Race v. Moseley, 74--601

• Decision Date: 19 February 1975
• Docket Number: No. 74--601,74--601
• Citation: 308 So.2d 137
• Parties: Lesel Ernestine RACE and Mary, Race Harris, Appellants, v. Ruth A. B. MOSELEY, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 137

308 So.2d 137

Lesel Ernestine RACE and Mary, Race Harris, Appellants, v. Ruth A. B. MOSELEY, Appellee.

No. 74--601.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

Feb. 19, 1975.

Loren E. Gray, Mt. Pleasant, Mich., and J. Julian Bennett, Winter Haven, for appellants.

J. Hardin Peterson, Jr., Peterson, Carr, Harris & Seacrest, Lakeland, for appellee.

GRIMES, Judge.

This is an appeal from a summary judgment quieting the title to certain real property in the defendant.

At the time of his death in 1945, Austin T. Race was the owner of a fifteen acre tract known as 'Race Acres.' He left surviving him a widow and four children. All of the parties agree that at the time of Mr. Race's death, Race Acres was homestead property.

Shortly following Mr. Race's death, his widow, Anna B. Race, executed a deed purporting to convey Race Acres to their son, Charles, but reserving a life estate in herself. The next year, Charles, joined by his wife, executed a deed of the property to Race and Race, Inc. That corporation then deeded to Charles and his brother, Austin T. Race, Jr. Later Charles and Austin, Jr., joined by their wives, conveyed to Aluminum Irrigation, Inc. About 1950 there were some family negotiations directed toward buying out the plaintiffs' interests in the property, but the record does not reflect that these transactions were ever consummated.

In 1952 an order of administration unnecessary was entered by the County Judge providing for Mr. Race's estate to pass to Anna B. Race without administration. The following year Mrs. Race executed a quitclaim deed of the property to Aluminum Irrigation, Inc. Thereafter, a mortgage to Empire Capital Corporation was placed upon the property, and then Aluminum Irrigation, Inc. executed a deed of the property back to Charles and his wife. In 1965 the property was foreclosed by Empire Capital Corporation in a suit joining Charles and his wife and Aluminum Irrigation, Inc. but none of the other children of Austin T. Race. The Certificate to Title was issued to Empire Capital Corporation on February 16, 1966. In September of 1970, Anna B. Race died. Later that year, the property was purportedly conveyed by Empire Capital Corporation to the defendant below.

In March of 1972 the two daughters of Austin T. Race brought suit against the defendant for the partition of Race Acres, each of them claiming a one-quarter remainder interest in the homestead of their father. The defendant attached to her answer and counterclaim copies of quitclaim deeds of the property to Empire Capital Corporation dated January 18, 1971, and purportedly executed by each of the daughters. The defendant acknowledged that the validity of these instruments was in question. The defendant asserted that regardless of the quitclaim deeds, she owned the entire title by virtue of the several conveyances and the order of administration unnecessary. She further contended that in any event she was entitled to have her title quieted by virtue of adverse possession.

The petition for administration unnecessary was executed by Austin T. Race's widow and each of his four children. It recited that the value of the estate of Austin T. Race after the payment of debts did not exceed $3,000 in the aggregate and stated that the signatories agreed that all of the property of the estate should be distributed to Mr. Race's widow. The property was not specifically described. The order of administration unnecessary reflected that the decedent left an estate consisting of 'Miscellaneous property of less than $3,000 in value.' The order provided that 'Anna B. Race, widow, by virtue of an agreement reached among the heirs named above, is the sole person entitled to receive the whole of said estate without administration.'

In the summary final judgment and the order denying motion for rehearing, the court concluded that the order of administration unnecessary had the effect of vesting the entire title to Race Acres in Anna B. Race, and that by virtue of having signed the petition for this order, the plaintiffs were estopped from asserting title to the property. Observing that the plaintiffs asserted that their quitclaim deeds to Empire Capital Corporation were forgeries, the court noted that its judgment was in no way predicated upon the validity of these deeds. As a further ground for the judgment, the court held that the defendant and her predecessors in title had established adverse possession for more than seven years.

While it is obvious that the court below conscientiously considered this case, we are constrained to reverse. We do not believe that the order of administration unnecessary passed title to the homestead, and there appears to be a genuine issue of material fact with respect to adverse possession.

The petition for order of administration unnecessary requested an order pursuant to the provisions of § 735.04 of the Laws of Florida 1949. That section was a part of Chapter 735 entitled 'Administration Unnecessary in Certain Estates.' The provisions of that chapter were designed to dispense with certain procedural steps involving small estates but did not contemplate passing the title to property 'exempt under the constitution and statutes of the state (of Florida),' such as homestead. See Bradley v. Raulerson, 1914, 66 Fla. 601, 64 So. 237. The defendant is in no position to say that the petition for order of administration unnecessary constituted an agreement whereby the plaintiffs were giving up their right to the homestead. The property was not described in the petition and there is no dispute that Race Acres was worth more than $3,000. It was clear that the total value of property owned by Mr. Race at the time of his death was in excess of $100,000.

The defendant suggests that the order...