Swift v. Harbison-Walker Refractories Co.
Swift v. Harbison-Walker Refractories Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
We are all of opinion that the learned chancellor was right in dismissing the bills in these cases.
It is clear that aside from the proviso in the habendum clause, Louisa Ella Lansberry took a fee simple title in the real estate under the Robert Lansberry deed. The appellants claim under the proviso, but by its express terms they take no estate unless their mother, Louisa Ella Lansberry, “should survive her husband.” As both Louisa and her husband were living at the time the bill was filed and are still living, it is difficult to see what
We do not think there is any merit in the contention that the petition presented to the common pleas under the Price act did not contain sufficient jurisdictional facts to authorize the court to decree a sale of the interests of the children in the real estate. The objection is that the petition does not set forth an explanation of the title and the intention to defeat the contingent remainders, as required by the proviso to the fifth section of the Act of April 18, 1853, P. L. 503, 4 Purd. 4024. But this view results from a misapprehension of the contents of the petition. It avers the execution and recording of the deed from Robert Lansberry and wife; quotes totidem verbis the habendum including the proviso under which the children acquire any interest or estate they may have; sets forth that the purchase money, subject to the life estate of their mother, is to belong to the children then born and those that may thereafter be born; and that the deed is to convey a fee simple estate to the grantee. We think this complies with the provisions of the
Both appeals are dismissed at the costs of the appellants.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Swift v. Harbison-Walker Refractories Company
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Deeds — Habendum clause — Life estate — Contingent remainders — Sale under Price,: act — Petition—Jurisdiction. 1. Under a deed which purports to vest a fee simple title in the grantee, but for a proviso in the habendum clause that in case grantee shall survive her husband the estate shall immediately vest in her children, and in case of no issue then her estate to be limited to a life estate with remainder after her death in the heirs at law of her husband, any interest the children may acquire under this deed is contingent during the lifetime of the husband and wife. 2. A petition presented to the common pleas under the Price act averring the execution and recording of such a deed to the mother, quoting the habendum, including the proviso of that deed, and setting forth that the purchase money of the sale, subject to the life estate of their mother, is to belong to the'children then bom and those that may thereafter be born, and that the deed is to convey, a fee to the grantee, contains sufficient jurisdictional facts to authorize the court to decree a sale of the interests of the children. Sale — Real estate — Price act — Lapse of time — Presumption as to compliance with statutory provisions. 3. A court taking jurisdiction under the Price act which imposes on it certain duties of investigation before making the decree of sale, will be assumed, after the expiration of more than a quarter of a century, in the absence of anything to the contrary being disclosed, to have performed those duties and to have required the petitioners to comply with the provisions of the statute before entering the decree.