Arndt v. Sheridan Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, Inc., 3558

• Decision Date: 23 June 1967
• Docket Number: No. 3558,3558
• Citation: 429 P.2d 326
• Parties: Allen A. ARNDT and Helen E. Arndt, Appellants (Defendants below), v. The SHERIDAN CONGREGATION OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, INC., of Sheridan, Wyoming, a corporation, William E. Riggle and Esther A. Riggle, Appellees (Plaintiffs below).
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

Page 326

429 P.2d 326

Allen A. ARNDT and Helen E. Arndt, Appellants (Defendants below), v. The SHERIDAN CONGREGATION OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, INC., of Sheridan, Wyoming, a corporation, William E. Riggle and Esther A. Riggle, Appellees (Plaintiffs below).

No. 3558.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

June 23, 1967.

Bruce P. Badley, R. G. Diefenderfer, Sheridan, for appellants.

Henry A. Burgess, Sheridan, for appellees.

Before HARNSBERGER, C. J., and GRAY, McINTYRE, and PARKER, JJ.

Mr. Justice McINTYRE delivered the opinion of the court.

Allen A. Arndt and Helen E. Arndt, defendants below, have appealed from a judgment of the district court in Sheridan County, in which the court reformed a deed between William E. Riggle and Esther A. Riggle as grantors and the Arndts as grantees.

As far as this case is concerned, we can think of the Riggles as original owners of all of Tract 11 of the Krohn Subdivision, Sheridan, Wyoming. The first conveyance made by the Riggles for part of Tract 11 was to the Sheridan Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, Inc. It covered the East 50 feet of the North 100 feet of the tract.

Next, if we accept the testimony and evidence favorable to the successful parties below, the Riggles attempted to convey to the same grantee an additional portion of Tract 11. The additional portion intended would have caused Jehovah's Witnesses to own a total plot consisting of the East 55 feet of the North 200 feet of Tract 11. However, in an attempt to describe the additional portion by metes and bounds, the scrivener of the second deed gave the distance for the south boundary line as 100 feet instead of 55 feet as it should have been. The result was that the metes and bounds description did not close on the north boundary line.

Not only was the additional portion of land intended in the second deed erroneously described, but the instrument itself, after delivery, was not recorded. The consequence of this omission was that the abstract of title for Tract 11 reflected title in the Riggles for all of Tract 11, except for the East 50 feet of the North 100 feet.

Subsequently, the Arndts made an agreement to purchase the remaining portion of Tract 11 from the Riggles. The abstract of title was taken by the parties to an attorney, who drew a deed. Here again, if we accept Riggles' version of what took place, we must conclude the attorney caused the deed to cover all of Tract 11, except the East 50 feet of the North 100 feet, because the abstract reflected ownership of such in the Riggles. Also, an attorney for the Bank of Commerce, which was loaning part of the purchase money, gave title opinions stating the abstract reflected such ownership in the Riggles.

The Arndts now claim they thought they were buying all but the East 50 feet of the North 100 feet of Tract 11, and the Riggles claim the Arndts knew they were dealing for all but the East 55 feet of the North 200 feet. The district court found from the evidence that the deed from the Riggles to the Arndts contained a mistaken description and that the parties had actually intended to except the East 55 feet of the North 200 feet, rather than the East 50 feet of the North 100 feet. The court ordered the deed from the Riggles to the Arndts reformed accordingly, and it is from that judgment that Arndts have appealed.

Although appellants have not directly challenged the right of a court of equity to reform instruments for mutual mistake, they do claim they had a right to rely on the record; and that they should prevail because the second deed to Jehovah's Witnesses was not recorded and appellants did not have actual knowledge of it.

If the evidence was sufficient to establish that Jehovah's Witnesses were in open possession of the disputed area, then (as we will show later on) the Arndts would be charged with notice of the claims of the church. Before getting into that, however let us speak of the reformation of deeds. Actually, the court reformed the second deed given by the Riggles to Jehovah's Witnesses in order to correct the description therein. In addition, it also reformed the deed given by the Riggles to the Arndts.

As far as this case is concerned, the Arndts are the appellants. Their contention is that the deed they received from the Riggles should stand and not be reformed. If we uphold the action of the district court in reforming the deed received by the Arndts, then reformation of the second deed to Jehovah's Witnesses would stand unchallenged and we would not need to disturb that reformation.

Chief Justice Riner wrote an exhaustive opinion for this court, in Russell v. Curran, 66 Wyo. 173, 206 P.2d 1159, 1163-1167, dealing with the circumstances under which written instruments will be reformed. He made it clear...