Vick v. Vick
Vick v. Vick
Opinion of the Court
The complainant below, Mrs. Vaughn Vick, is the widow of Edwin Vick who died intestate in Benton County on August 15, 1956. She brought suit in the Chancery Court of Benton County against her father-in-law, Gr. T. Vick, to gain title to a house and lot or in the alternative for a decree establishing her equity in said house and lot. The Chancellor found that the value of
The facts surrounding the erection of the home are not in controversy. The defendant, G. T. Vick, who is now 77 years of age, is a very substantial farmer of Benton County, Tennessee. He had two sons, Edwin G. Vick, husband of the complainant, and T. L. Vick who lives at Bruceton, Carroll County, Tennessee. The father and the two sons were engaged in farming and related enterprises such as the operation of a saw mill, bulldozer, hay baler, cotton, com and livestock. They operated in both Benton and Carroll County, Tennessee.
Shortly after the complainant, Vaughn Vick, and Edwin G. Vick were married on May 4,1946, it was decided that since the brother, T. L. Vick, was living in Bruceton, Carroll County, it might be better that Edwin G. Vick and the complainant, Vaughn Vick, move from Bruceton to the farm of G. T. Vick in Benton County for a more efficient business operation. Accordingly, they moved into a small farm house owned by the defendant, G. T. Vick. They lived in this small house for several years.
Edwin G. Vick and wife, Vaughn Vick, had two boys, the eldest bom in 1948 and the youngest born in December, 1951.
In the fall of 1952 Edwin G. Vick and wife, Vaughn Vick, desired a more comfortable dwelling than the mod
The erection of the home was. somewhat a family enterprise. The brother, T. L. Vick, operated the bulldozer to dig out the basement; timber was cut from the lands of Mr. G. T. Vick and sawed to rough framing for the home; the costs of the finishing material and labor such as roof, sheetrock, doors, windows, heating, plumbing, etc. were paid by Edwin G. Vick and wife, Vaughn Vick. Edwin G. Vick and wife Vaughn, ran out of money and Edwin borrowed $5,500 from his father to complete the home.
The parties lived in the home from the spring of 1953 until August, 1956, when Edwin Vick died. Mrs. Vaughn Vick had worked at H. I. Siegel in Bruceton up until shortly before her oldest son was born in 1948 and she did not work any more until January, 1955, when she went back to work for Siegel. After the completion of the house and before his death in August, 1956, Edwin Vick repaid his father a total of $1,100 on the $5,500 loan.
In August, 1957, Mrs. Vaughn Vick and her two children vacated the house and moved back to Bruceton, Tennessee, to live. Mr. Vick took immediate possession of the property and rented the house to a share cropper. He has had complete possession of the property continuously to the date of the trial. Negotiations between Mrs. Vaughn Vick and the defendant, Gf. T. Vick, remained at an impasse until shortly before the original bill was filed in this cause on August 14, 1963. Before filing the bill Mrs. Vaughn Vick and her eldest son, Dale Vick, had a
Upon the trial Mrs. Vick introduced proof by a building contractor that the lot was enhanced to the amount of $12,000 by the brick home which she and her husband had built. A great deal of the work such as painting, etc. was done by Mr. and Mrs. Vick personally. The defendant, G. T. Vick, testified that in his opinion the house was worth only about $10,000 instead of $12,000 but did not offer any other testimony to contradict the testimony of the builder that it would have cost $12,000 to build the home. The lot was never staked off on the ground but Mrs. Vick described a lot in her original bill as running northerly with the west side of the Bruceton-Big Sandy Road 300 feet; thence west 250 feet; thence south 300 feet; thence east 250 feet to the point of beginning being the northeast corner of a barn lot.
Mr. Vick stated that he never promised his son a deed but he did tell him, “I told him there was a location and if he wanted to build on it, it’s yours, go ahead and do it.” (Bill of Exceptions, page 99) Also he testified that if his son had, in his lifetime, asked him for a deed he probably would have executed one.
