287 P. 614 | Kan. | 1930
The opinion of the court was delivered by
These cases involved the title to tracts of land and the consequent rights to oil royalties, bonuses and moneys received for oil from those lands. Robert Bryden and his wife, Lydia, came to Greenwood county in 1882, and they took into their home three young girls, the daughters of Charles C. Muninger, a brother of Mrs. Bryden, soon after the death of the mother of the children. It was the intention of the Brydens to rear, educate and provide for the three sisters, Lydia, Harriett and Gabriella, as if they were their own, and this purpose was carried out. For certain reasons Gabriella was a favorite of the Brydens, and before the death of her mother they had expressed a desire to adopt her as their own child,
About a. week after the death of his wife Bryden signed three deeds containing no reservations or exceptions. In one, one-half of the Burnt Creek Ranch was described and Harriett Bryden Sample was named as the grantee. In another deed the remaining half of that ranch was described and Lydia L. Nixon was named as grantee, and a third deed was signed purporting to convey the Bachelor creek ranch to Gabriella Reed. These deeds were executed without the knowledge of the grantees therein named, and without any valuable consideration having been paid. When executed Robert Bryden took the deeds to L. F. Reed, left them with him with directions to keep them until he might call for them. Reed took the deeds and put them among his private papers in a lock box in a bank. Soon after the execution of the deeds the grantees named learned of their execution and that they had been placed with Reed. In the early part of 1918 oil was discovered in the region of the lands in question and Bryden executed a number of leases on parts of the Burnt Creek Ranch and a producing well was drilled on the land described
After the discovery of oil and until his death he gave each of the three sisters $200 per month, and also furnished money to them to be used in building or improving their homes. He paid to plaintiff, Harriet Sample, in the neighborhood of $50,000, and to Lydia L. Nixon substantially the same amount. These gifts were received and accepted by the plaintiffs as gifts and the plaintiffs knew at all times that the bonus money and royalty money were the proceeds of the leases that Bryden had made. No claim to the oil royalties was ever asked by the plaintiffs, and no claim for an accounting of the bonus or royalties obtained by Bryden was ever asked. In March, 1918, Bryden obtained the 1913 deeds to Harriett'and Lydia, from Reed, and caused a new deed to be drawn which described all the land in the Burnt creek ranch, giving it jointly and equally to all of the three sisters. This deed was delivered to Reed without conditions and to be by him delivered immediately after the death of Bryden to the grantees. At that time he intended to pass a present title to the grantees, postponing only their right of enjoyment until after his death. In September, 1920, Bryden had been told by one of his friends that the recording of such a deed was necessary to convey title and he interviewed an attorney and was advised that the deeds in custody of Reed should either be recorded or they should be placed in the hands of a bank showing the conditions under which they should be held. The deeds were then obtained from Reed, including the one of 1913 to Gabriella, and placed in the bank and a receipt given for them. When placed in the bank an error was discovered in a description of land, and under’ date of Sep
“The court is unable to find from the evidence that there was any contract or understanding between Robert Bryden and Lydia Bryden made or had at or before the death of the said Lydia Bryden, with reference to the inheritance, transfer, gift or other disposition of any property belonging to her, or any property that Robert Bryden then owned or might own at any time, and is unable to find that there was any contract or agreement that in consideration of Lydia Bryden’s making no disposition of her property, Robert Bryden, after her death, would deed or give or will his property to Harriet B. Sample, Lydia L. Nixon or Gabriella Reed.”
Upon the testimony the court concluded as a matter of law that the two deeds of 1913 in which the plaintiffs were named as grantees were never delivered by Robert Bryden with the intention of conveying to the grantees any right, title or interest in the real estate described therein, and that the deed of 1918 was delivered and became effective on March 1, 1918. The court concluded that the two deeds of 1913 to Lydia L. Nixon and Harriett B. Sample were never delivered to L. F. Reed or to anyone else with the intention of conveying title to the land to them, and that they were not entitled to recover anything under those deeds. The deed of 1918 was held to be an effective conveyance, as Bryden had parted with possession and control of the instrument and had conveyed a present interest in the lands with the intention that only the enjoyment thereof should be postponed until hia death. The deed of 1913 to Gabriella was held to have been delivered on March 1, 1918, with the intention that she should go into immediate possession of the premises. As to the oil and gas leases the court found:
“Robert Bryden was entitled to the use and benefit of and was the absolute owner of all cash bonus received for any oil and gas lease executed and delivered by him prior to March 1, 1918, and he was the absolute owner of all rents and oil and gas royalties received by him or produced prior to his death under any oil and gas lease or leases executed and delivered by him*528 prior to March 1, 1918, and the executor of his will is not required to account to the plaintiffs for any money or property in his hands that may have been received from any such source, or any property owned by Bryden at his death that was the proceeds of any money received from such sources.
