Ex parte Yown

Citations

• 17 S.C. 532
• 1882 S.C. LEXIS 95

Syllabus

<p>1. A deed conveyed land to “8., lier heirs and assigns (for and during her natural life, should she die without issue) ... to have and to hold the said tract unto the said S., her heirs and assigns for and during her natural life as aforesaid. Should she die without bodily issue, the said tract to revert to the children of D., deceased. But should the said S. have a child or children, then the said land to rest in them absolutely.” S. died without issue. Held, that, by this deed, S. took an absolute estate, which, at her death, intestate, passed to her heirs at law.</p> <p>2. This deed purported to have been made in pursuance of a prior agreement, and such agreement recited that S., the widow of one D., and the five sons of D. by a former marriage, had agreed to divide the property, giving to “ S. one-sixth in lieu of all claim of dower, the property coming to her under said agreement, she hereby agrees that she will take good care of, and if she should die without bodily heirs then she hereby agrees and covenants that, at her death, all the remaining property shall revert back to the heirs of D ”; provided,, the said sons took care of her while she lived if she became helpless or needy. The widow having become helpless and needy and not being assisted by the sons, Held, that the condition stipulated as that upon which the land was to revert not having been performed, the fee remained in S. under this agreement, and it mattered not that the sons were ignorant of her needs.</p> <p>3. There was nothing in this agreement or deed in the nature of a covenant to stand seized to uses.</p> <p>4. There is nothing in the agreement that would authorize the Court to reform the deed because of accident or mistake, the agreement itself showing an intention that the fee should not be reduced to a life estate except upon a contingency which never happened.</p> <p>5. The declarations of S. as to the nature of her estate amounted to no more than the expressions of an opinion, and