Moseley v. Taylor
Moseley v. Taylor
Opinion of the Court
Harry Taylor of Madison County brought his Amended Bill of Complaint in the Circuit Court of Suwannee County against M. L. Moseley and T. B. Williams, doing business under the firm name of Moseley & Williams, of Pasco County, Florida, and W. B. Taylor of Calhoun County, Florida, alleging and praying in substance, as follows: That William B. Taylor, late of Suwannee County, the father of complainant, Harry Taylor, and defendant W. B. Taylor and husband of one Mary L. Taylor, was in his lifetime and at the time of his death, the owner of, and at the time of his death was the head of a family living upon the following described lands: (Here follows a description of the land, which contains 18 acres more or less, now situated within the corporate limits of the City of Live Oak, in Suwannee County.) That when William B. Taylor moved on said land for the purpose of residing on the same as a home, said land was
The defendants Moseley and Williams demurred to the amended bill, substantially on the following grounds:
2nd. That the amended bill shows complainant has been guilty of laches in asserting his alleged rights.
3rd. The bill seeks to quiet title in a partition suit.
This demurrer was overruled, and the defendants Moseley and Williams appealed to this court. It does not appear from the allegations of the bill that at the time of the death of W. B. Taylor, the father of complainant, which occurred in October, 1886, the premises in question were embraced in the corporate limits of the City of Live Oak. The question whether said premises was the homestead of said W. B. Taylor is to be ascertained by the provisions of the Constitution of 1868. We think the allegations of the amended bill show that it was a homestead as he was the head of a family residing upon the premises at the time of his death. His attempt to devise the premises to his wife was, therefore, void as prohibited by said Constitution. But the most important question presented is whether complainant was barfed from bringing this bill by his laches in asserting his rights. It is incumbent upon a complainant to allege in his bill every fact clearly and definitely that is necessary to entitle him to relief, and if he omits essential facts therefrom, or states such facts that he is not entitled to relief in a court of equity, he must suffer the consequences of so doing. McClinton v. Chapin, 54 Fla. 510, 45 South. Rep. 35. It is well settled that in passing upon a demurrer to a bill every presumption is against the bill. Id.; Dunham v. Edwards, 50 Fla. 495, 38 South. Rep. 926; Godwin v. Phifer, 51 Fla. 441, 41 South. Rep. 597; Weeks v. J. C. Turner Lumber Co., 53 Fla. 793, 44 South. Rep. 173.
It is alleged in the bill that W. B. Taylor, father of complainant, by his will devised the premises, to his wife. In the absence of denial in the bill it must be assumed this
The decree overruling the demurrer to the amended hill is reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- M. L. Moseley v. Harry Taylor
- Cited By
- 8 cases
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- Syllabus
- 1. The will of a head of a family who died in 1886, residing in this State on eighteen acres of land which he attempted to devise by his will, was void under the Constitution of 1868. 2. It is incumbent upon a complainant to allege in his bill every fact clearly and definitely that is necessary to enable him to relief, and if he omits essential facts therefrom, or states such facts as show he is not entitled to relief in a court of equity, he must suffer the consequences of his so doing. 3. Where a deceased head of a family residing on eighteen acres of land in this State in 1886, when he died, attempted to devise his homestead to his widow, who continued to reside on it for three years, and where the widow conveyed the land to one of the two sons of the deceased husband on July 18th, 1908, who on November 24th, 190S, mortgaged the land to innocent parties without notice of facts which showed the land to have been the homestead of the deceased, a bill for partition of the said homestead land, filed by the other son of said deceased, against the mortgagees and Ms brother, for the partition of said eighteen acres of land as the alleged homestead of his father, twenty-seven years after the death of his father, -there being no previous notice to the mortgagees of such alleged homestead claim, is without equity, as the complainant is barred by his laches in asserting his alleged rights in said land.