Court Opinion

ID: 9610510
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 03:42:29.192488+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:03:00.533667
License: Public Domain

Felton, C. J.,
dissenting. The material part of the note sued on is as follows: “$10,000 Augusta, Ga. May 1st 1949. Five years after date the undersigned promises to pay to the order of Mary E. Jones with interest from date at 1 percent interest payable semi-annually in case of her death or marriage the note becomes canceled and the obligation of the maker ceases. Renewal at the end of five years.”
1. I am of the opinion that the part of the note providing for cancellation of the obligation to pay in case of the death of the payee is ambiguous, which view I shall later discuss, but assuming for the sake of argument that the provision is unambiguous it is then contradictory and repugnant to the unconditional promise to pay $10,000 and must yield to it. If the provision is unambiguous, it means that the note could never be enforced because the death of the payee was certain to occur. The defendant in error treats the provision as unambiguous and at the same time interprets it to mean that the note would be canceled if the payee died before the maturity of the note. This position is inconsistent because if the provision as written is unambig*644uous, nothing additional can be read into it, such as “before maturity of the note.” In the absence of any effort to reform the contract and, under the assumption that it is unambiguous, the rule laid down in Drake v. Wayne, 52 Ga. App. 654 (184 S. E. 339), and Waxelbaum v. Carroll, 58 Ga. App. 771 (199 S. E. 858) and various others, controls.
2. I think the terms of the note are ambiguous as to the time when the note would become canceled, which involves the question whether they meant that the debt would be canceled if the payee died before maturity or before the death of the maker. As to the meaning of ambiguity, see Tarbutton v. Duggan, 45 Ga. App. 31 (5) (163 S. E. 298); Novelty Hat Mfg. Co. v. Wiseberg, 126 Ga. 800 (55 S. E. 923). Evidence was offered in this case which tended to explain what the terms of the note meant. In substance the evidence was that the maker and payee owned $10,000 worth of bonds payable to' them jointly “or to the survivor,” and that it was their intention that the note should take the place of the bonds. Even if the addition of the provision that the note would be canceled by the marriage of the payee prevented the effectuation of the parties’ intention, the evidence would still be relevant to show at what time and under what condition the note would be canceled by the payee’s death. I think the'court erred in disallowing the evidence, as the maker died before the payee.
3. I think the provisions of the note with reference to the cancellation of the same upon the payee’s death are ineffective to cancel the note because they are not sufficient to make a complete gift inter vivos. Code §§ 48-101, 48-103, 48-104; Drake v. Wayne, 52 Ga. App. 654. It was not a gift causa mortis. Code § 48-201. The provision was an abortive testamentary disposition as it took effect upon the death of the payee, the party making the disposition, as the instrument was not signed and witnessed as a will and had not been probated. Code §§ 113-101, 113-102.
4. The provision is not enforceable as a condition in a contract. The majority of the rulings in other States seems to be to the contrary (127 A. L. R. 634) but the better reasoning is by the minority. There may be instances where such a cancellation of a debt upon the death of a party might be enforceable but in *645general to permit such a result upon the happening of contingencies provided for by parties to contracts would encourage all kinds of gambling and wagering contracts. It would be much safer and' sounder to adhere to our gift rules and rules of testamentary disposition both of which require strict conformity to the provisions of law. Another inequitable result of the enforcement of such a provision as we have in this case could be quasi-conditional gifts or gifts through contractual provisions which could put the debts receivable of a deceased beyond the reach of creditors of the estate. If when such specious contracts were made the party surrendering the debt was solvent they could not be attacked. If he was insolvent the passage of time might result in difficulty of proving the inequity of the transaction.
5. Code § 14-904 does not apply because it refers to a renunciation effective immediately and not one made conditionally in advance.
I think the court erred in denying the motion for a new trial.