Crockett v. Templeton

Citations

• 65 Tex. 134
• 1885 Tex. LEXIS 326

Syllabus

<p>1. Homestead—Innocent purchase—Abandonment.—Defendant and his wife occupied eighty-two acres of land as a homestead. They agreed to separate, and divided the land, his portion being under cultivation, but having no houses on it. To divest the wife of any interest in his part of the land, he and she joined in a deed conveying it to a third party, who, two years after, reconveyed it to defendant. The evidence showed that this third party was merely a trustee of the legal title for defendant. Defendant, with his children by a former marriage, moved to another county, and his wife, and her children by a former marriage, remained on her portion of the land. Defendant acquired no other lands, and expressed an intention of building a home on his part of the tract when he was financially able. Held:</p> <p>(1) That until the husband and wife united in abandoning the part she occupied, the husband could acquire no other homestead.</p> <p>(2) The homestead exemption still attached to his portion also, even if he had never owned it until it was conveyed to him by the third party.</p> <p>(3) If the owner of a tract, smaller than the amount exempted as a homestead, purchases an adjacent tract to fill out his homestead, he is not required to enclose or build upon this second tract, as its situation is sufficient to excite inquiry that would discover the intent.</p> <p>(4) One who bought from the third party while the legal title and possession were with him might be an innocent purchaser, but one who bought under an execution against defendant could not be.</p> <p>(5) Edmundson v. Blessing, 42 Tex., 596, reviewed, and shown not in conflict with the above views.</p>