Dower Rights

263 Florida cases classified under this topic · sorted by citation count · see the citation graph · browse and sort

• Shad v. Smith
  74 Fla. 324· Fla.· 1917-11-15 ·cited 105×
  Priscilla Smith sought to rescind a conveyance of her homestead property to Charles Shad, alleging she did not voluntarily sign the deed and was never properly acknowledged by a notary. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the chancellor's finding that the wife's failure to acknowl
• Maude DeLong Norton v. Blanche Norton Baya
  88 Fla. 1· Fla.· 1924-04-11 ·cited 85×
  In this property dispute, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed a lower court's decision voiding deeds purporting to transfer John H. Norton's homestead property to his wife Maude DeLong Norton, finding the deeds were testamentary in character and therefore invalid under Florida's c
• Christopher v. Mungen
  61 Fla. 513· Fla.· 1911-01-01 ·cited 85×
  John G. Christopher and other defendants appealed an order overruling their demurrer to Jane Mungen's bill for partition of real estate in Duval County, Florida. The case involved complex issues regarding the nature of a trust deed executed by James Lewis, a colored person, his i
• Walker v. Close
  98 Fla. 1103· Fla.· 1929-12-28 ·cited 79×
  Walker sought rescission of a land purchase contract due to defective title and failure to install promised improvements. The Florida Supreme Court reversed the lower court's dismissal of the bill of complaint, holding that the covenants were dependent and that the vendee could r
• Vance v. Vance
  143 Fla. 513· Fla.· 1940-06-21 ·cited 78×
  The court considered whether a property settlement agreement incorporated into a divorce decree could be modified due to the wife's remarriage. The court held that a valid property settlement, intended as a final resolution of all claims, should not be disturbed solely because of
• Spitzer v. Briggs Branning
  135 Fla. 49· Fla.· 1938-11-16 ·cited 64×
  Arthur W. Spitzer appealed an order denying his motion for a decree in a partition suit, challenging whether homestead property could be lawfully allotted to his mother as a child's part in probate proceedings. The Florida Supreme Court held that the County Judge lacked jurisdict
• Henderson v. Usher
  125 Fla. 709· Fla.· 1936-09-21 ·cited 60×
  Frank Duff Frazier died intestate regarding his widow's interests, leaving property to his widow Marjorie and daughter Diana. After the widow remarried and filed a dissent to claim dower, executors sought guidance on how to allocate dower rights across various assets. The Florida
• J. W. Church v. Lee
  102 Fla. 478· Fla.· 1931-07-15 ·cited 59×
  The Florida Supreme Court reversed an interlocutory order overruling a demurrer in a homestead succession dispute, holding that a deed executed jointly by a homestead owner and his wife directly to the wife is prima facie void to the extent it affects the children's vested inheri
• Moore v. Price
  98 Fla. 276· Fla.· 1929-07-31 ·cited 58×
  In this appeal of an equity partition suit, the Florida Supreme Court addresses whether minor heirs can compel partition of homestead property held by their grandmother (the widow) who has an unassigned dower right. The court holds that while the widow's dower must first be assig
• Murphy v. Murphy
  125 Fla. 855· Fla.· 1936-10-26 ·cited 56×
  A widow of a Florida domiciliary who died in California successfully elected to take dower against her husband's will rather than accept the provisions made for her benefit. The Florida Supreme Court held that the widow had the right to dissent, determined the scope of her dower
• Harris v. Zeuch
  103 Fla. 183· Fla.· 1931-10-20 ·cited 52×
  Mortgage foreclosure case where defendants claimed failure of consideration based on alleged misrepresentations by the mortgagee regarding the quality of title. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed dismissal of the defendants' affirmative defenses, holding that even if misrepresent
• Schupler v. E. Mortg. Co.
