Vadnais v. State
| Decision Date | 25 July 1947 |
| Docket Number | 34433. |
| Parties | VADNAIS et al. v. STATE et al. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
Where the guardian of a minor assumes, without approval of the probate court, to waive the priority of a mortgage running to him as guardian for the ward, such waiver is not binding on the ward.
Appeal from District Court, Chippewa County; Harold Baker Judge.
Francis E. Colgrove and W. A. McManigal, Jr., both of Minneapolis for appellants.
J A. A. Burnquist, Atty. Gen., and Charles E. Houston, Asst. Atty. gen., for the State.
This is an appeal from a judgment in an action to foreclose a mortgage upon certain tracts of land in the southeast quarter of section 11, township 119, range 38, Chipewa county. The state and the defendants Carlson answered, setting up in effect that the state, by foreclosure of the mortgage, is the owner of the property on which foreclosure was sought, subject to the state's contract for deed with the Carlsons, and alleging that plaintiffs' mortgage is not a lien thereon. Defendant J. H. Lewis answered, alleging approval by the probate court of his acts as guardian, his discharge as such and asking dismissal as to him. Defendant Louis W. Vadnais defaulted and died before trial.
The following plat refers to the parcels involved herein as A, B, C, and D. For convenience, in this opinion, the tracts will be referred to by their letter designations:
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N 1/2 N 1/2 SE 1/4 Not involved herein
40 acres
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S 1/2 NW 1/4 SE 1/4 S 1/2 NE 1/4 SE 1/4
20 acres 20 acres
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C
N 1/2 S 1/2 SE 1/4 Homestead
40 acres
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D
S 1/2 S 1/2 SE 1/4 Non-homestead
40 acres
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The trial court held that plaintiffs had an undivided half interest in tract A but no interest in or lien upon tracts B, C, or D.
Kate Vadnais died intestate in 1919 while she was sole owner of tracts A B, C, and D. Tracts A, B, and C constituted her homestead. By decree of distribution in her estate, Louis W. Vadnais, her husband, the father of these plaintiffs, received a life estate in A, B, and C, the homestead, and an undivided one-third interest in fee in D. There were four children, and each received an undivided one-fourth interest in the remainder in A, B, and C, after the life estate of their father, and an undivided one-sixth interest in D. Two of these children, Harold and Evelyn, these plaintiffs, were minors. J. H. Lewis was appointed their guardian.
April 10 1926, Lewis, as guardian, was licensed by the probate court to sell the wards' interest in tracts A, B, C, and D. April 12, 1926, he sold their interest in tracts B, C, and D only, to Louis W. Vadnais, the father, for the sum of $2,380, the receipt of which he acknowledged in the guardian's deed. April 12, 1926, the guardian reported the sale for $2,380 cash, and it was approved by the probate court (as if A were included with B, C, and D). Actually, no money was paid, nor was the interest of the minors in tract A then or ever conveyed to anyone. This transaction left the father with his life estate in A, B, and C, plus one-half of the remainder in B and C, plus his original one-third in fee in D, plus the one-third in fee of that tract previously owned by Harold and Evelyn. Evidently, he received no conveyance from Ambrose and Florence, the two children who were of age.
May 3, 1926, Louis W. Vadnais, the father, and Ambrose and Florence, joined in a mortgage to the state of Minnesota covering only tracts A and B to secure a loan in the amount of $13,000. It was filed for record in May 1926. October 13, 1926, with the approval of the probate court, Louis W. Vadnais made a mortgage to J. H. Lewis, as guardian of the minors, covering Louis' interest in tracts A, B, C, and D, which was recorded and the registration tax paid December 9, 1926. The debt secured by this mortgage was $2,380, the same as the purchase price was to pay Louis for B, C, and D, and was, in fact, the purchase price. The mortgage stated that it was subject to a first mortgage of $13,000 to the state. (The mortgage of May 3, 1926, to the state, covered tracts A and B only.) The note and mortgage from Louis to the guardian represented the only consideration the guardian ever received on behalf of the two minor children. It was due May 1, 1931.
In September 1927, Louis, Ambrose, and Florence executed and delivered to the state a mortgage in terms the same as the previous mortgage to the state, but covering tracts C and D, as well as A and B. This mortgage was dated back to April 30, 1926, but not executed or acknowledged until September 19, 1927, and filed September 28, 1927. This later mortgage was the one subsequently foreclosed by advertisement and through which the state, by bidding in all the tracts covered thereby for the full amount of the debt, now claims title. Under date of October 18, 1927, Harold Vadnais, one of the minors, who was then of age, joined with J. H. Lewis, guardian of Evelyn Vadnais, in an agreement with the state, filed October 28, 1927, wherein it was provided that the mortgage dated April 30, 1926, but executed September 19, 1927, and filed for record September 28, 1927, should be prior to the mortgage of Louis W. Vadnais to the guardian, which was filed December 9, 1926. This agreement was made without the approval of the probate court, and, so far as the record shows, without Evelyn's knowledge until some time shortly prior to the commencement of this action.
The question presented for decision is whether the...
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