Butler v. Hayes

In this chancery suit, we consider whether the trial court erred in denying cotenants an allowance for permanent improvements made to land they had acquired as the result of a forged deed.

The facts are undisputed. The controversy involves a two-acre parcel of land in Fauquier County.

In June 1989, one David Brown, Sr., inherited a one-eighth interest in the subject property upon the death of his wife, Leodor James Brown. The wife was one of eight children of the last record owners of the parcel, John and Maggie James, who died in 1941 and 1962 respectively. The children, or their descendants,…