Deffenbaugh v. Hess

Citations

• 225 Pa. 638
• 74 A. 608
• 1909 Pa. LEXIS 713

Syllabus

<p>Husband and wife — Tenant by curtesy — Mines and, mining.</p> <p>While a tenant by the curtesy has no right to open and mine coal from the lands which he holds for life, where such land was unopened and unmined at the time of the death of the wife, still as the coal in place is land he has a life estate in it, although it may be valueless to him, and with this estate the remainder-man cannot interfere; but if the remainder-man and the tenant by the curtesy join in a deed and sell all their interest in the land as a whole, the money proceeds thereof take the place of the land, and the tenant by the curtesy is entitled to the whole income therefrom, during his life; and this rule applies as to the coal even where the tenant by the curtesy and the remainder-man have by one deed sold the surface and by a later deed have sold the coal in place.</p>