Hubbird v. Goin

Citations

• 137 F. 822
• 70 C.C.A. 320
• 1905 U.S. App. LEXIS 4209

Syllabus

<p>1. Federal Courts—State Decisions Affecting Real Property.</p> <p>Decisions of the highest courts of a state affecting the title to real property will be followed by the federal courts, when like questions come under consideration in the latter jurisdiction.</p> <p>[Ed. Note—For cases, in point, see vpl. 13, Cent. Dig. Courts,'§ 958.</p> <p>State laws as rules of decision in federal courts, see notes to Wilson v. Perrin, 11 C. C. A. 71; Hill v. Hite, 29 C. C. A. 553.]</p> <p>,2. Deed—Construction—The Rule in Shelley’s Case.</p> <p>A deed from a father, in consideration of love and affection and $1,000, granting to his daughter and children certain lands, with the provision in the nature of a habendum clause that “it is expressly agreed by the grantee in accepting this deed that she will not sell, convey or incumber or in any manner dispose of the same, but to retain the same for the use of herself and her children forever,” does not come within the rule in Shelley’s Case, in the absence of any statute of the state of Iowa abolishing such rule, under any controlling decision of the Supreme Court of that state as applied to the language of the deed in question. While the proviso, in so far as it undertakes to place a restraint upon the power of alienation by the mother, is under the statute of the state void, so as to leave her free to dispose of her interest in said land, it may nevertheless indicate the nature of the estate Intended by the grantor to be conveyed to the daughter and her children. There is a wide distinction between a grant to A. and her children and a grant to A. and her heirs or the heirs of her body, as it is affected by the rule in Shelley’s Case.</p> <p>[Ed. Note.—For cases in point, see vol. 16, Cent Dig. Deeds, §§ 413-415, 479.]</p> <p>3. Same—Rule of Construction.</p> <p>The intent of the- grantor is the guiding star in the interpretation of deeds. Such intent is not to be concluded by any one clause or provision separately considered, but