Sharpe v. Mathews

Summary

The court held that an instrument executed in deed form and delivered to the grantee conveyed title subject to the grantor's reserved life estate, rather than operating as a will. Because the defendant entered and possessed the property under a bona fide claim of title, he was not a tenant at sufferance. The dispossessory proceeding was therefore unavailable, and the judgment granting a nonsuit was affirmed.

Holdings

1. The instrument was a deed, not a will, and conveyed title to Daniel L. Mathews subject to Betsey A. Mathews's reserved life estate.
2. Daniel was not a tenant at sufferance because he did not enter or possess the land under Betsey as a tenant; he entered under the deed while asserting a bona fide claim of ownership. Accordingly, the summary dispossess proceeding was unavailable.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the instrument executed and delivered by Betsey A. Mathews was a deed or a testamentary instrument.
2. Whether Daniel L. Mathews was a tenant at sufferance subject to summary dispossession proceedings when he entered possession under the instrument claiming ownership in good faith.

Disposition

affirmed