Motley v. Whitemore
| Decision Date | 31 December 1837 |
| Citation | 19 N.C. 537 |
| Parties | Den ex dem. JOEL F. MOTLEY v. NANCY WHITEMORE. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
In lands conveyed to husband and wife, they have not a joint estate, but hold by entireties; and upon the death of either of them, the whole estate continues in the survivor, notwithstanding the act of 1784, (see 1 Rev. Stat. e. 43, s. 2,) for abolishing the right of survivorship.
This was an action of ejectment, in which the following facts were submitted to his Honor Saunders, J., at Caswell, on the last Circuit. The plaintiff's lessors claimed title to the land in controversy, by virtue of a judgment, execution, and sheriff's deed; and produced the records of two judgments, rendered in Caswell County Court, in favor of himself and one Nannally, at July Term, 1833, against the administrators of Louis Whitemore, deceased. It appeared, that the administrator, among other things, had relied on the plea of fully administered, which had been found for him; and judgments had been signed for the plaintiff's demands. Writs of scire facias had been sued out thereon against the heirs at law of the said Lewis Whitemore, and judgment rendered upon the same at October Term, 1835,
upon which writs of venditioni exponas were issued; and at January Term, 1836, the land was sold, and a deed executed therefor by the sheriff to the plaintiff.
The defendant was the widow of Whitemore, and was in possession of the land sued for; and she claimed to be sole seized thereof by devise from one John Hudnall, her father, in the following words, to-wit: "I give to Lewis Whitemore and his wife, the tract of land whereon I now live." The defendant was the wife referred to in the devise; and the land devised was admitted to be the same mentioned in the plaintiff's declaration.
His Honor, upon these facts, being of opinion with the defendant, a verdict of not guilty was entered in pursuance of an agreement between the parties to thateffect; and the plaintiff appealed.
GASTON, Judge: We entirely approve of the opinion expressed by his Honor below. When lands are conveyed to husband and wife, they have not a joint estate, but they hold by entireties. Being in law but one person, they have each the whole estate as one person; and on the death of either of them, the whole estate continues in the survivor. This was settled, at least as far back as the reign of Edward III, as appears from the case on the petition of John Hawkins, as the heir of John Ocle, quoted by Lord Coke, 1...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Foreclosure of Deed of Trust Recorded in Book 911, at Page 512, Catawba County Registry, In re
...S.E. 478). The act abolishing survivorship in joint tenancies in fee (C.S., 1735) does not apply to tenancies by the entirety. Motley v. Whitemore, 19 N.C. 537. A joint tenancy is distinguished by the four unities of time, title, interest and possession (Moore v. Trust Co., 178 N.C. p. 124 ......
-
Davis v. Bass
... ... Rep. 675. The act abolishing survivorship in ... joint tenancies in fee (C. S. § 1735) does not apply to ... tenancies by the entirety. Motley v. Whitemore, 19 ... N.C. 537. A joint tenancy is distinguished by the four ... unities of time, title, interest, and possession ( Moore ... v ... ...
-
Moore v. Greenville Banking & Trust Co.
... ... 204, § 6; ... Revisal of 1905, § 1579) abolishing the right of survivorship ... in joint tenancies does not apply to this estate. Motley ... v. Whitemore, 19 N.C. 537; Todd v. Zachary, 45 ... N.C. 286; Woodford v. Higly, 60 N.C. 237. One ... peculiarity incident to this estate ... ...
-
Wilkinson v. US, C-C-89-307-P.
...recognized as early as the Fourteenth Century. It was so declared by the North Carolina Supreme Court as early as 1837 in Motley v. Whitemore, 19 N.C. 537 (1837). See also Woolard v. Smith, 244 N.C. 489, 492, 94 S.E.2d 466 (1956). Death creates no new estate in the survivor. The survivor ta......