Francis v. Francis
Francis v. Francis
Opinion of the Court
Complainant filed a bill in chancery in which he averred, in substance, that he is the son of Ephraim and Phebe L. Francis; that Ephraim Francis was the owner of a lot in Portland, which he occupied with his wife as a homestead, which was of the value of |500. He avers he had planned to go from home to work, and that, yielding to the solicitations of his parents, and relying upon, a promise of his father that whatever the father had at the time of his death in the way of property should belong to the complainant, he abandoned his plan of going away, and remained at home, working in the shop of his father and supporting his parents. He avers his father afterwards died, and that he paid the expenses of his illness, funeral, and burial. He avers that in 1888 his father and mother made him a deed of the said lot, which was delivered to his mother in escrow, to be delivered to the complainant upon the death of his father; that his mother afterwards delivered the deed, which complainant had recorded. • Many things are stated in the bill which it is not necessary to mention here. It is
We think the demurrer should have been sustained. Under the provisions of section 2, art. 16, of the Constitution, the homestead of Mrs. Francis could not be alienated except by her signature to the paper creating the alienation. It has been held over and over again that any conveyance of the homestead without the signature of the wife is void. See the many cases cited in note, page 122, 1 Comp. Laws 1897. The only deed Mrs. Francis signed provided that the title to the premises should not pass until the death of both of the grantors. The bill of complaint shows that Mrs. Francis is yet living. Any parol agreement she may have made in relation to the land is void. By the terms of the deed, the title has not
The decree is reversed. The demurrer to the bill of complaint is sustained.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.