161 Mass. 140 | Mass. | 1894
This is a writ of dower dated October 17,1891. The demandant’s husband died seised of the land on December 24, 1866, leaving the demandant and two children, one of whom was six and the other nine years of age. The demandant occupied the land with the children until 1870, when she moved away, leaving the place in charge of a neighbor, and continued to receive rent up to December 7, 1875. Since that date she has .received no rent. Administration on the estate of the demandant’s husband was granted on May 11, 1885, to a public administrator, on a petition representing that the deceased had died not leaving a known widow or heirs in this Commonwealth, and the land was duly sold by the administrator on August 25, 1885, for payment of debts and charges of administration. Upon the settlement of the administrator’s account, it appears that the sum of $56.25 was paid by him to the demandant, and other sums to the two children. There were no assets except the proceeds of the sale of the land. The purchaser was one Murphy, who, on December 29, 1887, conveyed the land to one Walsh, who, on May 17, 1888, conveyed it to the tenant, who purchased it in good faith and for valuable consideration, and who had no notice of any right or claim of the demandant or of any prior occupation of the land by her.
The tenant pleads that no claim or action for the demandant’s interest in her husband’s estate was made or commenced by the
Both these provisions were considered by the court in the case of Hastings v. Mace, 157 Mass. 499, in which the demand-ant, who had for more than twenty years after her husband’s death occupied with his heirs land of which he died seised, was held to be entitled to bring a petition for the assignment of her dower when, after the expiration of twenty years, the heirs sought to hold the land in severalty ; and her right in that case was held to be not barred by the provisions of Pub. Sts. c. 124, § 14. That case was between the widow and the heirs of her deceased husband, with whom, until the bringing of her petition for dower, the widow had occupied the land in common, and it did not necessarily involve the effect of Pub. Sts. c. 124, §§ 13, 14, upon the rights of a bona fide purchaser who had bought the land more than twenty years after the husband’s death, and without notice of the widow’s right or claim, or of her occupation of the lands or receipt of rents after her husband’s death.
In the decision of the case at bar, we have to determine whether, if the widow has not continued to occupy the lands with the heirs or devisees of her deceased husband, or to receive her share of the rents, issues, and profits, and the land has passed into the ownership of a bona fide purchaser for value without notice of her claim or right, or of the fact that she occupied or received the rents with her husband’s heirs or devisees, her claim or action can be maintained unless commenced within twenty years from her husband’s death.
In the former case the widow, in making her petition against the heirs of her deceased husband for the assignment of her dower, was exactly within the terms of Pub. Sts. c. 124, § 13. She had continued to occupy the lands with the heirs, or to receive her share of the rents without objection from them, until the time when they chose to occupy in severalty, and she then
The legislation upon the subjects dealt with in the two sections under consideration was reviewed in Hastings v. Mace, in connection with the fact that there was no statute of limitations barring a widow’s right to dower until the passage of St. 1858, c. 56. In the adoption of the Revised Statutes there was no question of the effect of Rev. Sts. c. 60, § 6, upon any statute of limitation of the widow’s right to recover dowel’, either as against the heirs of her husband, or against his grantees, or those who had purchased of his administrator or of his heirs or devisees. The St. 1858, c. 56, took effect on March 18, 1858, and provided that no person who then was or who might thereafter become a widow should “ be entitled to make any claim for dower, or to commence any action or other proceeding for the recovery thereof, unless such claim be made or such action or proceeding be commenced within twenty years from the time
For these reasons, we are of opinion that, the demandant not having continued to occupy with the heirs or to receive her share of the rents, her right to dower is not saved by the provisions of Pub. Sts. c. 124, § 13, and, more than twenty years having elapsed since the death of her husband, is barred by the provisions of Pub. Sts. c. 124, § 14.
In arriving at this conclusion we are not influenced by the contention that, if the statute had provided that a widow who after her husband’s death had occupied with his heirs or received her share of the rents should never be barred of her right to dower by lapse of time, it would be unjust to purchasers. There are many facts in pais which intending purchasers must consider, and which may invalidate their title ; and there is no injustice in subjecting them to the risks involved in the ascertainment of such facts and the application to them of the law.
We express no opinion as to the effect of either section upon any right other than that of dower.
Judgment for demandant set aside, and judgment ordered for tenant.