Opinion ID: 1152380
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Merger into Deed

Text: The trial court found that Voss had agreed to convey the property to Brooks if she would move to Alaska, build a house on the lot, and live there with Voss and her two children. In accordance with this finding the court reformed the joint tenancy deed to convey all of Voss' interests in the property to Brooks. However, merely because there was such a prior agreement does not justify reforming the joint tenancy deed. If Brooks understood that the deed conveyed only one half of a present possessory interest to her, her acceptance of the deed would discharge the oral contract and form a new contract defined by the deed. Generally, rights under a contract to convey property are said to be merged into a subsequent deed. Thus if a deed is unambiguous and inconsistent with a prior agreement it is the deed that controls. 6A Richard R. Powell, Powell on Real Property ¶ 901[1][d], 81A-157. See S. Utsunomiya Enters. v. Moomuku Country Club, 75 Haw. 480, 866 P.2d 951, 968 (1994); Scott v. Curtis, 103 Or. App. 389, 798 P.2d 248, 250 (1990); see generally 2 Milton R. Friedman, Contracts and Conveyances of Real Property § 7.2, at 887 (5th ed. 1991). Execution and delivery of a deed by the seller ... usually constitute full performance on his part, and acceptance of the deed by the buyer manifests his acceptance of that performance even though the estate conveyed may differ from that promised in the antecedent agreement. Therefore, in such a case, the deed is the final agreement and all prior terms, whether written or verbal, are extinguished and unenforceable. Stubbs v. Hemmert, 567 P.2d 168, 169 (Utah 1977) (footnote omitted) (emphasis added). In this case, Voss executed a quitclaim deed conveying the property to himself and Brooks as joint tenants. Under a strict application of the merger doctrine, Brooks' acceptance of this deed extinguished her rights under the parties' earlier oral agreement. Because the joint tenancy deed here served to create a tenancy in common under Alaska law, [2] Voss ordinarily would be entitled to seek partition under the deed. See AS 09.45.260.