United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. District Grand Lodge No. 27 of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows

Citations

• 58 Fla. 373

Syllabus

<p>1. A declaration in an action at law should allege every fact that is essential to the plaintiff’s right of action.</p> <p>2. Where an action is brought upon a bond with collateral conditions and the bond contains conditions to be performed by the plaintiff precedent to the liability of the defendant, the declaration should allege the performance of conditions precedent, or a valid excuse for nonperformance; and the failure to so allege renders the declaration subject to demurrer.</p> <p>3. Where the mere reading of a declaration discloses the omission therefrom of essential allegations that conditions precedent to the liability of the defendant have been performed or excused, the declaration is amenable to a general statement of a demurrer thereto that no right of action appears, even though the failure to allege the performance of conditions precedent is not made a specific ground of the demurrer.</p> <p>4. The performance of conditions precedent may under the statute be alleged generally, and the opposing party is then required to “specify in his pleading the condition precedent the performance of which he intends to contest”; but matters of excuse for nonperformance of conditions precedent are not covered by the statute and they should be stated specifically as required by the rules of pleading at common law.</p>