Wofford v. Wofford

• Decision Date: 11 June 1962
• Docket Number: No. 42256,42256
• Citation: 244 Miss. 442,142 So.2d 188
• Parties: E. E. WOFFORD et al. v. George C. WOFFORD et al.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 188

142 So.2d 188

244 Miss. 442

E. E. WOFFORD et al. v. George C. WOFFORD et al.

No. 42256.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

June 11, 1962.

Fant & Bush, Holly Springs, W. B. Meek, Eupora, for appellants.

P. J. Townsend, Jr., Drew, W. D. Gary, Eupora, for appellees.

KYLE, Justice.

This case is before us on appeal by E. E. Wofford and others, defendants and cross-complaints in the court below, from a decree of the Chancery Court of Webster County rendered in favor of George C. Wofford and others, complainants and cross-defendants in the court below, confirming the title of the complainants in and to approximately 317 1/2 acres of land in Webster County, Mississippi, which was owned by Jeff E. Wofford, deceased, during his lifetime, and dismissing the cross bill of the defendants and cross-complainants seeking cancellation of a quitclaim deed executed by Mrs. Mary Ellen Wofford, now deceased, the surviving widow of Jeff E. Wofford, to the complainants' father, George W. Wofford, dated December 12, 1944, and purporting to convey said lands to the said George W. Wofford, and supplemental decree confirming a partition sale of an 80-acre tract of land owned by the cross-complainants and cross-defendants as tenants in common.

The complainants, appellees on this appeal, are the only heirs-at-law, devisees and legatees of George W. Wofford, deceased, also referred to in the record as 'G. W. Wofford', who died sometime during the year 1955. The complainants' father, George W. Wofford, deceased, was a son of the above mentioned Jeff E. Wofford and his wife, Mary Ellen Wofford. The defendants named in the amended bill of complainant, appellants on this appeal, are the remaining heirs and representatives of deceased heirs of Jeff E. Wofford and Mary Ellen Wofford.

The complainants filed their original bill of complaint on March 18, 1959. The defendants filed their answer and cross bill on August 6, 1959. The complainants later obtained permission to file an amended bill of complaint, and on November 9, 1959, the amended bill was filed. The defendants then filed their answer to the amended bill, together with a cross bill in which they asked for affirmative relief.

The complainants alleged in their amended bill that Jeff E. Wofford, on November 29, 1921, executed a deed of conveyance to his wife, Mary Ellen Wofford, in which he intended to convey and attempted to convey to his wife certain lands in Webster County, which he owned at that time, including approximately 225 acres of land in Section 5, Township 21 North, Range 11 East; that an error was made in the description of the land intended to be conveyed in said deed, in that the land in said Section 5 was described in said deed as the 'NW 1/4 and the W 1/2 of the NE 1/4, except 14 1/2 acres off of the north end, of said Section 5,' when, in fact, Jeff E. Wofford did not own the NW 1/4 and the W 1/2 of the NE 1/4, except 14 1/2 acres off of the north end, of said Section 5, but did own the SW 1/4 and the W 1/2 of the SE 1/4, except 14 1/2 acres off of the north end, of said Section 5, which was the land in Section 5 intended to be conveyed by the said Jeff E. Wofford to his wife by said deed; and that said land, as thus correctly described, was thereafter assessed for tax purposes in the name of Mary Ellen Wofford, as the owner thereof. The complainants further alleged that the said Jeff E. Wofford died intestate on August 8, 1926; and that after his death the said Mary Ellen Wofford continued to occupy said lands and receive the rent therefrom, claiming the same as her own until she conveyed said land to G. W. Wofford, the complainants' father, a short time before her death; and that the error in the description of said lands in the deed from Jeff E. Wofford to Mary Ellen Wofford was not discovered until a short time after the death of the said G. W. Wofford in 1955.

The complainants further alleged that Mary Ellen Wofford conveyed the above described lands to their father, G. W. Wofford, by a quitclaim deed dated December 12, 1944, and that said lands had been assessed to G. W. Wofford for tax purposes since that time. The complainants further alleged that after the death of Jeff E. Wofford all of the children and other heirs of Jeff E. Wofford recognized Mary Ellen Wofford's ownership of the lands, and recognized the deed dated November 29, 1921, as in the nature of a family settlement, and by their acts continued to recognize the validity of said deed until the errors in the description of said land was called to their attention by the complainant George C. Wofford in 1955; that after the discovery of the errors in said description the complainants requested that the defendants execute quitclaim deeds to them conveying said lands to the complainants but the defendants had neglected and failed to do so. The complainants further alleged that the errors in the description of the lands in Section 5 should be corrected by a proper decree of the court.

