Evans v. Carson
Evans v. Carson
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
In this action the court granted a permanent injunction restraining Thomas Evans, as sheriff of Lyon county, from selling under execution a thirty-acre farm claimed by George B. Carson, the plaintiff below, as his homestead. In the petition in error several creditors are joined with the sheriff as plaintiffs in error. The question presented for decision by this court is the only issue decided by the trial .court, that is, Do the facts in the record sufficiently sustain the plaintiff’s claim that the land in controversy was a homestead? Briefly stated, the facts are as follows: In January, 1894, the- plaintiff below, who for the nine preceding years had been engaged in the mercantile business in Cottonwood Falls., Chase county, sold his homestead in that place for $600, and with that sum and $425 withdrawn from his business bought an improved tract of farming land near Emporia, Lyon county, for the sum of $1725, $700 of the purchase-money being represented by a mortgage he then gave on the land. His health had been poor for some time prior to this, and his purpose in buying the land was to move upon it and make it his home, as soon as he "could adjust his business, which it then seemed he would be able to do within a very short time by some sort of deal with his business partner.
A month later Carson moved three or four wagon-loads of his household furniture from Cottonwood Falls to the farm so purchased, but while he was so engaged a disagreement arose between himself and his partner,
With the exception of the last-named fact, which taken alone tends to indicate that Carson regarded himself as still a resident of Chase county, whereas the land claimed by him as a homestead was in Lyon county, there is little, if anything* in the record to indicate an abandonment of the intention formed when the land was purchased of immediate occupancy of the same as a homestead. The intention was manifested by the most unequivocal acts on his part directly after the purchase was made, which acts bordered closely upon actual occupancy of the premises. Finding himself temporarily unable to occupy the land as a homestead, but expecting to do so at an early date, he made all his arrangements upon the basis of such expectation. He waited until June before leasing the land, and then made a conditional lease, so that he could at any time thereafter obtain possession upon demand. In view of the facts and circumstances here appearing, the plaintiff’s delay in removing to the land cannot be declared an unreasonable delay. The legal proposition governing this case is the familiar one thus stated by the supreme court:
“A purchase of a homestead with a view to occupancy, followed by occupancy within a reasonable time, receives from the time of purchase a homestead exemption from seizure upon execution or attachment.” (Monroe v. May, 9 Kan. 466.)
The judgment of the district court is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.