In re Estate of Harding

¶ 1. This dispute involves the interpretation of deed language “[ejxcepting and reserving” a family burial plot from a land conveyance in 1837. Plaintiff is the original grantor’s oldest living heir and is related, across the generations, to the person buried at the gravesite. Defendants own property that completely surrounds the disputed gravesite, and their chain of title includes the deed language referencing the burial plot. The Chittenden Probate Court concluded that a deed with language pertaining to a family burial plot does not retain a grantor’s fee interest in the plot when there is…