  160 Fla. 72· Fla.· 1948-01-23 ·cited 48×
  The Florida Supreme Court held that a trial court erred in striking portions of defendants' answer and their counterclaim in a mortgage foreclosure case. The Court emphasized that in equity proceedings, relevant and material matters should not be stricken from pleadings merely be
• McKELVEY v. McKELVEY
  323 So. 2d 651· Fla. 3d DCA· 1976-01-09 ·cited 46×
  In this family law case, Andrew McKelvey appealed a trial court's finding of personal jurisdiction over him as a non-resident defendant in his wife Elaine's action for a declaratory decree regarding her dower interest in property. The court affirmed, holding that McKelvey's attor
• Tri-County Produce Distribs., Inc. v. Ne. Prod. Credit Ass'n
  160 So. 2d 46· Fla. 1st DCA· 1963-10-31 ·cited 44×
  Tri-County Produce Distributors appealed a foreclosure decree in favor of Northeast Production Credit Association on three mortgages of the Campbells' homestead and farm property. The court affirmed the foreclosure, holding that Northeast's recorded mortgage provided constructive
• Smith v. Hines
  10 Fla. 258· Fla.· 1864-01-01 ·cited 44×
  The Florida Supreme Court reversed a lower court decree in this dower dispute, holding that a widow can challenge her deceased husband's conveyance of personal property (slaves) when the sale was not genuinely perfected and was executed with intent to defeat her dower rights. The
• Godwin v. King
  31 Fla. 525· Fla.· 1893-01-01 ·cited 40×
  The Florida Supreme Court holds that a widow's statutory right to dower in her deceased husband's homestead real estate and her statutory share of exempt personal property are not eliminated by constitutional homestead exemptions, even under the revised 1885 Constitution. The cou
• Paradise Pools, Inc. v. Genauer
  104 So. 2d 860· Fla. 3d DCA· 1958-09-09 ·cited 38×
  A motion for judgment on the pleadings should not be granted if the complaint has equity, even if the defendant's wife refuses to convey her dower interest.
• Bemis v. Loftin
  127 Fla. 515· Fla.· 1937-03-23 ·cited 38×
  Alice McCormick Bemis sought to set aside a 1896 annulment decree of her marriage to H.E. Bemis, claiming the decree was void due to lack of personal jurisdiction and fraud, in order to claim dower rights in his estate. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's dismiss
• Wilson v. Phœbe Fridenberg
  21 Fla. 386· Fla.· 1885-01-01 ·cited 38×
  Emily R. Wilson, as executrix of Converse Parkhurst's estate, sought to foreclose a mortgage on two Jacksonville lots and claimed various alternative remedies. The Florida Supreme Court held that the mortgage was void as to both lots because one was homestead property exempt from
• Carter v. Hunter J. Carter, Sr.
  88 So. 2d 153· Fla.· 1956-06-06 ·cited 37×
  In this insurance law case, the Florida Supreme Court held that a beneficiary who unlawfully and intentionally kills the insured forfeits all rights to the policy proceeds based on the common law principle that no person may profit from his own wrong. The court rejected arguments
• Morgan v. Mira F. Bailey
  90 Fla. 47· Fla.· 1925-06-18 ·cited 36×
  A Florida Supreme Court decision holding that a homestead property is not reduced in area merely because it is subsequently incorporated into a city or town, and that a testator cannot make testamentary disposition of homestead property when a widow or child survives. The court r
• In re Est. OF Max Lieber
  103 So. 2d 192· Fla.· 1958-04-09 ·cited 35×
  This probate appeal challenges executor and attorney fee awards in a four-year estate administration. The Florida Supreme Court reversed the awards as excessive and inadequately supported, holding that statutory ordinary compensation must be distinguished from extraordinary servi
• Fla. Yacht Club v. Renfroe
  67 Fla. 154· Fla.· 1914-03-03 ·cited 35×
  Florida Yacht Club sought specific performance to enforce an option to purchase real property from the Riverside Company under a 1907 lease agreement. The court reversed the trial court's dismissal, holding that the lease's arbitration provision for determining purchase price and
• Booth v. Lenox
  45 Fla. 191· Fla.· 1903-01-01 ·cited 35×
  Esther L. Booth challenged a partition decree that recognized her deceased husband's children as owners of property that Esther had purchased with her own separate property. The Florida Supreme Court reversed, holding that a resulting trust was created when Esther's money paid fo
• Bateman v. Donovan
  131 F.2d 759· 9th Cir.· 1942-11-13 ·cited 34×
  The court held that the trial court did not err in refusing a directed verdict and in vacating its order granting a new trial, as the issues presented were for the jury and juror affidavits cannot impeach a verdict based on internal mistake.
