CLYDE LANIER, ETHEL FOUTS, GEORGIA WARREN, RALPH LANIER, HERBERT LANIER, APPELLANTS,
v.
LULA MAY LANIER, APPELLEE

Fla. | 1928-03-22
Ellis, C. J., and Strum and Brown, J. J., concur., Ellis, C. J., and Brown, J., concur., Whitfield, P. J., and Terrell and Buford, J. J., concur in the opinion and judgment.
95 Fla. 522 Florida Supreme Court (1928) Positive Treatment
Also reported at: 116 So. 867 · 1928 Fla. LEXIS 1255
Cited by 50 cases

Opinion of the Court
Per Curiam.

Per Curiam.

This cause having heretofore been submitted to the Court upon the transcript of the record of the decree herein, and briefs and argument of counsel for the respective parties, and the record having been seen and inspected, and the Court being now advised of its judgment' to be given in the premises, it seems to the Court that there is no error in the said decree; it is, therefore," considered, ordered and decreed by the Court that the said decree of the Circuit Court be, and the same is hereby affirmed.

Kelly, Sutton .& Shaw, of Tampa, for Appellants;

Herbert S. Phillips, of Tampa, and Arthur S. Auvil, of Dade City, for Appellee.

Ellis, C. J., and Strum and Brown, J. J., concur.

Other
Strum, J.

Strum, J.

This is a suit in equity brought by the children of a deceased father against their stepmother to can cel and set aside a deed which conveyed directly from the father to his wife, the stepmother of complainants, certain lands which the complainants allege were, when so conveyed, a part of the grantor — father’s—homestead.

By petition for rehearing it is suggested by the complainants, who are appellants here, that in affirming the decree of the chancellor dismissing the bill of complaint this Court overlooked and inadvertently overruled Norton v. Baya, 88 Fla. 1, 102 South. Rep. 361, and contrary to that decision and also the decision in Jackson v. Jackson, 90 Fla. 563, 107 South. Rep. 255, in effect held to be good and valid a conveyance of a part of the homestead by the husband directly to the wife, even though, at the time of the conveyance in question, the grantor was the head of a family residing in this State, the land described in the deed was then the homestead of the grantor and there were then living children of said grantor, namely, the complainants.

The decision herein, affirming the decree dismissing the bill, is consonant with the doctrine announced in Norton v. Baya and Jackson v. Jackson, supra. The decisions last named were not overlooked, nor was the doctrine therein announced overruled or modified by the decision in this case.

The problem presented by the evidencé in this case is not without its difficulties. The evidence leaves no doubt that the land in question was the homestead of the grantor— father — J. S. Lanier, on June 6, 1924, and for many years prior thereto. The chancellor apparently found, however, that there had been an abandonment of the homestead prior to July 29, 1924,- the date of execution of the conveyance here in question. There is competent evidence in the record to sustain that conclusion. Certainly there is no such lack of it as to justify this Court, under the long established rule in this jurisdiction, in reversing the chancellor ’s conclusion and finding.

We agree with the proposition of law advanced by appellants that the homestead intended by our Constitution to be exempt is the place of actual residence of the party and his family and that a temporary absence of the head of a family in search of health, pleasure or for business reasons will not deprive the homestead of its character and status as such unless there was a design of permanent abandonment. Matthews v. Jeacle, 61 Fla. 686, 55 South. Rep. 865; Murphy v. Farquhar, 39 Fla. 350; 22 South. Rep. 681. It is equally as well settled, however, by the cases just cited that a permanent abandonment of the homestead as a bona fide home and place of permanent abode strips it of its homestead character. A homestead is abandoned by taking up a permanent abode at a distant place. Whether there has been an abandonment of a homestead so as to deprive it of its status as such under the Constitution should be determined by a consideration of all the pertinent facts and circumstances of each ease. Nelson v. Hainlin, 89 Fla. 356, 104 South. Rep. 589. The character of property as a homestead depends upon an actual intention to reside thereon as a permanent place of residence, coupled with the fact of residence.

The chancellor’s view that the land in question had been abandoned as a homestead is in harmony with the rule announced in Murphy v. Farquhar and Matthews v. Jeacle, supra, and also in Porter v. Harrison (Ala.), 27 South. Rep. 302; Baker v. Jamison, 36 N. W. Rep. 647. The following cases also bear upon the question: McGregor v. Kellum, 50 Fla. 581, 39 South. Rep. 697; Land v. Boykin (Ala.), 25 South. Rep. 172; Stanton v. Hitchcock, 31 N. W. Rep. 395; Baker v. Jamison, 36 N. W. Rep. 647; Kases kaes v. Gross, 3 S. W. Rep. 840; Conway v. Nichols, 76 N. W. Rep. 647.

Petition for rehearing denied.

Ellis, C. J., and Brown, J., concur. Whitfield, P. J., and Terrell and Buford, J. J., concur in the opinion and judgment.


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Cited By (13 total)

  • Hillsborough Inv. Co. v. Wilcox, 152 Fla. 889 (Fla. 1943)
    …l debts, except as specified in said Section.” In the case of Clark v. Cox, 80 Fla. 63, 85 So. 173, we held that where a homestead is acquired it can be waived only by abandonment or by alienation in the manner provided by law. See Lanier v. Lanier, 95 Fla. 522, 116 So. 867. The temporary absence from the homestead of the head of the family in search of health, pleasure or for business reasons, will not deprive it of the homestead status. It is the duty of the courts when considering statutory and organic…
    1 / 2
  • …t that this appeal is taken. The first question we are to decide is whether or not the deed from husband to wife was void, inasmuch as the property was alleged to be homestead property at the time it was conveyed. In Lanier v. Lanier, 95 Fla. 522, 116 So. 867, Judge Strum, speaking for the Court on rehearing, said: “It is equally as well settled * * * that a permanent abandonment of the homestead as a bona fide home and place of permanent abode strips it of its homestead character. A homestead is abando…
  • Beck v. Wylie, 60 So. 2d 190 (Fla. 1952)
    …This court in the opinion said: "In the case of Clark v. Cox, 80 Fla. 63, 85 So. 173, we held that where a homestead is acquired it can be waived only by abandonment or by alienation in the manner provided by law. See Lanier v. Lanier, 95 Fla. 522, 116 So. 867. The temporary absence from the homestead of the head of the family in search of health, pleasure or for business reasons, will not deprive it of the homestead status." A fortiori, unless the daughter permanently abandoned the home of her mother an…

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