Adkins v. Adkins

Citations

• 117 Va. 445
• 85 S.E. 490
• 1915 Va. LEXIS 54

Syllabus

<p>1. Rent&emdash;Liability of Cotenant in Exclusive Possession.&emdash;A tenant who takes possession of the premises and uses and enjoys the same to the exclusion of his cotenants should be charged, on settlement with his cotenants, with a reasonable rent for his use and occupancy of the property in the condition in which it was at the time he entered into possession thereof, and is not accountable for any of the profits nor liable for any of the losses by reason of his being a good or bad husbandman, and each year’s rent should bear interest from the time it is due.</p> <p>2. Partition &emdash; Questions Affecting Title &emdash; Indebtedness Between Parties&emdash;Code (1904), Section 2562&emdash;Object&emdash;The provision of section 2562 of the Code that, in a suit for partition, a court of equity “may take cognizance of all questions of law affecting the legal title that may arise,” is applicable only to questions affecting the legal title to the subject of partition, and not to matters of general indebtedness between the parties. The object of the statute was to obviate the delays and difficulties which frequently arose in partition suits where questions of title were involved, but there is no provision for the settlement in such suits of all controversies that may arise between tenants in common, growing out of their general indebtedness to each other, which have no relation to or bearing upon the title to the subject of partition.</p> <p>3. Partition&emdash;Right of Third Persons.=&emdash;An undisputed claim by third persons, not parties to a suit for partition, to a mineral right in a part of the land to be sold for partition may be protected by directing the land to be sold subject to such mineral right.</p>