• Arthur Y. Milam & the First Nat'l Bank of Tampa v. Davis
  97 Fla. 916· Fla.· 1929-05-28 ·cited 34×
  D. P. Davis executed a will before marrying, bequeathing the residue of his estate including life insurance proceeds to trustees for his minor children. Davis later married and died in 1926. The Florida Supreme Court held that while the testator could bequeath life insurance proc
• Dacus v. Blackwell
  90 So. 2d 324· Fla.· 1956-10-24 ·cited 32×
  The Florida Supreme Court reversed a trial court's dismissal of a suit by heirs of Jerome T. Feaster's estate against the executor of his widow Maude Feaster's estate, holding that the widow, as executrix, remained a trustee liable for her pro rata share of estate taxes and admin
• McEwen v. Larson
  136 Fla. 1· Fla.· 1939-01-20 ·cited 32×
  This case addresses the validity of conveyances and a mortgage on property that included both a homestead and rental apartment buildings in Orlando, Florida. The Florida Supreme Court held that the owner abandoned homestead exemption rights in the portion used for rental purposes
• Raulerson v. Peeples
  79 Fla. 367· Fla.· 1920-03-20 ·cited 32×
  The Florida Supreme Court reversed a lower court's grant of a temporary injunction in an ejectment action, holding that while equity may reform a deed containing an erroneous land description, such reformation cannot serve as a defense to ejectment when the widow's dower right ha
• Barco v. A. M. Fennell and Wife
  24 Fla. 378· Fla.· 1888-06-01 ·cited 32×
  In this ejectment action brought by the heirs of Alfred T. Barco against his widow and her second husband to recover lands, the Florida Supreme Court reversed the lower court's judgment, holding that the special plea of administration was defective because it failed to allege tha
• Ponder v. Graham
  4 Fla. 23· Fla.· 1851-01-01 ·cited 31×
  The Florida Supreme Court held that the Territorial Legislative Council lacked authority to grant divorces, as such power is exclusively judicial in nature and cannot be exercised by a legislature. The court reversed the lower court's judgment recognizing Mary Graham as the widow
• Ponder v. Wm. D. Moseley
  2 Fla. 207· Fla.· 1848-01-01 ·cited 31×
  This Florida Supreme Court case addresses whether a judgment and execution issued by a territorial court is void when the defendants' letters of administration were revoked after judgment but before the execution sale. The court held that a judgment of a court of general jurisdic
• Barnott v. Proctor
  128 Fla. 63· Fla.· 1937-04-21 ·cited 30×
  Children of a deceased homestead owner challenged their mother's mortgage of homestead property to John P. Proctor, arguing she could not encumber property that passed to them as heirs. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's decision, holding that a 20-year statute
• In re Lawrence's Estate
  45 So. 2d 344· Fla.· 1950-04-04 ·cited 29×
  The Supreme Court of Florida held that a County Judge lacked jurisdiction to assign dower in real estate when a minor asserted adverse title to the property. The court emphasized that title disputes involving real estate must be resolved in Circuit Court, not County Judge's court
• Wilson v. Fla. Nat. Bank & Tr. Co. at Miami
  64 So. 2d 309· Fla.· 1953-03-13 ·cited 28×
  This case concerns whether a 35-acre tract of land in Florida constituted homestead property subject to intestate descent or property subject to the widow's dower rights. The Florida Supreme Court held that the 35 acres retained their homestead character despite the five-acre res
• McMahon v. Russell
  17 Fla. 698· Fla.· 1880-01-01 ·cited 28×
  The Florida Supreme Court held that a widow is entitled to dower in lands subject to a second mortgage that she did not join, even though she relinquished dower rights when joining in the first purchase-money mortgage. However, she cannot claim dower against the purchase-money mo
• Williams v. Ricou
  143 Fla. 360· Fla.· 1940-06-14 ·cited 27×
  This Florida Supreme Court case addresses whether a bill of complaint seeking partition of real estate, accounting, and relief regarding allegedly fraudulent conveyances was properly dismissed as multifarious. The court held that the bill improperly joined distinct and unrelated
• Josiah Richardson v. Varn
  80 Fla. 517· Fla.· 1920-10-08 ·cited 27×
