Smith v. Walker, 2101054.

• Decision Date: 02 March 2012
• Docket Number: 2101054.
• Citation: 91 So.3d 77
• Parties: Sheila SMITH v. Mary Prue WALKER et al.
• Court: Alabama Court of Civil Appeals

91 So.3d 77

Sheila SMITH

v.Mary Prue WALKER et al.

2101054.

Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama.

March 2, 2012.

Chad Lee, Wedowee, for appellant.

Lister H. Proctor of Proctor & Vaughn, L.L.C., Sylacauga, for appellees.

THOMPSON, Presiding Judge.

Sheila Smith (“Sheila”) appeals from a judgment of the Clay Circuit Court ordering the sale of a certain parcel of land and the division of the proceeds therefrom. For the reasons set forth herein, we reverse the trial court's judgment and remand the cause to the trial court for the entry of a new judgment.

Sheila's maternal grandfather was M.D. Amason (“Amason”). Amason's children included Sheila's mother Maxine Caldwell (“Maxine”), Sybil Martin (“Sybil”), Mary Prue Walker (“Mary”), Manard D. Amason (“Manard”), Robert H. Amason (“Robert”), Carol Canady (“Carol”), Shirley Buckhannan (“Shirley”), Deborah Darlene Amason Wise (“Deborah”), and Sue Amason (“Sue”).¹ Sue died as a teenager leaving no children. Sybil died before the time relevant to the present litigation, leaving two sons, Jeffery Martin (“Jeffery”) and Jonathan Martin (“Jonathan”). Sheila was Maxine's only child.

Amason owned a substantial amount of real property. In his will, he devised separate parcels of land to each of his children except Sue. The parcels Amason devised to Deborah are the subject of the present litigation and are referred to herein as “the disputed property.” The disputed property comprises approximately 175 acres.

The paragraph at the end of the portion of Amason's will devising his land to his children described the nature of those devises as follows:

“Each and every item and tract of land as described in paragraphs one to nine hereinabove, is willed to each party therein named, for and during their natural life. During their natural life each shall have the right to use, occupation, income, rents, and the right to cut and remove timber therefrom and, at the death of each of my said children, the real estate so willed shall vest in his or her children, if any, share and share alike.”

Thus, Amason devised to each of his children a life estate in his or her parcel and a contingent remainder in fee simple in the child's children, with Amason's estate maintaining a reversion in fee simple. See 3 Richard R. Powell, Powell on Real Property § 20.02[3] (June 2002). We note that a reversion is a vested interest that is alienable. See Baugh v. Moon, 289 Ala. 280, 282, 267 So.2d 130, 131 (1972) (“A reversion is a present vested interest or estate and it arises by construction and operation of law whenever a Grantor has conveyed less than his whole interest or estate; the undisposed portion being his when the grant is terminated. This vested interest is subject to be conveyed by the Grantor by deed, to be bequeathed by will, or could be reached by execution and passed to execution purchaser.”). Amason's will provided that his executor was to sell the residuary of his estate and “divide the proceeds therefrom among [his] children living and the heirs of anyone who has deceased, to his or her heirs, under the laws of descent and distribution.” Amason died at some point before the time relevant to the present litigation.

In 1995, Deborah, who did not have children, executed a will in which she devised her entire estate to Sheila, her niece. On the day of a family reunion in 2003, Deborah presented a quitclaim deed (“the first quitclaim deed”) to her siblings that conveyed to Deborah any right, title, interest, or claim (presumably any reversionary interest they might have) in the disputed property. Maxine, Mary, Manard, Robert, Carol, and Shirley executed the deed. Winfred Canady, Carol's husband, signed the deed as a witness, and Sheila notarized it. Deborah also sent to Jeffery and Jonathan a separate quitclaim deed (“the second quitclaim deed”) that conveyed any right, title, interest, or claim they had (presumably as heirs of their mother, Sybil) in the disputed property to Deborah. Jeffery and Jonathan executed the deed and had it notarized. The deeds were recorded. Later in 2003, Maxine died. Deborah died in 2004.

