Standiford v. Standiford

• Decision Date: 04 February 1889
• Citation: 10 S.W. 836,97 Mo. 231
• Parties: STANDIFORD et al. v. STANDIFORD et al.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

10 S.W. 836

97 Mo. 231

STANDIFORD et al. v. STANDIFORD et al.

Supreme Court of Missouri.

February 4, 1889.

DEED — DELIVERY — CONSUMMATION BY RECORD.

A father consulted W. and D. as to whether he could legally convey all the land he owned, saying that he desired to give it to defendant, his minor son. W. informed him that he could legally do so, but suggested that he make a will; but this he declined to do, saying that he wanted "to give it to him now, before his death." The deed was accordingly signed and handed to D., the grantor saying, "You take that deed and file it for record." D. then suggested that it might be prudent not to have it recorded just then, as the grantor might need to sell some portion of the land in order to support himself. The grantor then said, "You take that deed, and keep it safely." D. kept the deed until the grantor's death, when he filed it for record. Held, an absolute delivery to D. for the benefit of defendant, consummated as of the date of the first delivery, by filing for record.

Appeal from circuit court, Buchanan county; JOSEPH P. GRUBB, Judge.

Action to set aside a deed, brought by Amanda Standiford and others against William S. Standiford and others. Judgment for plaintiffs, and defendants appeal.

Anderson & McCormack, S. C Woodson, and Woodson & Woodson, for appellants. Doniphan & Reed, R. P. C. Wilson, and James W. Coburn, for respondents.

BRACE, J.

On the 9th day of January, 1878, Dodson Standiford, deceased, being in feeble health, made a deed to his son, the defendant William Seigel Standiford, then aged about 16 years, to a tract of land containing 103 acres, situate in Platte county, on which he with his wife, the plaintiff Amanda, and his said son were then residing, in which his wife did not unite, and delivered it to one Hezekiah Dick. In the following August he died, and within 20 days after his death, the said Dick filed the deed in the office of the recorder of deeds of said county, and the same was recorded. At the time the deed was made, the other children of the grantor were grown and had left the homestead. William S. and his mother continued to reside together on the premises from the time the deed was made until the 17th of July, 1883, when he sold and conveyed his interest in the land to Ephraim B. Worth, the other defendant herein, for the sum of $2,500 cash. In September, 1883, this suit was instituted by his mother, the said Amanda, and the other plaintiffs, who are the children and descendants of deceased children of the said Dodson, other than the said William S., in which they seek to set aside the deed from Dodson to his son, and the deed from the son to the said Worth, on the ground "that the said deed from Dodson Standiford to his son William S. Standiford was a deed of gift; that said deed was never delivered to the said William S. Standiford, nor to any one for him; that said deed was intended to be delivered to the said William S. Standiford after the death of the said Dodson Standiford, and to take effect after his death only, as a will; and that the deed was not recorded until after his said death, — of all of which the defendants were at the time aware."

The controlling question in the case is, was the deed from the father to the son in contemplation of law delivered in the life-time of the father? While there is a conflict of testimony in some particulars between the several witnesses interested, and otherwise, who testified in the case, the whole testimony tends to support and confirm that of Mr. Dick, who became the depositary of the deed, and who was called as a witness by the plaintiffs; and there can be no doubt that his testimony, in connection with that of Mr. Woodson, another intelligent and disinterested witness called for the defendants, presents a connected and truthful statement of all the material facts bearing upon the question.

Mr. Dick testified substantially as follows: "Before the execution of this deed, I had a conversation with Mr. Standiford about executing it. It was in February or March, 1877. He and I were sitting on a log on some land I purchased from him. The first time he had any such notion in his head, he said, `I am going to deed this land I have here to Seigel,' and said, `I have been told by some parties that I can't make a valid deed unless I have other lands left, and I want to know what you think about it.' I said, `You can't deed the land away at the expense of your creditors; but it doesn't make any difference whether you have any other land left or not. That will not invalidate the deed. Then he says to me, `The first time you go to Platte City, I want you to consult Steve Woodson. Ask him whether I can make a valid deed to this land unless I have any other land or not.' I said, `It is unnecessary at all; but for your satisfaction I will do so.' Shortly afterwards I got Mr. Woodson's opinion in the matter, and conveyed the same to Mr. Standiford, which was the same as my own opinion, which seemed to satisfy him, and I never heard anything more of it until a day or so before he made the deed, when he notified me that he was going to make me a deed, also one to his son, and wanted me to be present. * * * I was there the morning the deed was made; was notified by Mr. Standiford to be there, probably the day before, to be there on that occasion; that he was going to make a deed to me for land I had bought that he had never deeded to me. And he said, `I want you to be there on that morning.' Accordingly I went. The deed was made and acknowledged, and my recollection is that it was left lying on the table. I stayed there some little time. The old man motioned to me, and said, `Squire, you take that deed, and file it for record.' I, having a motive in view, says to him, `Uncle D., I don't believe that I would have it filed for record, or put on record, at the present time. You may get well, and live some time. You are not making much money, and you may have occasion to sell off a scrap, or something of that kind, or the income from the land, and need it to live on.' He said, `You take that deed, and keep it safely.' Says he, `There are parties who come about the house,' — or persons about the house, I don't recollect which, — `that if they come across it would likely make way with it, and I am not able to be up and around.' And I carried it away, and don't think any one ever saw it after it was given to me. He told me to take it. I don't think it was handed to me by any one. No person ever saw it until about 20 days after his death. I took it to Platte City, and filed it for record. He did not tell me that, at his death, h...