  Richardson and Varn entered into a written contract in 1910 whereby Richardson agreed to drain Varn's prairie in exchange for receiving an undivided half interest in the drained land. Richardson sued for specific performance after Varn refused to convey the property, claiming he
• O'Neal v. Miller
  143 Fla. 171· Fla.· 1940-05-24 ·cited 26×
  In this case involving a homestead exemption claim, the Florida Supreme Court held that a wife and minor daughter's temporary departure from the family homestead due to the husband's cruelty did not constitute abandonment of the homestead, particularly where the marital relation
• Rose v. Henderson
  63 Fla. 564· Fla.· 1912-01-01 ·cited 26×
  Rose and Bolles sought specific performance of a contract to purchase approximately 98,276 acres of Florida land from the Henderson heirs. The Florida Supreme Court held that the contract, being for the sale of the entire interest of three co-owners, could not be specifically enf
• Bruner v. Hart
  59 Fla. 171· Fla.· 1910-01-01 ·cited 26×
  This is a Florida Supreme Court decision on rehearing in a land ejectment case. The court affirmed the trial court's directed verdict for the defendants, holding that the plaintiffs, descendants of William J. Bruner, failed to establish title to disputed property in Jackson Count
• Palmer v. Palmer
  47 Fla. 200· Fla.· 1904-01-01 ·cited 26×
  The Florida Supreme Court reversed a judgment awarding possession of a homestead to a deceased husband's heir, holding that under the 1885 Florida Constitution, a homestead with surviving widow and children cannot be disposed of by will and must inure to the widow and heirs by op
• Brokaw v. McDougall
  20 Fla. 212· Fla.· 1883-06-01 ·cited 26×
  This case addresses the dower rights of a widow in real estate and whether a partition commissioner's report should be set aside for alleged inequality in the division of property. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's decision, holding that a widow's dower right i
• Kyle v. Kyle
  128 So. 2d 427· Fla. 2d DCA· 1961-03-22 ·cited 25×
  This case addresses whether an antenuptial agreement executed in Canada without witness signatures effectively waives a wife's dower rights in Florida real property. The Florida District Court of Appeal held that the formal requirements of Florida law govern such instruments affe
• Bartlett A. Hinson v. Booth
  39 Fla. 333· Fla.· 1897-01-01 ·cited 25×
  The Florida Supreme Court held that a testator with a family may freely dispose of the constitutionally-protected $1,000 personal property exemption by will, and that such disposition is not restricted by the homestead and exemption provisions of the Florida Constitution. The cou
• Benedict v. Wilmarth
  46 Fla. 535· Fla.· 1903-06-01 ·cited 24×
  Mary E. Benedict, widow and executrix of her husband's estate, sought to dissent from his will and elect to take a child's part (equal share with children) instead of the provisions made for her in the will. The Florida Supreme Court held that merely qualifying as executrix and p
• Holzendorf v. Lugenia Terrell
  52 Fla. 525· Fla.· 1906-06-01 ·cited 23×
  This case involves an appeal concerning exceptions taken to an answer in a lawsuit seeking an accounting and assignment of dower. The appellate court reversed the lower court's decision, finding that the exceptions to the answer were improperly sustained.
• Dougherty v. United States
  292 F.2d 331· 6th Cir.· 1961-07-10 ·cited 22×
  The court held that the cash award received by the widow in lieu of dower, determined by stipulation and court order, was not a terminable interest and qualified for the federal estate tax marital deduction.
• Exch. Nat'l Bank of Winter Haven v. Smith
  148 Fla. 473· Fla.· 1941-11-18 ·cited 21×
  The court affirmed a lower court's decision to set aside a widow's election to take under her husband's will. The court found that the widow did not understand the effect of her election due to her lack of business experience, emotional distress, and lack of counsel, and therefor
• Mollie Mottier Wallace & Tr. under the Last Will & Testament of D. B. Wallace v. Wallace
  118 Fla. 844· Fla.· 1935-03-21 ·cited 21×
  The Florida Supreme Court interpreted a will to determine how an estate should be distributed after the testator's widow dissented from the will and elected to take her statutory dower rights instead. The court held that the widow's election to take dower accelerated the remainde