Turner v. Helton
Turner v. Helton
Opinion of the Court
The exception here is to an order sustaining general demurrers to a petition which sought injunctive relief and damages by reason of alleged trespass to real estate. The petition as amended alleged that the petitioners were the owners of certain land located in lot 97 in the 4th district of Lumpkin County, being part of the land of which their predecessor in title, Cater Stancil, died seized and possessed, as shown by two deeds which were attached as exhibits to the petition. One deed dated February 5, 1924, from J. F. Pruett as sole commissioner, to W. S. Stancil, contains the following description: “All the farm and lands owned and possessed by Cater Stancil at the time of his death in Lump-kin County, Georgia, and in the fourth district of said county, same being composed of three acres of lot number ninety-seven (97) being all the fifteen-acre tract conveyed to said Cater Stancil by J. T. Grizzle less twelve acres conveyed to said Cater Stancil to Wilson Stancil by deed dated 15th day of January, 1917, all of lot number ninety-eight, and fifteen acres of lot number one hundred and nineteen (119), and two acres of lot number one hundred and twenty (120) in said district and county, the same being known as the home place of said Cater Stancil in said county at the time of his death and being all the land owned and possessed by said Cater Stancil at the time of his death and all known as his home place in said county, and containing in all two hundred and sixty acres more or less.” (Italics ours.) The other exhibit was a deed from W. S. Stancil to L. S. Turner and Berry L. Turner) the plaintiffs, which contains the following description:
It not appearing from the allegations in the petition that the plaintiffs were in possession of the land on which it is claimed the defendants were trespassing, the sole questions for determination are whether or not the description of the land of which the plaintiffs claimed they were the owners was sufficient to identify the property, and whether or not they had title to the same.
A petition to enjoin an alleged trespass on realty which fails to describe the land involved with a degree of certainty that will establish the identity of the land is subject to general demurrer (Laurens County Board of Education v. Stanley, 187 Ga. 389, 200 S. E. 294), but if the description contained in the petition furnishes a key whereby the identity of the land may be made certain by extrinsic evidence, it is sufficient. King v. Brice, 145 Ga. 65 (1) (88 S. E. 960); Miller v. Stewart, 202 Ga. 127 (1) (42 S. E. 2d 445). Though it is not necessary that an instrument which purports to convey real estate contain a minute or perfectly clear description to land, yet it must furnish a key to its identification. “The test as to the sufficiency of the description of property contained in a deed is whether or not it discloses with sufficient certainty what the intention of the grantor was with respect to the quantity and location of the land therein referred to, so that its identification is practicable. . . Thus, if the tract be de
The amended petition in the instant case shows that the plaintiffs are seeking to enjoin the defendants from trespassing on a tract of land located in lot 97 in the 4th district of Lumpkin County, and they allege that they are the owners of a certain tract by virtue of a deed from W. S. Stancil. The Stancil deed, which is set out in an exhibit to the petition, describes the land in lot 97 as being 3 acres, being part of a tract of land conveyed by one Pruett as sole commissioner, and that this deed is referred to for a better description, and reference is made to its record by book and page in the office of the clerk of the Superior Court of Lumpkin County. The deed from Pruett to Stancil, which is also an exhibit to the petition, describes the 3 acres in lot 97, along with other lands, as being the home place of one Cater Stancil, and as being all of the land of the deceased Cater Stancil owned by him at the time of his death. These two deeds are sufficient to
Judgment reversed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.