Hewitt v. Hewitt
| Decision Date | 13 April 1938 |
| Docket Number | 14669. |
| Citation | 196 S.E. 541,187 S.C. 86 |
| Parties | HEWITT v. HEWITT et al. |
| Court | South Carolina Supreme Court |
Appeal from Common Pleas Circuit Court of Spartanburg County; T. S Sease, Judge.
Action for construction of title to realty by Claudie Eliza Sims Hewitt against Jacquelyn Ann Hewitt and others, minors under the age of fourteen years. From a judgment for plaintiff defendants appeal.
Affirmed.
Arnold R. Merchant, of Spartanburg, for appellants.
C Yates Brown, of Spartanburg, for respondent.
November 6, 1917, Mrs. L. A. Sims conveyed to her daughter Claudie Eliza Sims a certain storehouse and lot in the city of Spartanburg, S.C. At the time of the conveyance, Claudie Eliza Sims was unmarried, but she has since been married to Adolphus Jack Hewitt, to which union has been born two children, Jacquelyn Ann Hewitt and Adolphus Jack Hewitt, Jr., both under the age of fourteen years. The granting clause of the deed is in these words: "Unto the said Claudie Eliza Sims during the term of her natural life and at her death to the heirs of her body in fee simple."
The habendum clause is in these words: "Unto the said Claudie Eliza Sims for and during the term of her natural life and at her death to the heirs of her body and to their heirs and assigns forever." Subject to the use of the property by Mrs. L. A. Sims, the grantor, for and during her natural life. Mrs. L. A. Sims has since died. Mrs. Hewitt resides at Waynesville, N. C.
The property, which has been rented, has fallen into disrepair, and the tenants will vacate it unless it is repaired. There have accumulated something more than $600 of unpaid taxes on the property, and the tax collector threatens to advertise and sell the property, unless the taxes are paid. Negotiations for a loan were opened with the First Federal Savings & Loan Company, which expressed its willingness to make the loan in an amount sufficient to make the needed repairs and to pay the past-due taxes, if the title to the property was approved by the attorneys of the company. Thereupon this action was brought to obtain the construction of the title by the court. The matter was referred to the master for Spartanburg county to take the testimony and report his findings of fact and conclusions of law. There is no contest over the facts as found by him, which findings are in accord with the facts hereinabove referred to.
He concluded, as a matter of law, that Claudie Eliza Sims Hewitt "is the owner of a fee conditional title to the property, and that since she is the mother of two...
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