RENA MYERS, APPELLANT,
v.
SARA F. STEWART FRANCIS AND RICKY STEWART, APPELLEES
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
In a probate proceeding, the court reversed the circuit court's validation of a warranty deed purporting to convey the decedent's residence. The deed was fatally defective because it named the wrong grantor, contained a blank space for the grantee's name, and included an unintelligible handwritten provision that could not cure these deficiencies.
The deed is void and inoperative as a conveyance. A deed lacking the grantee's name is void under Florida law, and extrinsic evidence cannot be used to rewrite an hopelessly confused and void deed—it can only resolve ambiguities in an otherwise valid instrument.
[1] A deed that does not name a grantee is void and inoperative as a conveyance.
[2] Extrinsic evidence may be admitted to clarify ambiguities in a deed but cannot be used to reform a deed that is fundamentally void.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the warranty deed is so incomplete and confused as to be totally void”
Establishes the court's core holding that the deed is fatally defective and cannot be salvaged.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceFredrick W. Stewart's daughter Rena Myers appealed a circuit court order construing a warranty deed involving the decedent's residence. The deed named…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Void Deed cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
This is an appeal by the decedent’s daughter, Rena Myers, from an order of the circuit court construing a warranty deed involving the decedent’s residence in a probate proceeding. The circuit court construed the subject deed, after taking testimony below, as a valid conveyance by the decedent Fredrick W. Stewart of a life es tate in the decedent’s residence to Ricky Stewart, the decedent’s son, with a remainder interest to Sara F. Stewart Francis, another daughter of the decedent. We disagree and reverse because, simply stated, the warranty deed is so incomplete and confused as to be totally void.
The deed in question names Sara F. Francis, rather than the decedent, as the grantor of the decedent’s residence and does not contain the name of the grantee; the portion of the deed reserved for the name of the grantee is left entirely blank. It is settled in Florida that a deed which does not contain the name of the grantee, as here, is void and inoperative as a conveyance. Miami Gardens, Inc. v. Conway, 102 So. 2d 622, 625 (Fla.1958); Simpson v. Hirshberg, 159 Fla. 25, 29-30, 30 So. 2d 912, 914 (1947).
Beyond that, the deed further contains a cryptic handwritten provision: “Two have + hold for Ricky Stewart as long as they Both shall Live, as they keep up the Property and Taxes[.]” This provision purports to create some type of estate in someone for the lives of some unnamed persons, who are required to keep up the property and pay the taxes thereon, for the benefit of Ricky Stewart. Plainly, this provision totally fails to create a life estate of any type in anyone, much less a life estate in Ricky Stewart — and fails, as well, to cure the fatal deficiency as to who the grantee or grantees of the subject deed may be. Contrary to the argument of the appellees, Sara Francis and Ricky Stewart, extrinsic evidence is only admissible to resolve ambiguities in a deed, but cannot be utilized tó rewrite, as here, an otherwise hopelessly confused and void deed. Cf. Each v. Cooley, 201 So. 2d 254, 255 (Fla. 1st DCA 1967).
The final order under review is reversed, and the cause is remanded to the circuit court with directions to declare the subject deed null and void.
Reversed and remanded.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Rice v. Rice, 499 F. Supp. 2d 1245 (M.D. Fla. 2007)…1883), or the deed contains an alternative description describing two distinct parcels, Carson v. Palmer, 139 Fla. 570, 190 So. 720, 721-22 (1939). Further, a deed which does not contain the name of the grantee is void. Myers v. Francis, 548 So.2d 833, 834 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989). The parties did not cite and the Court could not find a case factually on all fours with the situation presented here. However, the Court is guided by the long standing tenets of Florida real property conveyance law. The…
Authorities Cited
- Miami Gardens, Inc. v. Conway, 102 So. 2d 622 (Fla. 1958)
- Simpson v. Barney Hirshberg, 159 Fla. 25 (Fla. 1947)
- Frances G. Kach and her husband v. Cooley, 201 So. 2d 254 (Fla. 1st DCA 1967)