White v. White
| Decision Date | 23 September 1977 |
| Parties | Bertha L. WHITE v. George D. WHITE. SC 2379. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Betty C. Love of Love, Love, Lawrence & Burton, Talladega, for appellant.
Robert J. Teel and Frank S. Teel, Rockford, for appellee.
Appellant, Bertha L. White, brought suit in 1975 seeking an order of sale for division of certain real property, known as Lots 4 and 5, in Coosa County, alleging that she jointly owned this property with her former husband, George D. White, appellee. The trial court decreed that Bertha White had no title or right to the subject property that would support her petition for sale for division. The decree stated that Bertha White had conveyed her interests in the lots to George White by a valid warranty deed executed and delivered July 7, 1969, as part of a division of real property in contemplation of divorce. We affirm.
Bertha White and George White were married in 1963. On July 7, 1969 they met with an attorney to work out details of an uncontested divorce. The divorce documents were prepared and executed on that day.
An oral agreement was also entered into by Bertha White and George White on July 7 which provided for the complete disposition of their marital property. Pursuant to the agreement, deeds dividing the jointly owned real property were prepared and exchanged between the two parties while still present at the attorney's office. A deed to Lots 4 and 5 was executed by Bertha White, notarized and delivered to George White at this time. In return, George White deeded his interests in some of the marital property to Bertha White, including a housetrailer and the lots upon which it was located, and land in Clay County. These deeds were never recorded.
The parties were granted a divorce on July 19, 1969. However, they reconciled shortly thereafter and jointly petitioned the court to set the divorce aside. This relief was granted July 26, 1969. Bertha White and George White then resumed cohabitation and continued to live together for several years.
On December 5, 1974 the parties were again divorced. The decree provided for a division of marital property but contained no mention of Lots 4 and 5. Apparently counsel for both Bertha White and George White failed to provide evidence for the trial court concerning these two lots at this second divorce proceeding. Bertha White then filed the action in 1975 which is the basis of this appeal.
We begin by stating the rule that, as between the parties, a deed is valid though unrecorded. Ala.Code tit. 47, § 120 (1958); Murphree v. Smith, 291 Ala. 20, 277 So.2d 327 (1973). Thus, we agree with the trial court that, as there was an exchange of validly executed deeds between Bertha White and George White in a consummated property settlement July 7, 1969, legal title to Lots 4 and 5 was conveyed to George White.
Bertha White asserts that the trial court committed reversible error by rendering its decision without a determination of the parties' intentions as to whether the 1969 property settlement was enforced or annulled by the 1969 reconciliation and actions of the parties after the reconciliation. She relies principally upon Williams v. Williams, 261 Ala. 328, 74 So.2d 582 (1954). In that case, this court ruled that where a husband and wife make a separation agreement and thereafter reconcile and resume cohabitation, the separation agreement is annulled. This court further reasoned that the question of whether or not a property settlement, such as we have in the present...
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