Opinion ID: 1111268
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Some Principles of Deed Construction

Text: The majority arrives at its theoretical separation of the right to execute leases from the right to a bonus by ignoring several principles of deed construction. In the first place, when a written or type-written provision of an instrument cannot be reconciled with the printed provisions, the written provision controls. Holifield v. Perkins, 233 Miss. 876, 880, 103 So.2d 433, 434 (1958); Ford v. Jones, 226 Miss. 716, 720, 85 So.2d 215, 217 (1956); Dale v. Case, 217 Miss. 298, 308-10, 64 So.2d 344, 346 (1953). Applying this principle to this case, the conveyance by the McLeods of one-half of their minerals was modified by the typed-in portion. Two of the rights appurtenant to the ownership of the minerals were retained by the McLeods. Further, applying the principle analyzed above  that the right to execute leases must necessarily obtain to the right to a bonus  all of the rights appurtenant to owning the minerals stayed with the McLeods. Therefore, by this conveyance Thornhill did not participate in any of the rights appurtenant to owning minerals; he received the right to share equally in any royalty the McLeods retained in any leases, and that is all he received. He received a royalty deed. Harris applied this long established principle of deed construction when it determined that such a conveyance amounts to a royalty deed, as pointed out above. Harris is no aberration in this respect. Second, the majority ignores the proper method for separating the rights appurtenant to ownership of minerals. Harris stated, as pointed out above, that [t]hey [bonuses and rentals] are closely and materially related to the executive right. The latter may be separated, but this should be done explicitly.  Harris at 635. This principle arose from Westbrook v. Ball, 222 Miss. 788, 791, 77 So.2d 274, 275 (Miss. 1955), where this Court said that the right to execute leases and receive bonuses, rentals and royalties are transferrable, but all are retained that are not specifically granted. The McLeods did not convey the right to execute leases; therefore, they retained that right. Furthermore, Thornhill would not participate in any bonuses or delay rentals obtained from any leases the McLeods may execute. This reading of the conveyance, then, leaves Thornhill with a royalty interest, a reading that consistently applies our long held rules of deed construction. The Harris opinion is no aberration on this point, either. Third, the majority opinion finds this conveyance to create an ambiguity, contrary to the chancellor's findings, and then proceeds to ignore the principles we have applied to construing ambiguous instruments. In Clark v. Carter, 351 So.2d 1333 (Miss. 1977), this Court wrote: Although the terms of a contract generally are construed more strongly against the grantor or maker when they are vague or ambiguous, it is also an established principle of law that such terms are construed more strongly against the party preparing the instrument. [emphasis added] Clark at 1336. See also Stampley v. Gilbert, 332 So.2d 61, 63 (Miss. 1976); Globe Music Corporation v. Johnson, 226 Miss. 329, 84 So.2d 509 (1956); Love Petroleum v. Atlantic Oil Producing Company, 169 Miss. 259, 152 So. 829 (1934); Home Mutual Fire Insurance Company v. Pittman, 111 Miss. 420, 71 So. 739 (1916). Thornhill prepared this instrument and carried it to the McLeods for execution. If we construe this instrument more strongly against Thornhill, as we are bound to do under our precedent, we can only conclude that Thornhill, an experienced oil and gas person, knew the effect of conveying minerals but retaining in the grantor the rights appurtenant to ownership of the minerals. The effect was to create a royalty deed. Thornhill knew what he wanted to buy and knew the difference between minerals and royalty. This principle of instrument construction becomes crucial when a court is faced, as we are here, with grantors who in 1945 were elderly black people in their seventies, who could neither read nor write, and who signed the conveyance with an X. This principle was also recognized and applied in Harris when it found that Payne, an experienced oil and gas investor, intended that the conveyance give him a royalty interest. Harris at 636. Finally, the majority and the concurrence embrace the principle set out in Harris that courts should construe instruments so as to best comport with the parties' intentions appearing on the instrument itself. In this respect, Harris embodies principles of deed construction, as pointed out above, set out early on in Richardson v. Moore, 198 Miss. 741, 749-50, 22 So.2d 494, 495 (1945). See also Payne v. Campbell, 250 Miss. 227, 164 So.2d 780 (1964); Salem Brick & Lumber Co. v. Williams, 210 Miss. 560, 50 So.2d 130 (1951). However, while paying lip service to these principles, the majority fails to apply them to this case, something in Harris we did not fail to do. The very words of the 1945 conveyance itself shows the intent of the parties, as discussed above. The typed-in portion expressly turns the mineral conveyance into a royalty conveyance. But if, as the majority claims, the instrument creates an ambiguity, we can look to the circumstances surrounding the parties when the conveyance was executed, and we can look to the practical construction the parties themselves placed upon it. What speaks volumes are two facts. First, in 1948, Thornhill acknowledged that his interest was a one-half royalty when he applied for an ad valorem tax exemption. Second, Thornhill delayed until 1979 in asserting his executive rights. The McLeods continued to execute leases covering this property in 1949, 1959, 1971, 1974, 1976, 1977 and 1979; Thornhill did not attempt to execute a lease until five months before the well was spudded in 1979. Thus, the objective circumstances surrounding this deed points strongly to the conclusion that it conveyed only a non-participating royalty interest, especially when considered in the light of the fact that Thornhill, the experienced oil and gas person, prepared the conveyance and obtained its execution from elderly, illiterate grantors. The chancellor likewise found these two facts to speak volumes and weighed them into his findings.