Noyes v. Stewart

[ 333] Action to quiet title to 48 acres of land in Lafayette County. The trial court entered a decree declaring plaintiff to be owner in fee simple and defendants have appealed. The question involved the right of a life tenant to have partition against contingent remaindermen by sale of the [334] property and to keep part of the proceeds of such sale as the commuted value of the life estate.

Rubin Iiill, the owner of this and other land, died testate in 1905. His will gave his wife Lucy a life estate in his land (about 97 acres in Lafayette County) and then provided, as follows: “At the death…