Reyes v. Boyd

PULLEN, P. J. Respondent is the daughter of Amelia Boyd, now deceased. When respondent was about six years of age her mother married Edward Robert Boyd and the three thereafter lived together until respondent married Manuel Reyes, when he, too, took up his residence with Mr. and Mrs. Boyd, and from that time onward the family group consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Boyd and Mr. and Mrs. Reyes. Amelia Boyd died in November, 1930, and a few months thereafter Edward Robert Boyd married Mattie E. Boyd, appellant herein. In May, 1931, Edward R. Boyd died.

The present litigation grows out of the right to a piece of real property known as lot 4 of Southmore tract, the record title to which stood originally in the names of Amelia Boyd and Edward R. Boyd as joint tenants, and which upon the death of Amelia Boyd was vested in Edward R. Boyd and upon his death was by order of the probate court set aside to his surviving widow Mattie E. Boyd, as a probate homestead. Respondent, as plaintiff, brought this action to have it decreed that appellant Mattie E. Boyd held title in trust for her, and to quiet title therein. The trial court found plaintiff was the owner in fee of the lot in question and directed that possession be delivered to her. From this judgment Mattie E. Boyd appealed.

The amended complaint, after alleging the relationship of the various parties, continued: “ ... that during all of the life of the plaintiff, whether during her single life or married life, the said plaintiff and the said Amelia Boyd and [169]the said Edward Robert Boyd lived together . . . pooling money that they earned from various sources . . . ; and that the moneys that were earned by the said Edward Robert Boyd, the said Amelia Boyd and said Helen Reyes were used to accumulate the properties hereinafter mentioned; . . . with the oral understanding between said parties that on the death of the said Amelia Boyd and the death of said Edward Robert Boyd that said property hereinafter described and mentioned would become the property of said plaintiff. ’ ’

Upon the trial, based upon the foregoing complaint, the court found it to be a fact “that the said Edward Robert Boyd, Amelia Boyd, Helen Reyes and Manuel Reyes entered into an oral agreement wherein and whereby the said Edward Robert Boyd, Amelia Boyd, Helen Reyes and Manuel Reyes should pool all their earnings from their labors and all income from the real property hereinafter mentioned for the purpose of paying off indebtedness, taxes, insurance, upkeep and payments on said real property, and for general household expenses, and that on the death of two of the said Amelia Boyd, Edward Robert Boyd and Helen Reyes, said real property hereinafter mentioned, and the improvements thereon should belong to the survivor in fee simple; that it is a fact that said Helen Reyes is the survivor. That it is a fact that on the death of the said Amelia Boyd and Edward Robert Boyd, under the said oral agreement between the said Amelia Boyd, Edward Robert Boyd, Helen Reyes and Manuel Reyes, all of said property hereinafter mentioned and the improvements thereon should become the the property of the said Helen Reyes in fee. ’ ’