Monday, January 6, 2014

Kresser v. Peterson case brief

Kresser v. Peterson case brief summary
675 P.2d 1193 (1984)

CASE SYNOPSIS
Plaintiff stepsons brought an action against defendant sons, asserting a one-half interest in a home under the terms of a testatrix's will. The suit was dismissed by the lower court (Utah) upon a showing that a subsequent warranty deed executed by the testatrix took the property out of her estate. The stepsons challenged the judgment.

CASE FACTS
When the stepsons' father died, the testatrix executed a will that devised real estate to her sons and the stepsons. Seven years later, she executed a warranty deed to the same property, naming herself and her sons as grantees, with right of survivorship. She recorded the deed and placed it in a safety deposit box. The sons did not know that the deed was in the safety deposit box and had no key to the box. The only issue urged on appeal was that there was no valid delivery of the deed from the testatrix to her sons.

DISCUSSION

  • The court noted that an effective deed required delivery, actual or constructive, without exclusive control or recall. 
  • Delivery to one cotenant or reservation of an estate connoted delivery to all cotenants, where the grantor was also the grantee. Affirming, the court found that the most significant indicia of delivery was the statement of the testatrix at the time she signed the deed that she intended her sons to have the property. 
  • Delivery was reflected by recordation of the deed and deposit in the safety deposit box with written authority that any of the grantees, who also were tenants under the box rental agreement, had exclusive right of access to the box.

CONCLUSION
The court affirmed the judgment of the trial court.

Suggested law school study materials

Shop Amazon for the best prices on Law School Course Materials.

No comments:

Post a Comment

The Ins and Outs of Class Action Lawsuits: A Comprehensive Guide

Sometimes, you may buy a product only to find it defective. To make it worse, your search for the product reveals mass complaints. You can ...