Sheila instituted the present action against Mary, Manard, Robert, Carol, Shirley, Jeffery, and Jonathan (“the defendants”) on April 2, 2008. She asserted that she owned the disputed property through devise and deed conveyances but that she had received a letter indicating that the defendants disputed her ownership of the disputed property. She sought a judgment declaring that she owned the disputed property in fee simple. She requested that, should the court determine that she did not own the disputed property in fee simple, the court order that the disputed property be sold with the proceeds divided among the owners of the property.

Sheila filed a motion for a summary judgment, which is not included in the record on appeal. In their response to that motion, the defendants argued, among other things, that the quitclaim deeds they had executed were not valid because the deeds were not executed in the presence of a notary and they did not acknowledge their signatures before a notary. The trial court denied Sheila's summary-judgment motion.

On February 8, 2010, Sheila amended her complaint by asserting that if the quitclaim deeds were not properly acknowledged or witnessed, the deeds, at the very least, constituted enforceable agreements to execute an instrument passing legal title to Deborah and that, as such, they were subject to specific performance. Thus, she requested that, should the court find that the deeds were invalid, the court enter an order requiring the defendants to execute an instrument conveying title to the disputed property to Sheila.

On October 18, 2010, the trial court held a bench trial of the action. At the trial, Sheila testified that Deborah was not married at the time of her death and that she had no children. She testified that only eight years separated Deborah and her in age and that they had had a close relationship.

Sheila testified that Deborah's siblings had executed the first quitclaim deed on the day of the family reunion in 2003 either at the community center at which the reunion was held or at Maxine's house. Maxine, she stated, was sick at that time and had been unable to attend the reunion. Sheila, who had notarized the first quitclaim deed, stated that she saw all six of the siblings sign the deed and that they had done so voluntarily.

Sheila testified that some of her mother's siblings had sold the property they had inherited from Amason and that, in so doing, they had had the other family members execute deeds regarding their respective properties similar to the quitclaim deeds Deborah had had her siblings and nephews execute.

Mary testified that Deborah presented the first quitclaim deed to her at the family reunion. She stated that Deborah had asked her to sign the deed so that she could obtain a new house. Mary testified that she did not know what a quitclaim deed was and that she would not have signed it had she known that Deborah's will devised the disputed property to Sheila. Mary admitted, however, that she did not read the deed and that no one forced her or pressured her to sign it. She stated that she could have refused to sign it or that she could have had a lawyer review the document before she signed it but that she chose not to do so. She also stated that she did not ask Sheila or Deborah what the quitclaim deed was. She testified that she would not have had a problem with Deborah's using the quitclaim deed to sell the property. Mary testified that she did not see Sheila at the time she signed the quitclaim deed and that, to her knowledge, Sheila was not present in the room when she signed it.

Carol testified that she signed the first quitclaim deed during the family reunion at Deborah's request and that Deborah had not told her she had made a will devising the disputed property to Sheila. She testified that she did not know what a quitclaim deed was and that she did not know that Deborah was asking her to give up any interest she might have in the disputed property. However, Carol also testified that she signed the quitclaim deed voluntarily and that no one pressured her or forced her to sign it. She stated that she had the opportunity to read and review the quitclaim deed as long as she wanted and that she did not ask Deborah what she was signing or question Deborah about it. She stated that she believed that, at the time she signed the deed, Maxine and Mary had already signed it.

Carol testified that, after she signed the first quitclaim deed, Deborah asked Carol's husband, Winfred Canady, who had been sitting with Carol when she signed the deed, to witness the deed. Winfred did so. Carol testified that she did not recall seeing Sheila at the family reunion.

Shirley testified that she signed the first quitclaim deed during the family reunion at Deborah's request and that Deborah had not told her she had made a will devising the disputed property to Sheila. She stated that Deborah had told her that the purpose of the deed was for Deborah to obtain another house. She stated that she did not read the deed before she signed it, that nothing had prevented her from reading it, that she had signed the deed voluntarily, and that no one had pressured her or forced her to sign it. She stated that she did not ask Deborah what the deed was or ask her to explain it to her. She stated that she would not have minded if Deborah had sold the disputed property and purchased another house, but she said she would not have signed the deed if she had known the property would descend to Sheila.

Shirley testified that no one else was around when she signed the first quitclaim deed. She stated that she could not recall whether she had seen Sheila at the reunion before she signed the deed.

Robert testified that he signed the first quitclaim deed at Maxine's house after he left the reunion. He stated that, at the time he signed the...