Page v. Arnim

Citations

• 29 Tex. 53

Syllabus

<p>Where a party relies upon an estoppel in pais, he has the right to show all the facts and circumstances of the dealings and acts of those alleged to be estopped by their acts.</p> <p>The mere failure of a party to assert his right to land for ten years, where there is no adverse possession, does not amount to an estoppel.</p> <p>In Burleson v. Burleson, (28 Tex., 383,) it was held, that the tacit presence of the owner, and his knowledge of the sale of land in which the heir has a community interest, will not estop him, if the purchaser be otherwise informed of the true state of the title.</p> <p>In Scoby v. Sweatt, (28 Tex., 713,) it was held, that the acts from which the estoppel is claimed to spring in some way must have influenced the purchaser; that the basis upon which the estoppel'rests must be actual or constructive fraud on the part of the owner, or such facts as would be tantamount to a fraud, if he were permitted to receive the property. These definitions are approved.</p> <p>There seems no reason to suppose that the appellant was any better informed as to the character and legal effect of the grant, under which the administrator claimed and sold the entire league of land, than the purchaser. If one is presumed to know the legal effect, so is the other. The title showed the date of the grant. Knowing it to be community property, he was put upon inquiry as to the parties interested in it. If he were informed of appellant’s interest, to have made it known to him at the- sale would have furnished him with no additional information. If he did not know of it, appellant’s presence at the sale could not have induced the impression of a waiver or abandonment of his title, and could in no way have induced the purchase.</p> <p>The true rule seems to be, that the mere presence of the owner, if he have concealed no facts of which he was informed, and the purchaser could not have learned by the use of reasonable diligence, will not create an estoppel, unless the pur