In Count II of the amended bill the complainants claimed title to said lands by adverse possession, alleging as grounds therefor that after the death of Jeff E. Wofford in 1926, Mary Ellen Wofford lived on the lands and claimed title to the same until the lands were purchased by G. W. Wofford at a tax sale in 1942, and that G. W. Wofford thereafter claimed title to said lands until his death on March 9, 1955; that Mary Ellen Wofford's possession and occupancy was hostile, open and notorious, exclusive and continuous for more than ten years, and that all of the other heirs of Jeff E. Wofford recognized her claim of ownership; and that G. W. Wofford after the conveyance of said lands to him by Mary Ellen Wofford in 1944, had claimed ownership of said land and had continued to rent the land, with instructions that the rent money be given to Lizzie Wofford for her maintenance and support, until his death in 1955; and that the said Lizzie Wofford had accepted said rent money with the knowledge and understanding that G. W. Wofford and the complainants, after G. W. Wofford's death, were the owners of said land.

In Count III of their amended bill the complainants alleged that, if they were mistaken in their claim to have the above-mentioned deed corrected and to have title to said lands confirmed in them by adverse possession, they were entitled to restitution, that is to say, reimbursement from the other heirs of Jeff E. Wofford, deceased, for all expenditures made by G. W. Wofford and the complainants for taxes, maintenance and improvements, since G. W. Wofford took over the management of said lands for his mother in 1939.

The complainants therefore asked that the above mentioned deed from Jeff E. Wofford to Mary Ellen Wofford, dated November 29, 1921, be reformed so as to describe correctly the land situated in Section 5, Township 21, Range 11 East, which the grantor intended to convey to the grantee therein; and if mistaken in that, that title to the lands be confirmed in the complainants as the owners thereof by adverse possession and by laches on the part of the defendants; and if mistaken in that, that the defendants be required to make restitution for all expenses incurred by the complainants and G. W. Wofford, as set out in the accounting attached to the bill of complaint, in the amount of $2,961.32. The complainants also prayed for general relief.

The defendants in their answer to the amended bill denied that the complainants were the owners of the lands described in the bill of complaint or any part thereof, except a child's part in said land which was devised to them by their late father, G. W. Wofford, being an undivided one-ninth interest; and the defendants denied that the complainants were entitled to the relief prayed for in their amended bill or any relief whatsoever. The defendants denied that the instrument dated November 29, 1921, alleged to have been executed by Jeff E. Wofford to his wife, Mary Ellen Wofford, was a valid deed of conveyance. The defendants alleged in their answer that said instrument was never delivered in any manner by the grantor, but was retained in his possession and control the remainder of his life, with the intent that it should not be effective during his lifetime and that no interest should vest in the grantee until his death. The defendants admitted that it was the intent of Jeff E. Wofford to convey the land that he owned to his wife Mary Ellen Wofford, but denied that he intended that the conveyance should take effect during his lifetime. The defendants admitted that Mary Ellen Wofford, after the death of her husband, occupied said land and received a part of the income therefrom, but they denied that she owned the land in fee simple or ever claimed that she owned the land in fee simple. The defendants denied that all of the children and other heirs of Jeff E. Wofford and Mary Ellen Wofford recognized Mary Ellen Wofford's ownership of said lands after the date of the execution of the above mentioned deed, or that they recognized the deed as being in the nature of a family settlement. The defendants averred in their answer that, on the contrary, all of the children of Jeff E. Wofford and Mary Ellen Wofford herself recognized that the intention of their father was that the mother should occupy and have the use of said lands during her lifetime and that Lizzie Wofford should thereafter have the use of the lands during her lifetime, and that at her death the lands should be divided among all of the heirs of Jeff E. Wofford, deceased.

The defendants averred in their answer that the purported conveyance of the lands by Mrs. Mary Ellen Wofford to G. W. Wofford, dated December 12, 1944, was null and void and of no effect, because it was procured by G. W. Wofford by mistake and at a time when G. W. Wofford had the management and control of Mary Ellen Wofford's affairs and a relation of trust and confidence existed between them; that no consideration was paid for...