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Nelson v. Hotchkiss

601 S.W.2d 14 (1980)

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Nelson v. Hotchkiss

Missouri Supreme Court
601 S.W.2d 14 (1980)

RW

Facts

Irma Nelson (plaintiff) and Dorothy Hotchkiss (defendant) were sisters. In 1969, under unclear circumstances and with no indication as to the parties’ intentions, a farm was deeded to “Robert Nelson and Irma Nelson, husband and wife; and Herbert Hotchkiss and Dorothy Hotchkiss, husband and wife, as joint tenants with right of survivorship in all four, and not as tenants in common.” Robert and Irma divorced in 1975. In 1976, Robert sold his interest in the farm to Herbert and Dorothy. After Herbert died in 1977, Irma petitioned to sell the farm and divide the proceeds with Dorothy according to their respective interests in the property. The trial court ruled that the effect of Robert’s 1976 conveyance was to terminate the joint tenancy in what had been Robert’s one-fourth interest in the property, with the other three-fourths remaining as the jointly held property of the remaining grantees. Accordingly, the court ruled that in the wake of Herbert’s death, Dorothy was entitled to five-eighths of the farm’s sale proceeds and Irma to three-eighths. Dorothy appealed. The Missouri Court of Appeals reversed, increasing Dorothy’s share of the sale proceeds to three-fourths and reducing Irma’s share to one-fourth. The Missouri Supreme Court then took jurisdiction due to the case’s public significance.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Welliver, J.)

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