Gunn v. Monroe, 8539.

• Citation: 191 S.E. 850
• Decision Date: 18 May 1937
• Docket Number: No. 8539.,8539.
• Court: Supreme Court of West Virginia
• Parties: GUNN, Sheriff. v. MONROE et al.

191 S.E. 850

GUNN, Sheriff.
v.
MONROE et al.

No. 8539.

Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

May 18, 1937.

[191 S.E. 850]

Rehearing Denied June 23, 1937.

Syllabus by the Court.

Under the provisions of Code, 44-8-5, where the heirs of a decedent convey real estate of which he died seized, and which is, by law, made assets for the payment of his debts, by deed executed more than one year after his death, and before the commencement of a suit for the administration of such assets, or a report of the debts of his estate filed in some proceeding for their ascertainment, a purchaser of said real estate takes title thereto free from the claims of the creditors of the decedent, where such purchaser is without notice of any fraudulent intent on the part of the heirs with respect to such claims.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Calhoun County.

Suit by P. P. Gunn, Sheriff, etc, against W. H. Monroe and others. From an adverse judgment, plaintiffs and the named defendant appeal.

Judgment modified and affirmed in part, and cause remanded, with directions.

James L. Smith, of Elizabeth, for appellants.

Bruce Ferrell, of Grantsville, for appellees.

FOX, Judge.

J. G. Monroe, a resident of Calhoun county, died on the 7th day of March, 1934, leaving surviving him his widow, Mollie E. Monroe, and three married daughters, namely, Rebecca Davis, Pearl Tasker, and Georgie Watson, his only heirs at law. No administrator having been appointed, his estate was, on June 5, 1936, on motion of a creditor, committed to the plaintiff, who was then sheriff of said county, under the provisions of the Code, 44-1-11. Shortly after such appointment, this suit was instituted to settle said estate. The bill alleges, among other things, that the estate was indebted to one W. H. Monroe in the sum of $149 with interest from September 25, 1930, and that the said J. G. Monroe was, at the date of his death, the owner of one-half of 101 acres of oil and gas, and an undivided one-half interest in tracts of 70 acres and 27 acres, less one-half the oil therein, the other interest in said land being owned by his wife, Mollie E. Monroe, and all situated in said county. The cause was referred to a commissioner, who reported a claim in favor of W. H. Monroe of $203.89, which he held to be a charge against the interest of the decedent in the 101 acres of oil and gas, but that his interest in the 70 acres and 27 acres having been conveyed by his heirs at law after the expiration of one year from his death, the said...