Thompson v. Whitfield

• Decision Date: 09 April 1947
• Docket Number: No. 6273.,6273.
• Citation: 203 S.W.2d 268
• Parties: THOMPSON v. WHITFIELD et al.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

203 S.W.2d 268

THOMPSON v. WHITFIELD et al.

No. 6273.

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas. Texarkana.

April 9, 1947.

Rehearing Denied April 17, 1947.

Appeal from District Court, Panola County; S. H. Sanders, Judge.

Suit by Alma Thompson against Mrs. Julia N. Whitfield and others for equitable partition of land, wherein the named defendant filed a cross-action. From the judgment, plaintiff appeals.

Reversed and remanded with directions.

James & Lee, of Tyler, for appellant.

Brachfield, Wolfe & Williams, of Henderson, for appellees.

HARVEY, Justice.

Alma Thompson sued Mrs. Julia N. Whitfield, and others, in the district court of Panola County, Texas, for an equitable partition of 38 acres of land of the Sihon House Survey. The case was tried before the court without a jury, and from a judgment awarding him one-half the surface and one-fourth the minerals in fee, subject to sales made by him, with remainder of the surface during the life of Mrs. Whitfield, but denying the partition as sought, he has perfected this appeal. On a cross-action by Mrs. Whitfield for $750 as consideration for the land in question sold by her to Alma Thompson, the court denied a recovery on the theory that such action was prematurely brought.

The several points assigned as error relate to one question which in substance was the refusal of the trial court to apply the principle of equitable partition in this suit. Appellees take the position that the trial court ruled correctly because they were not co-tenants with appellant, had no right of possession, the 38 acre tract was not a part of or adjacent to the other tracts involved in the partition sought to be made, and for the additional reason that Alma Thompson knew that his vendor, Mrs. Julia N. Whitfield, owned only a one-half interest in the tract at the time he purchased it from her, which was all the interest that passed to him under her deed, and under such a state of facts he was not entitled to the relief sought by him under the doctrine of equitable partition.

Mrs. Julia N. Whitfield sold to Alma Thompson by warranty deed the 38 acres in question on February 1, 1942, reserving one-half of the minerals. The deed recited a consideration of $380, payable $30 in cash and the balance to be paid in seven yearly installments of one 500 pound bale of cotton, middling grade or better, and seven-eighths inch staple. The land covered by the deed was community property of Mrs. Whitfield and her deceased husband, under the terms of whose will all of his community interest in their property was devised to Mrs. Whitfield for life, with remainder to their six children. On the trial of this suit it was shown that there were about 700 acres of land in Panola County still owned by the community estate of Mr. and Mrs. Whitfield, consisting of a number of scattered tracts. It was agreed by the parties to the suit that all of such lands, including the 38 acre tract, was of uniform value as to the surface, and the evidence established that the value of the minerals under the 38 acre tract, subject to an outstanding oil lease, was $125 per acre, and the value of the minerals under other community lands in the county, aggregating about 671 acres, ranged in value from $50 to $125 per acre. The trial court found that the value of the one-half interest of Mrs. Whitfield in such community lands exceeded in value the one-half interest of her children in the surface of the 38 acre tract plus their one-fourth interest in the minerals thereunder.

The doctrine of equitable partition is firmly embedded in our jurisprudence. Its just, sound and salutary principle, simply stated, is that where one tenant in common has conveyed a specific part of a tract of land which does not exceed in value the interest of such tenant in common in the whole tract, so that the co-tenant or tenants not joining in the conveyance were not prejudiced or damaged thereby, equity in adjusting the respective rights of the parties will uphold the conveyance. Differently stated, the grantee of a specific part of a tract by one of the co-tenants of such entire tract has the right to have the whole property and all interested parties brought into a partition proceeding for the purpose of determining whether or not in adjusting the equities of all the parties he shall be entitled to receive from his grantor's interest therein the specific parcel embraced in the conveyance to him. Simpson-Fell Oil Co. v. Stanolind Oil & Gas Co., 136 Tex. 158, 125 S.W.2d 263; Furrh v. Winston, 66 Tex. 521, 1 S.W. 527; Germany v. Turner, 132 Tex. 491, 123 S. W.2d 874. As a prerequisite to the right of equitable partition, the parties against whom the remedy is sought must be joint owners of the estate sought to be partitioned. We are not apprised of any case which extends the doctrine to other and distinct lands from the tract involved in the partition; that is, that announces a rule that a grantee of a specific part of land held in common by his grantor with others can require the co-tenants of his grantor to resort to different lands owned by them...