Malloy v. Boettcher

ERICKSTAD, Chief Justice.

This appeal from the District Court of Hettinger County, dated October 19, 1982, raises the following single issue:

Whether or not, in a deed of conveyance, a reservation of a life estate unto a third party, who is a stranger to the title of the property, is effective to convey the life estate to the third party.

On May 22,1978, Clyde Boettcher and his wife, Dorothy, executed a deed conveying an undivided one-third interest in a quarter section of property to their daughter, Loretta Jean Boettcher Malloy. The deed contained the following reservation clause:

‘“RESERVING…