“All cash bonuses received for oil and gas leases executed and delivered by Bryden after March 1, 1918, and all rentals and royalties received by Bryden under any leases executed by him after said date was the property of and owned jointly by the plaintiffs and Gabriella Reed, in equal shares, and Robert Bryden received and held the same in trust for them during his lifetime, and the executor of the Bryden will must account to each of the plaintiffs for one-third of any money or property received by Bryden from such sources. Bryden was entitled to retain the corpus of said fund only during his lifetime, and any interest or profits earned thereon during his lifetime was his sole property and such interest or profits should not be treated as a part of such trust fund. Any money or property paid or given by Bryden during his lifetime to either of the plaintiffs or Gabriella Reed or L. F. Reed was paid or given to them as gifts and were so intended by Bryden and received by them as such. Such gifts and any other gifts or donations or expenditures made by Bryden should be held and considered as having been made from his own separate estate and not from said trust fund which he held for the use and benefit of the plaintiffs and Gabriella Reed.”
Judgment was accordingly given.
Plaintiffs concede" that the case must turn upon the findings of fact supported by evidence, but it is contended that material findings made are without support and some of them contrary to the evidence. It is urged by plaintiffs that under the testimony an understanding and agreement were entered into between Bryden and his wife, prior to her death, by which the property of both was to be given in equal parts to the three sisters, and that this agreement was carried out by Bryden when he executed the deeds of 1913 and placed them in the custody of L. F. Reed. Considerable testimony was offered as to statements made by Mrs. Bryden as to the property while she was in the hospital and just prior to her death. The testimony, however, fails to show the making of a contract between Bryden and his wife to convey the property to the plaintiffs. Aaron Nixon, the husband of Lydia, testified that Mrs. Bryden said to him in the presence of his wife, that “Uncle Bob (her designation of her husband) and I decided that we have given the Piatts and other relatives enough, and I want my stuff to go to the girls, and he decided to put his in the same; that we decided the property should go to the three girls.” It is conceded that Mr. Bryden was not present when these remarks were made with the Nixons. Mrs. Sample testified that she heard the conversation with Nixons, but
There remains the question whether there was a delivery to the plaintiffs of the 1913 deeds. These instruments were drawn and signed by Bryden and were delivered to L. F. Reed, the husband of Gabriella, for safe-keeping. Whether there was a delivery of the deeds depends largely upon the intention of Bryden in placing them in the hands of Reed. Did his words or acts or both manifest an intention to surrender control of the deeds and to part with the title to his lands? The burden rested upon plaintiffs to show an absolute and unconditional delivery of the instruments. The testimony of Reed, the depositary, was that when Bryden handed him the papers, he said:
“ ‘Here, Reed, are some papers. I want you to take charge of them. I want you to put them in your lock box where they will be absolutely safe and say nothing to any person about them,’ and he sat down in the office and had a talk for an hour or longer in regard to the place. He said, ‘This isn’t dividing it between them the way I intended to.’ Then, he did refer to them as deeds. He said, ‘These are deeds to my land, but this is not dividing it the way I want it to go, but owing to the location of the land, the Bachelor creek farm and the land out there, it seems the most convenient way to divide it to make it worth while for anybody,’ but he said, T am going to go right ahead doing business just like I expected to live a hundred years. I am going to handle cattle and I expect to use this land. I want to go ahead and do business just like I expect to be a hundred years old and I don’t know what turn may come. It might' be best to sell the land.’ He said, T really believe if I would sell it and put it into bonds, it would be less trouble to the girls than if I would leave it in the land,’ but' he repeated, ‘I want you to take them and put them in the box where they will be absolutely safe and say nothing to any person about them.’ ”
Further along in his testimony, speaking of Bryden, he said:
“He said something to me about the possibility of wanting the deeds again. He said, ‘I am going right on. I may sell the land. I am going to go ahead and do business, just like I expect to be a hundred years old. I don’t know what turn may come. I may sell the land.’
“I was given to understand those were his papers, and I was to keep them subject to his orders, all of the time.”
It is said that there is no evidence to support the finding of the court that the deeds were to be held by Reed until Bryden called for them. The testimony, however, last quoted is substantially the equivalent of the expression used by the court. There is sufficient testimony to support the finding of the court that Bryden never in
There is some discussion of the question and a strong argument made that the plaintiffs were estopped to claim the oil royalties and other moneys paid under the leases, as the plaintiffs had known for years that Bryden was leasing the lands, collecting royalties and they never had claimed any right to the royalties or bonuses. They knew that Bryden was paying out large sums of money in donations to charities and in gifts to plaintiffs and others, of the moneys obtained from the oil. However, it is unnecessary to determine the questions raised as to estoppel, as Bryden’s ownership of the lands entitled him to the products of them and is sufficient to uphold the judgment rendered by the trial court.
The judgment is affirmed.