 2A passed to Massell Realty Company by virtue of this conveyance? To answer this question settles the main question in controversy. We have already indicated all those persons who held an interest in tract 2A of any character or description on December 17, 1928. Among those persons we do not find the grandchildren of Georgia Ann Haslett. They were unnecessary parties to the deed, and neither held nor passed any interest to the grantee, Massell Realty Company. The elimination of the grandchildren leaves four real grantors. Georgia Ann passed a life interest, and Clara and Ola and Robert passed remainder interests. We shall consider these latter interests one by one. As we have shown, Clara had one original fourth interest increased by Claude’s death to one third interest. Without the necessity of stating it in so many words, the legal effect of her joining in the deed sufficed to pass this interest. Ola had a similar interest, acquired in the same way, which was likewise passed by her. What had Robert or R. V. Haslett, and what did he convey to Massell Realty Company? Robert’s original interest in this tract 2A passed, as tract 2AB, to Massell Investment Company, which held it on December 17, 1928. What then did Robert convey to Massell Realty Company, a corporation separate and distinct from Massell Investment Company? Robert conveyed the one-twelfth interest acquired upon Claude’s death. That is all he had, and all he could or did pass on to Massell Realty Company. Therefore, eliminating the life-estate, a three-fourths remainder interest passed to Massell Realty Company by virtue of the conveyance in question, as follows: Clara one fourth
Now the defendant in error, R. Y. Haslett, while admitting the facts upon which the foregoing equation is predicated, contends that two quitclaim deeds alter the result and that a four-fourths remainder interest passed to Massell Realty Company instead of only a three-fourths interest. The first of these, executed December 17, 1928, was by Massell Realty Improvement Company; the other, dated December 31, 1935, was executed by Massell Investment Company. They are substantially as follows: By the first, tract 2AB is conveyed. Then tract 2A is expressly excepted, excluded from the conveyance and reserved to the grantor. The effect of the reservation, therefore, is to pass the grantor’s title to tract 2B. Both conveyances contain this provision: “This deed includes in addition to the above described property any property in which the proceeds of the sale of Georgia Ann Haslett and her children and grandchildren to Massell Realty Company shall be invested in pursuance of the decree of the court above recited.” And in view of this clause R. Y. Haslett makes the contention that he reacquired his original interest and is entitled to participate equally with his two sisters, Clara and Ola, in the $18,000 paid by Massell Realty Company for tract 2A. Considering further these two quitclaim deeds, it must be observed that Massell Realty Improvement Company had alienated all its interest prior to the execution of the deed of December 17, 1928, to R. Y. Haslett. Having nothing, the grantor passed nothing to Robert Y. Haslett. The second of the two quitclaim deeds is from Massell Investment Company to Robert, or R. Y., and is dated December 31, 1935. Now what did this grantor have at this time? This grantor had one undivided fourth interest in possession (the life-tenant having died) in tract 2B, having acquired this interest through the line running back to Porter and to Haslett’s bankruptcy. This grantor, Massell Investment Company, did not have any interest on December 31, 1935, in tract 2A; Robert’s original one-fourth interest, together with the balance of the interests held by Massell Realty Company, having passed through it (Massell Investment Company) and on to Mas-
In reaching the final conclusion it will be remembered that Mrs. Georgia Ann Haslett spent a portion of the $18,000 before she died, instead of reinvesting it, and Clara, Ola, and Robert can only divide the balance on hand, which constitutes the personalty to be partitioned in these proceedings. Therefore their interests must be reduced to corresponding fractions; and so, by proper calculation, Ola McDaniel is entitled to four ninths, Clara Mayfair to four ninths; and Robert’s interest having been reduced as shown, he is entitled to one ninth. And if on the next hearing the evidence is the same, the court below will decree accordingly. In the foregoing we have stated the facts as they are stated in the brief of counsel for the plaintiff in error, because counsel for defendants in error admit that the statement of facts set Out in that brief explains the rather complicated and involved situation that has arisen in this ease. Accepting the facts so stated, upon exam
Judgment reversed.