Sisneros v. Garcia

• Decision Date: 09 July 1980
• Docket Number: No. 12513,12513
• Citation: 1980 NMSC 77,613 P.2d 422,94 N.M. 552
• Parties: Richard A. SISNEROS, also known as Ricardo Sisneros, and Valley National Bank, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Fabian GARCIA and Juan F. Garcia, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: New Mexico Supreme Court

Page 422

613 P.2d 422

94 N.M. 552

Richard A. SISNEROS, also known as Ricardo Sisneros, and Valley National Bank, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Fabian GARCIA and Juan F. Garcia, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 12513.

Supreme Court of New Mexico.

July 9, 1980.

[94 NM 552] Catron, Catron & Sawtell, Fletcher R. Catron, Santa Fe, for defendants-appellants.

Scarborough & Scarborough, George M. Scarborough, Espanola, Kegel & McCulloch, Santa Fe, for plaintiffs-appellees.

OPINION

SOSA, Chief Justice.

The issues we decide in this appeal are: (1) whether a deed signed by a minor renders the conveyance void; (2) whether the running of time for disaffirmance is tolled where the buyer had not recorded the deed; and (3) whether the buyer in this case acquired title by adverse possession.

We decide that a deed signed by a minor is voidable not void; that a minor should not be required to disaffirm a conveyance upon reaching majority where the buyer has not recorded the deed and the minor has no other notice of the buyer's claim; and that the buyer in this case did not acquire good title by adverse possession.

It is undisputed that prior to 1959, Sisneros, then a minor, had title to the tract of land in question. On January 28, 1959, when Sisneros was fifteen years old, Fabian Garcia typed up a deed which purported to convey the land from Sisneros to Juan F. Garcia for $950.00. There is conflicting testimony, and the trial court refused to make a finding, on whether Sisneros ever actually signed the deed, though a signature alleged to be his appears on its face. The trial court did find that Sisneros received no consideration. The deed was recorded in 1972, thirteen years after it was purportedly executed.

Since 1959, neither party has lived on the land for any appreciable length of time. Sisneros offered to sell the land to a third party in 1971, then mortgaged it in favor of Valley National Bank in 1973. In that same year, Sisneros also became aware of Juan Garcia's claim under the 1959 deed, and brought this suit for ejectment. Juan Garcia counterclaimed to quiet title. Valley National Bank was joined as a plaintiff-counter-defendant because it was the holder of a note and mortgage from Sisneros. The trial court entered judgment in favor of plaintiffs. We affirm.

The Garcias urge four separate grounds on appeal for a remand or reversal. First, they argue that a remand is necessary to determine the question of whether Richard Sisneros actually signed the 1959 deed. They contend that if he did sign the deed, then the conveyance is good because he did not disaffirm the conveyance within a reasonable time after reaching majority.

Sisneros counters that it is irrelevant whether or not he signed the deed, because a deed signed by a minor is void ab initio. He relies upon Section 32-1-29, N.M.S.A. 1953, which was applicable at the time. (Repealed, N.M. Laws 1975, ch. 257, § 9-101.) It read in pertinent part:

An infant by his general guardian, if he has any, and by his next friend, if he has no general guardian, may present a petition to the district court or the probate court of the county where the real estate to be affected, or any part thereof, is situate, . . . praying that a guardian may be appointed to sell and convey the same . . ..

Sisneros' argument is that because there is a statute providing for court authorization of a conveyance by a minor, a conveyance without court authorization is invalid.

The Garcias contend that a conveyance by a minor is voidable not void. The purpose of the statute, they argue, is to make a conveyance binding upon a minor and not subject to disaffirmance.

We agree with the interpretation that a minor can convey land, but the conveyance would, without court approval, be subject to disaffirmance within a reasonable time after the minor reaches majority. See 42 Am.Jur.2d, Infants, § 75 (1969); cf. Evants v. Taylor, 18 N.M. 371 (1913) (a minor may disaffirm a contract to purchase land upon arriving at majority). This does not lead us to the conclusion, however, that the trial court had to make a finding on whether Sisneros signed the deed. If Sisneros did sign the deed, and later disaffirmed it, the result is the same as if he had never signed it.

We hold that the trial court's finding that Sisneros disaffirmed the conveyance is supported by the record. Even though Sisneros did not disaffirm the contract until fourteen years later, at the latest, this was reasonable under the circumstances. The court found that Sisneros never intended to sell the land and that he was unaware of any adverse claims to the land until after Garcia recorded the deed in 1972. There would be no reason for him to...