Rosengrant v. Rosengrant

629 P.2d 800 (1981)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Mildred and Harold Rosengrant were a retired couple living on a farm in Oklahoma. They had no children of their own but one of their nephews, Jay Rosengrant (D), lived a short distance from them and helped them from time to time. In 1971, it was discovered that Mildred had cancer. Mildred was to get Laetrile treatments in Mexico and before she left she called D to her bank where a deed was presented to D informing D that he was to get the place when both Mildred and Harold were gone. Mildred informed P that she wanted to keep the document at the bank and that when something happened the banker would give D the deed and he could record the document. D accepted the deed and gave it back to the banker. Mildred died, and by 1977, Harold was discovered to have lung cancer, and he put $10,000 into two certificates of deposit in joint tenancy with D. Harold died in January 1978 and on February 2, 1978 D took the deed from the bank and recorded the title the next day. A petition was filed by another relative (P) to set the deed aside as violative of the Statute of Wills. The trial court found the deed null and void for lack of delivery and alternatively that because its operation was only effective on the death of the grantors it was a testamentary instrument and was void for failure to comply with the Statute of Wills. D appealed.