### IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT KNOXVILLE August 29, 2001 Sessio

n CARL O. KOELLA, JR., v. FRED McHARGUE and wife, GRACE McHARGUE Direct Appeal from the Circuit Court for Blount County, Equity Division No. E-17180 Hon. C.K. Smith, by Interchange, Chancellor

FILED SEPTEMBER 10, 2001 No. E2001-00544-COA-R3-CV

Defendants

have right of first refusal on tract of real pr

operty. The Tria

l Court held

that the giving of a quitclaim dee

d did not trigger the

right of first ref

usal. Defendant

s appealed, we a

ffirm.
Tenn. R. App. P.3 Appeal as of Right; Judgmen

t of the Circuit C

ourt Affirmed.

H ERSCHEL P ICKENS F RANKS , J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which C HARLES D. S USANO , J R ., J., and D. M ICHAEL S WINEY , J., joined. Frank M. Fly and Mark J. Downton, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for Appellants, Fred and Grace McHargue. Robert L. Kahn, Knoxville, Tennessee, for Appellee, Maribel Koella.

OPINION

In this action, plaintiff

Maribel Koella, E

xecutor of the Es

tate of Carl O. Koella, Jr., filed a Motion with the Cour t to authorize her

to quitclaim any interest which she had in the disputed1 Richard Koella is the son of the late Carl Koella, Jr., who was one of the pa rties to the

Agreement.
-2- property to Richard Koella. 1 The Chancellor a uthorized plaintif

f to quitclaim

her interest

to Richard Koella on condition that de

fendants’ right o

f first refusal w

ould remain

in effect as to any future sa

le of the property.

Defendants

have appealed, insisting that the proposed quitclaim deed would trigger the right of first refusal under the Agreem ent. The Agreement ga

ve defendants th

e right of first refusal on an 88.80 acre tract of land lying adjacent to the property conveyed to defendants, and the Agreement

provided that if the grantors decided to sell any or all of the 88.80 acre tract, the right of first refusal as set forth in the Agreement would be triggered. Defendant argues that while Richard Koella is the son of one of t

he original grant

ors, he stands in the same position as would any other member of the general public.

There is no purported quitclaim deed in the record, but the Trial Court’s dire

ction is clear. The Court

’s Order states,

in pertinent part: IT IS THEREFORE, ORDERED that Maribe l Koella, as Executor and Beneficiary of the Estate of Ca rl O. Koella, Jr.,

deceased, be, a

nd hereby is, authorized

to convey by Quitclaim Deed to Richard Koella any interest she may have in the Property; and that

the right of first refusal in favor of Fred McHargue and wife, Grace McHargue shall not apply to such conveyance; but such right of first refusal shall remain in effect as to future arm’s length sales of the Property by Richa rd Koella. We agree with the Trial Court that the authorized quitclaim does not trigger the right of first refusal : The distinguishing char acteristic of a q

uitclaim deed is tha

t it conveys t

h e interest or title of the gra

ntor in and to

the pr operty described, rather than the property itself. If a

deed purports an

d is intended to conv

ey only the right,

title, and interest in the land, as distinguished from the land itself, it is deemed to be a quitclaim deed; if it appears that the intention was to convey the land itself, then it is not a quitclai m deed, although it may possess characteristics peculiar to such deeds. 23 Am.Jur.2d, Deeds, §259.

The quoted Rule

is followed by our Co

urts. This Court in Young v. Littles Unkn own Heirs, 232 S.W.2d 614 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1950), held that a

deed which purpo

rted to convey the land-3-

itself was not a mere quitclaim deed.

We hold that the Chancellor’s authorization to plaintiff to give a quitclaim deed to Richard Koella is not a sale that would trigger the right of first refusal, and the Deed, as authorized by the Chancellor, does not purport to convey the land but merely any interest plaintiff may have in the property. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of theTrial Court and remand, with the cost of the appeal asses sed to the appella nts.

_________________________

H ERSCHEL P ICKENS F RANKS , J.