Bath v. Valdez

Citations

• 70 Cal. 350
• 11 P. 724
• 1886 Cal. LEXIS 793

Syllabus

<p>Tenants in Common—Adverse Possession — Ouster.—Where a tenant in common of land is in possession thereof, acknowledging or with knowledge of the rights of his co-tenants, there must be, in order to constitute an ouster by him of his co-tenants, such acts of exclusive ownership of an unequivocal character, overt and notorious, and of such a nature as by their own import to impart information and give notice to the co-tenants that an adverse possession and disseisin are intended to be asserted against them; and this rule applies wherever a co-tenant enters under a conveyance which purports to convey a moiety, or any portion less than the whole, or merely the interest of the grantor.</p> <p>Id. — Deed of Entirety—Exclusive Possession under—Statute of Limitations. — When a conveyance of land is made by a party in the exclusive possession under a deed which purports to convey the whole of the property, and the grantee enters into the open and notorious possession of the whole without notice of a co-tenancy, the entry will be presumed ' to be in the assertion of an exclusive right in severalty, and is equivalent to an express declaration on the part of the grantee that he enters claiming the whole for himself, and is therefore such a disseisin as sets the statute of limitations in motion in his favor and against his co-tenants.</p> <p>Id.—Decree of Distribution — Estoppel.—Under such circumstances, the grantee is not estopped to set up the statute of limitations against the heirs of a former owner by reason of the fact that the decree of distribution of the estate of such owner distributed the land to the heirs.</p>