PARTNERSHIP PROPERTIES CO., ET AL., APPELLANTS,
v.
SUN OIL CO., ET AL., APPELLEES

Fla. 1st DCA | 1989-11-02
No. 88-2390
BOOTH and BARFIELD, JJ., concur.
552 So. 2d 246 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1989) Positive Treatment
Cited by 6 cases

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Holding

A deed's specific description of conveyed property controls over a general reference to prior conveyances, thus the deed did not convey title to the disputed parcel.


Headnotes

[1] A deed containing a specific and accurate description of conveyed property will not be varied by a more general or less definite designation of locality.

[2] Where a deed contains a particular description of premises that is definite and certain, that description will control over a general reference to another deed as the sou…

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Facts & Procedural History

Appellants sought to quiet title to a parcel of land based on a prior lease and deed. The lease contained a 'Mother Hubbard Clause' and the deed conve…

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Opinion of the Court
JOANOS, Judge.

JOANOS, Judge.

Partnership Properties Co. and others have appealed from an order of the trial court dismissing with prejudice their quiet title action. We affirm, but on different grounds than those stated by the trial court.

In January 1945, the oil, gas and mineral rights in certain described parcels of real property located in Sections 22 and 23, Township 5 North, Range 29 West, Santa Rosa County, Florida, were leased to the Texas Company for one year. The lessors had previously acquired 2.41 acres in Section 19, located north of and contiguous to the Section 22 parcel, by adverse possession without color of title. The lease contained no specific description of the Section 19 parcel, but rather included a “coverall” or “Mother Hubbard Clause:”

It is the intention of the Lessor and the Lessee that this lease shall also include and there is hereby included and leased for the purposes and consideration herein stated all of the land owned and claimed by the Lessor adjacent or contiguous to the land described whether in the same or different surveys.

After the expiration of the lease, in January 1946, the oil, gas and mineral rights in Sections 22 and 23 were deeded to appellants’ predecessors in title. Again, no description of any Section 19 parcel was included in the deed, nor was the Mother Hubbard Clause reiterated. However, following the deed’s specific descriptions of the Sections 22 and 23 parcels being conveyed, appeared the additional language “and being the same lands leased to the Texas Company on January 25, 1945.”

The appellees concede that the rec-ordations of the aforedescribed lease and deed pre-date the recordation of those documents by which they claim title to the Section 19 parcel. Appellants contended at trial that the combined effect of the Mother Hubbard Clause contained in the lease, and the “being the same land” clause in the deed was to give appellees actual or constructive notice of appellants’ prior claim to the Section 19 parcel, so that title should be quieted in them. The trial court disagreed, and dismissed appellants’ claim on the ground that the recordation of the lease and deed did not afford constructive notice to appellees of appellants’ interest in and claim to the Section 19 property.

However, the issue of whether appellees had sufficient notice of the Mother Hubbard Clause contained in the lease mentioned in the 1946 deed does not really control the situation here. Rather, the controlling issue is whether the 1946 deed sufficiently described the disputed Section 19 parcel so as to convey valid title thereto to appellants’ predecessors in title. We find that it did not.

The 1946 deed specifically and accurately described the Sections 22 and 23 parcels being conveyed, and further characterized the property as “being the same lands” described in the 1945 lease. Where a particular description of land is given in a deed, which description is clear, explicit and certain, and is a complete identification of the land by authentic ascertainments, such description will not be varied by a more general and less definite and particular designation of the locality of the land, as in such case the particular authentic and complete description will be considered as expressing the intent of the parties, rather than the general designation of locality. Black v. Skinner Mfg. Co., 53 Fla. 1090, 43 So. 919, 921 (1907). See also Lazenby v. F. P. Asher, Jr. & Sons, Inc., 266 Md. 679, 296 A. 2d 699 (1972) (a particular description of premises conveyed, when such particular description is definite and certain, will control a general reference to another deed as the source of title).

Further, although Florida courts have held that, in limited circumstances, a deed, map, plat, or survey may be incorporated into another deed, Routh v. Williams, 141 Fla. 334, 193 So. 71 (1940), Crenshaw v. Holzberg, 503 So. 2d 1275 (Fla.2d DCA 1987), these cases involved deeds which did not contain a specific and accurate description of the land being conveyed. As noted above, the instant deed specifically and accurately described the Sections 22 and 23 parcels. Therefore, there is no need to incorporate the 1945 lease into the deed for purposes of accurate description of the land being conveyed. An appellate court is not limited to reviewing the lower tribunal’s judgment solely on the grounds on which it was decided. That judgment must be affirmed if there are any grounds which support it. Johnson v. Davis, 449 So. 2d 344 (Fla.3d DCA 1984). Because the 1946 deed, which conveyed specifically described property in Sections 22 and 23, did not operate to pass title to the disputed Section 19 parcel to appellants’ predecessors in title, appellants’ action to quiet title to that parcel was properly dismissed with prejudice, and we affirm the trial court's order. BOOTH and BARFIELD, JJ., concur.


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Cited By

  • …Fla. Stat. (1941). A clear, explicit and certain description of land in a deed will not be varied by a generalized and less definite description. See Black v. Skinner Mfg. Co., 53 Fla. 1090, 43 So. 919, 921 (1907); P’ship Props. Co. v. Sun Oil Co., 552 So. 2d 246, 247 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989). The phrase “containing 571.51 acres” is clear, explicit and definitive, and thus, must be preferred in the interpretation of this deed over the words “for payment purposes 365 acres,” which are of uncertain import. We also…
  • Tropical Airways, Inc. v. Aeronautical Support, Inc., 561 So. 2d 5 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990)
    …PER CURIAM. Affirmed. Johnson v. Davis, 449 So. 2d 344 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984), decision approved, 480 So. 2d 625 (Fla.1985); Neil v. South Fla. Auto Painters, Inc., 397 So. 2d 1160 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981); Partnership Properties Co. v. Sun Oil Co., 552 So. 2d 246 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989); Pan Am. Stone Co., Inc. v. Landry, 526 So. 2d 197 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988).…
  • Maltby v. Conner, 660 So. 2d 353 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995)
    …ription is given in clear, explicit language completely identifying the land being conveyed, it may not be varied by a more general statement of intent concerning the extent of the conveyance. She relies on Partnership Properties Co. v. Sun Oil Co., 552 So. 2d 246 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989). In that case, oil, gas and mineral rights in certain described parcels of real property located in Sections 22 and 23, Township 5 North, Range 29 West, Santa Rosa County, were leased to a Texas company in January 1945 for one ye…

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