Opinion ID: 3181497
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Farber’s Will and the Deeds of Distribution

Text: [¶16] Resolving the Gravisons’ deed reformation claim necessitates an examination of the will of their predecessor, Charles Farber, and a deed of distribution from Farber’s estate. In the 1990s, Farber owned an oceanfront lot numbered 63 on the property maps for the Town of Owls Head that included an 3 intertidal area. In 1991, Farber executed a will that devised to the 3 Both before and after trial, the parties affirmatively and consistently asserted that Farber owned the intertidal area. His ownership of this area was not contested. 8 Camden-Rockport Land Trust, now known as the Coastal Mountains Land Trust (CMLT), “that portion of my real property at Coopers Beach, Owls Head, Maine, that is known as Lot 63.” The devise to CMLT did not exclude the intertidal area in front of lot 63. Farber’s will devised the remainder of his Owls Head real estate to his second cousin, Bolan. Farber wanted Bolan to participate significantly in his legacy, but he did not give her all of his Owls Head real estate because he wanted to realize the tax benefits of a charitable devise, and he was concerned that Bolan lacked the means to pay taxes on all of his property. [¶17] In 1998, Robert Coon, as personal representative of Farber’s estate, executed the devise to CMLT by way of a deed of distribution. Coon was an experienced transactional attorney and executed the deed in consultation with local counsel. The deed to CMLT conveyed an area that corresponded to lot 63, but used a description that located the seaward boundary of that lot at the “high water mark,” excluding the intertidal area from the conveyance. [¶18] The Gravisons now own the property that was deeded to CMLT. By virtue of the remainder clause in Farber’s will, Bolan received title to all of Farber’s land in Owls Head that was not deeded to CMLT, including the intertidal area in front of the Gravisons’ property. For Bolan, that intertidal area is landlocked because she cannot access it without crossing property owned by others or navigating there over water. 9