Adams v. Logan
| Decision Date | 04 March 1954 |
| Docket Number | 7 Div. 104 |
| Citation | 70 So.2d 786,260 Ala. 346 |
| Parties | ADAMS et al. v. LOGAN et al. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Lusk, Swann & Burns, Wesley W. Acee, guardian ad litem, Gadsden, for appellants.
A. B. Cunningham, Gadsden, for appellees.
P. M. Adams, a resident of Etowah County, Alabama, died intestate in said county on January 9, 1949, leaving surviving him, as his next of kin and sole heirs at law, his widow, Sallie Adams, the following children; namely, H. E. Adams, Grace Logan, Vela Logan, Verdie Simpson, Genevieve Sanders, Ruth Bone, P. M. Adams, Jr., James Adams and Annie Jo Adams; and the following grandchildren (they being the children of Claudia Smith, a daughter, who died on August 23, 1945); namely, Randall Smith, Sara Frances Smith and Jesse Smith, Jr., all of whom are of legal age and of sound mind, other than P. M. Adams, Jr., James Adams, Annie Jo Adams and Jesse Smith, Jr., who are minors, and Sara Frances Smith, who is a person of unsound mind and confined as a mental patient in the Alabama Insane Hospital at Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Claudia Smith, the daughter who died on August 23, 1945, was also survived by her husband, Jesse Smith.
J. L. Logan, a son-in-law and the husband of Vela Logan, was duly appointed and qualified as administrator of the estate of the said P. M. Adams, deceased, by the probate court of said county on April 9, 1949. The administration of the estate of said decedent was removed on petition of Vela Logan from said probate court to the circuit court, in equity, of said county on April 25, 1949.
P. M. Adams was married twice. His first wife was Martha T. Adams, who died intestate on August 22, 1925, leaving surviving her husband, P. M. Adams, and the following children; namely, H. E. Adams, Claudia Smith, Verdie Simpson, Vela Logan and Grace Logan. P. M. Adams was married to Sallie Sitz, his surviving widow, on December 12, 1926. There were five children born of the second marriage; namely, Genevieve Sanders, Ruth Bone, P. M. Adams, Jr., James Adams and Annie Jo Adams.
On September 15, 1949, the said J. L. Logan, as administrator of the estate of P. M. Adams, deceased, filed a petition in the circuit court, in equity, averring, among other things, that among the papers of the decedent found in a lock box in the State National Bank at Collinsville, Alabama, was an unrecorded deed fromt he said P. M. Adams to Martha T. Adams, the first wife, which deed is dated September 16, 1921, and which deed, for a consideration of One Dollar and love and affection, purports to convey to the said Martha T. Adams certain real estate described therein. The petition avers that the legality of said deed, which is made an exhibit to the petition, is in dispute and prays that the court adjudicate its validity as a deed.
P. M. Adams, Jr., James Adams and Annie Jo Adams, minors, by their mother and next friend, Sallie Adams, Genevieve Sanders, Ruth Bone and Sallie Adams, filed their answer to said petition, which is made a cross bill and to which the said J. L. Logan, as administrator, H. E. Adams, Grace Logan, Vela Logan, Verdie Simpson, Randall Smith, Sara Frances Smith and Jesse Smith, Jr., were made parties cross-respondent. It is averred in the answer and cross bill that, on September 16, 1921, the said P. M. Adams, fearing the consequences of threatened litigation, executed the deed in question conveying all of his property, which included all property described in paragraph 4 of the said cross bill, other than the NE 1/4 of the NE 1/4, to his wife, Martha T. Adams, but which threatened litigation never materialized and which deed was never delivered to the grantee prior to her death, but was found among the decedent's papers in a lock box in the State National Bank of Collinsville, Alabama, after his death. The cross bill further avers that at no time from the date of said deed until her death did Martha T. Adams claim said property as her own or assess the same for ad valorem taxes, or pay taxes thereon. The cross bill further alleges that the children and grandchildren of the said P. M. Adams, deceased, subject to the dower and homestead rights of the surviving widow, are the tenants in common of the real estate described in paragraph 4 thereof, and prays that it be decreed that said deed was never delivered to the grantee, that said lands cannot be equitably divided, and that same be sold for division, and the widow's dower and homestead rights be carved out of the proceeds. The cross bill was amended by striking H. E. Adams as a party defendant and making him a party cross-complainant.
The averments of the cross bill were denied generally by J. L. Logan, as administrator.
The said Grace Logan, Vela Logan, Verdie Simpson, Randall Smith, and Sara Frances Smith, a non compos mentis, and Jesse Smith, Jr., by their father and next friend, Jesse Smith, filed their answer to said administrator's petition averring that the deed in question had been delivered to Martha T. Adams, and that the only lands owned by P. M. Adams at the time of his death was the NE 1/4 of the NE 1/4, in Section 10, Township 10, South of Range 7. It is further averred that the children and grandchildren of Martha T. Adams, the first wife, are the tenants in common of the property described in said deed and it is prayed that same be sold for division.
The averments of the answer and cross bill filed by the said Grace Logan, et al., were generally denied by answer of the said Sallie Adams, et al., and further, that the SE 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Section 10, Township 10, South of Range 7, East, of the property described in the deed from P. M. Adams to Martha T. Adams was sold by said parties to Claudia Smith, the deceased daughter, and later reacquired by P. M. Adams prior to his death and after the death of Martha T. Adams.
Wesley W. Acee, an attorney, was appointed as guardian ad litem to represent the interests of the said P. M. Adams, Jr., James Adams and Annie Jo Adams on the hearing of said petition. The appointment was accepted by Mr. Acee and his various pleadings are set forth in the record.
The evidence is without dispute that the deed made by P. M. Adams to Martha T Adams, his first wife, on September 16, 1921, and made an exhibit to the administrator's petition, was found among the decedent's papers in a lock box in the State...
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