Upon the trial Mr. Vick reiterated that he was perfectly willing for Mrs. Vick to have a deed to the property for
Complainant has filed three assignments of error as follows:
“I
The Court erred in overruling the Pleas in Bar as to the Ten (10) year Statute of Limitation as to an equitable lien and a Plea based upon the Six (6) year Statute of Limitation, and a Plea as to the Statute of Frauds.
“n
The Court committed error in overruling the Motion for a directed verdict made at the conclusion of the Complainant’s testimony and at the conclusion of all the proof offered on behalf of the Complainant which Motion was renewed at the conclusion of all of the testimony.
“Ill
The Court erred as a matter of Law in refusing to grant the Defendant’s Application for a Jury trial in this Cause; said Application being made at the time the Court Ordered an oral hearing of this Cause. ’ ’
The six year statute of limitation does not apply because the complainant brought suit within six years
Appellant G. T. Vick insists that an action to enforce an equitable lien must be brought within ten years after maturity and that the time commences to run from the time complainant’s right to make a demand was completed. We copy T.C.A. Sections 28-212 and 28-102:
“28-212. Period of validity of liens. — Liens on realty, equitable or retained in favor of vendor on the face of a deed, also liens of mortgages, deeds of trust, and assignments of realty executed to secure debts, shall be barred, the liens discharged, unless suits to enforce the same be brought within ten (10) years from the maturity of the debt.”
“28-102. Commencement at time of right to make demand. — When a right exists, but a demand is necessary to entitle the party to an action, the limitation commences from the time the plaintiff’s right to make the demand was completed, and not from the date of the demand.”
It is generally held that the statute of limitation .does not begin to run in the case of a resulting trust until the trustee does some act hostile to the cestui. Fehn v. Schlickling, 26 Tenn.App. 608, 175 S.W.2d 37, citing Bogert on Trusts and Trustees, Vol. 4, Sec. 952. In case of a constructive trust the statute begins to run from the date when the wrongful and adverse holding begins
A confidential relationship existed between the complainant, Vaughn Vick, and her father-in-law and the other members of her family until her father-in-law refused to give her a deed to the property after the death of her husband and until he refused to make any adjustment with her on her interest in the property. Her suit was brought within a few days less than six years from the time her father-in-law took possession of the property and began renting it and appropriating the rents to his personal use. Mr. Vick, with commendable honesty, has at all times admitted that the house built on his property belonged to his son and his son’s family and that the complainant had an interest therein.
A close question is presented whether the complainant is entitled to recover and receive the proceeds of the judgment individually to the exclusion of any rights of her children or whether she must recover as representative of her deceased husband. We have no doubt that Mr. G. T. Vick intended to give his son or his son and daughter-in-law a lot on which to build a home. He also gave them the timber for the rough framing.
We are impressed by the testimony of Mr. G. T. Vick that the delay for executing the deed was that it was understood in the family that Edwin Vick was to receive by inheritance or gift the entire farm which included the lot on which he built the home and that there was no necessity to consider the execution of a deed to the lot itself. When the home was being built, the premature death of Mr. Edwin Vick was in no manner contemplated by any of them. All three families were in complete harmony.
There is no conflict in the evidence upon the trial below which would authorize this court to reverse the cause for a jury trial as provided by T.C.A. Section 21-1011. Union City & Obion County Bar Association v. Waddell (1947), 30 Tenn.App. 263, 205 S.W.2d 573.
This litigation results from the failure of Edwin Vick and his father to have a firm and clear understanding as to the title to the lot on which he was building a home and from the failure of the parties to anticipate that Edwin Vick might predecease his father, G. T. Vick. We feel that justice will be done in this case by overruling all three assignments of error and modifying the decree of the lower court so as to provide that one-half of the judgment and interest shall inure to the benefit of the complainant, Mrs. Vaughn Vick, individually, and one-half to her as administrator of her deceased husband. The decree of the lower court as modified herein will be affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- MRS. VAUGHN VICK, Complainant-Appellee v. G. T. VICK
- Cited By
- 2 cases
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- Published