208 Mich. 618 | Mich. | 1919
The original opinion in this ease will be found at page 180 of volume 205 of the Reports of this court. A reference to that opinion will disclose the facts sufficiently except as it may be proper in the course of this opinion to refer to other facts necessary to a full understanding of the case as it will be disposed of on this rehearing. We granted a rehearing on the application of plaintiffs based on the claim that we had reached a wrong conclusion as to the effect to be given to the life estate to Oliver Beauregard and wife, and the further claim that we had misapprehended the concession of plaintiffs’ counsel and. misconceived his claim as to the effect to be given the first deed from plaintiff’s mother to him under the facts disclosed by this record.
The case was originally submitted on briefs, but upon rehearing it was fully argued and further exhaustive briefs have been filed. Numerous authorities have been cited to us, all of which have been examined with care. In view of the claim of misapprehension of plaintiff’s contention and those of his counsel, we have again fully considered the record and the original briefs and will now proceed to state our conclusions.
The conclusion we have reached makes it unnecessary to determine the effect of the life estate given to Oliver Beauregard and wife Thersil. The determination of that question being unnecessary, what was said in the original opinion on that subject may be considered withdrawn, and the case will be disposed of on another theory.
It is well understood that a life tenant may not cut off the remainder man and secure the fee by acquiring incumbrances he is legally obligated to pay; nor may he, to the exclusion of the remainder man who is willing to contribute, acquire incumbrances which it is necessary to acquire in order to prevent a forfeiture
Manifestly no one can be compelled against his will, save only in the case of descent, to accept title to real estate, be that title good or bad; and where one does not accept title attempted to be given him but renounces it, he is not prohibited from buying the premises or incumbrances upon them, or from dealing with them as any other stranger to the title may do. Mr. Onen not only purchased the premises at the foreclosure sale but he also purchased the life estate of Mr. Beauregard who was then alive and who lived several years thereafter, paying him $800 therefor. The plaintiff did not purchase from Mr. Onen until something like a year after Mr. Onen’s purchase. Mr. Onen was not acting as attorney or agent for plaintiffs; he sold for what he had in the premises and there is nothing to indicate that the consideration was not adequate. The purchase price was something over $3,100; he had agreed to let Mr. Truitt, who was his neighbor and friend, have the premises at what he had in them. Therefore, when plaintiff entered possession he did so, not by virtue of the original deed from his mother, but by virtue of his grandfather’s life estate transferred to Mr. Onen and by Mr. Onen to him, and by virtue of the title acquired on foreclosure,
From what has been said, it follows that the decree of the court below will be affirmed. The appellant