ISABELLE M. HEADLEY, JOINED BY HER HUSBAND, GEORGE T. HEADLEY, APPELLANTS,
v.
LAMBERTUS WARMOLTS, APPELLEE
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The Florida Supreme Court affirmed a lower court's dismissal of a specific performance claim, holding that a married woman under coverture lacked the capacity to enter into an enforceable executory contract for real estate.
No, a married woman under the disability of coverture lacked the capacity to bind herself to an executory contract for real estate. Parties contracting with individuals under such disability are not bound to perform.
“It is apparent from the allegations of the Bill of Complaint that one of the parties to the correspondence, the complainant in this suit, was under the disability of coverture and therefore that she was without the capacity to bind herself to the performance of an executory contract.”
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellants filed a Bill of Complaint seeking specific performance of an alleged executory contract for the sale of real estate, based on correspondenc…
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Per Curiam.
In this case Isabelle M. Headley, joined by her husband, George T. Headley, filed a Bill of Complaint in the Circuit Court praying for a decree of specific performance against the Appellee upon an alleged executory contract wherein and whereby it was alleged that by and through certain correspondence a contract had been entered into by which the respondent had agreed to sell to the complainant and the complainant had agreed to purchase certain real estate.
A demurrer was filed to the Bill of Complaint, which demurrer was sustained and the bill was dismissed. It is not necessary here to determine whether or not the correspondence between the parties was such as would have constituted an enforceable contract, had it been made between persons legally competent to enter into contraetural relations. It is apparent from the allegations of the Bill of Complaint that one of the parties to the correspondence, the complainant in this suit, was under the disability of coverture and therefore that she was without the capacity to bind herself to the performance of an executory contract. Parties assuming to contract with persons who are under such disability are not in equity bound to perform the contract on their part and for this reason, if for no other, the Bill of Complaint should have been dismissed. (Gautier et al. v. Bradway, 87 Fla., 193; 99 Sou., 879). The order of the Chancellor is therefore affirmed.
Affirmed. Whitfield, P. J., and Terrell and Buford, J. J., concur. Brown, C. J., and Ellis and Strum, J. J., concur in the opinion.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Holder v. W. Fla. Dev. & Inv. Co., 103 Fla. 487 (Fla. 1931)…nt. Mutuality of terms and considerations not appearing to exist between the parties, specific performance should not be decreed. There was no complete performance by Mrs. Gautier of her part of the executory contract.” See also Hadley vs. Warmolts, 92 Fla. 929, 118 Sou. 252, and Fisher vs. Parker, 93 Fla. 258, 112 Sou. 62. In other words, a married woman being under disability of coverture and being a party to an executory contract containing mutual agreements cannot enforce the contract against the othe…
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Yale Inv. Co. v. Williams, 105 Fla. 414 (Fla. 1932)…und by the promise to sell contained in the contract to' Mrs. Fletcher Avhich was later assigned by her to Mrs. Williams. To support this contention, appellants rely upon Gautier vs. Bradway, 87 Fla. 192, 99 Sou. Rep. 879, and Headley vs. Warmolts, 92 Fla. 929, 111 Sou. Rep. 252, wherein it was held that Avhen married women under coverture assume to contract when they have no capacity [*417] to do so', the parties assuming to contract with them are not in equity bound to perform the contract on their part…
Authorities Cited
- Gautier v. Bradway, 87 Fla. 193 (Fla. 1924)