Thompson v. Normanden
Thompson v. Normanden
Opinion of the Court
'A rehearing was granted in this case, and the opinion on the original submission, found on page 108 N. W. 315 is withdrawn. The parties to this action are adjoining landowners. The plaintiff claims that in 1892 he entered into an oral contract with the defendant, by the terms of which he was granted the right to lay tile on the defendant’s land connecting with tile which the defendant had already put there, and to tile his own land, so that the water collected therefrom could pass off through this tile. The evidence shows that a swale or slough runs across the defendant’s land extending into the plaintiff’s land above for some
The only serious controversy in the case which we need notice is over the terms of the agreement between these parties. There is no question but that the plaintiff tiled the ground as he claims; but the appellant contends that it was specially agreed between them at the time that the plaintiff’s right to discharge water from his own drain into the appellant’s drain should cease whenever the appellant saw fit to terminate the arrangement. On the other hand, the appellee claims that the license was without any limitation, and that it is irrevocable because of the material furnished and work done by him in pursuance of the agreement. We need not determine whether the labor performed by the plaintiff and the material furnished by him in pursuance of such agreement were of such nature as to create an irrevocable license
There can be no estoppel in the case by reason of acquiescence for a period of more than ten years, because the plaintiff’s use of the appellant’s land was permissive and an estoppel cannot be predicated on such use. Under the agreement between these parties the appellant had the clear right to shut off the plaintiff’s use of his drain at any time he saw fit, and the trial court erred in finding otherwise.
The judgment is reversed, and the ease remanded for a decree not inconsistent with this opinion.— Reversed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.