133 Ga. 385 | Ga. | 1909
B. W. Taylor brought an action to recover a certain tract of land against D. H. Meeks and D. F. Hinson. Among other things he alleged that the defendants were in possession of the land, claiming title thereto under a deed from himself and J. W. Taylor, guardian of Burrel Taylor, which deed was void as to the plaintiff, because of his minority at the time of its execution. He also alleged that J. W. Taylor was seized and possessed of the land on August 31, 1905, on which day J. W. Taylor conveyed same by deed to the plaintiff. The defendants in their answer admitted that
The rule is elementary that a plaintiff in ejectment must recover on the strength of his own title, and not on the weakness of that of his adversary. Or, to state the proposition differently, the plaintiff must show a prima facie title with right to possession, before the burden is cast upon the defendant to exhibit his title. The plaintiff in this case showed no muniment of title, and seeks to excuse his omission to prove title in himself by an alleged admission in the defendants’ plea that both he and the defendants claimed title under deeds from a common grantor, and that the legal effect of this admission was to relieve him of the necessity of producing a deed from the common propositus. We do not agree with the plaintiff on his construction of the defendants’ plea. The 6th, 7th, and 8th paragraphs of the petition alleged, that J. W. Taylor was the owner of the land on August 31, 1905; that on that day J. W. Taylor conveyed by deed the land to him; that on January 19, 1907, the plaintiff and J. W. Taylor, guardian for Burrel Taylor, conveyed the land to defendants, under which deed they claimed title; that the latter deed conveyed no title from the plaintiff, for the reason that he was a minor at the time of its execution; that he received no consideration for it; that the defendants knew of his minority; and that he repudiated the deed on reaching his majority. In answer to these paragraphs, the defendants by plea admitted that J. W. Taylor was the owner of the land on August 31, 1907, and averred
Again, the plaintiff contends that the defendants’ admission that they claim title to the land under the deed from plaintiff and J. W. Taylor, guardian of Burrel Taylor, estops them from denying the plaintiff’s title. The estoppel of the defendants by this admission extends no further than to cut them off from proving another title. The admission is that they claim title under a deed from the plaintiff and another, and not that the plaintiff was vested with the whole title or a particular and distinct moiety thereof. No in-' ference can be drawn of the respective interests of the two grantors; whether they are tenants in common with equal or unequal interests, or whether one has a life-estate and the other an estate in remainder. Where a grantor executes a deed to several grantees without defining their respective interests, the estate is conveyed to ail as tenants in common with equal interests. But where two or more grantors convey land with no words indicating their respective interests in the land, from the nature of the case no presumption can be indulged that each had an equal interest in the land conveyed. Where several gran.tors execute a deed conveying to the grantee the land in fee simple with no limitation on the interest or estate conveyed, each grantee will be held to have conveyed his entire estate in the land, whether the interest in the land of the different grantors be equal or unequal. The estoppel of the de
Judgment affirmed.