Petra Trevino; Angelita Garcia Segovia; Inocencia Garcia Valdez; Ely Trevino and Roy Trevino, Individually and d/b/a Three Sisters Cattle Co; Three Sisters Cattle Co; and Three Sisters Ranch v. Angel Garcia Maldonado, Jr., Aldo Garcia Maldonado, Claudia Alexa Maldonado, and Errol John Dietze, in his capacity as Temporary Administrator of the Estate of Juan Garcia, Deceased--Appeal from County Court of La Salle County

MEMORANDUM OPINION
No. 04-06-00120-CV
IN THE ESTATE OF Juan GARCIA, Deceased
From the County Court, La Salle County, Texas
Trial Court No. 1401 A
Honorable John A. Hutchison, III, Judge Presiding (1)

Opinion by: Rebecca Simmons, Justice

 

Sitting: Alma L. L pez, Chief Justice

Phylis J. Speedlin, Justice

Rebecca Simmons, Justice

 

Delivered and Filed: March 14, 2007

 

AFFIRMED

 

The appellants appeal a summary judgment declaring a Deed of Gift to be void. Because we conclude that the trial court properly declared the Deed of Gift to be void based on an insufficient legal description of the properties conveyed, we affirm the trial court's judgment on this basis. Accordingly, we do not address the other issues raised by the appellants in their briefs.

To prevail on a motion for summary judgment, the movant has the burden of showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that judgment should be granted as a matter of law. Shah v. Moss, 67 S.W.3d 836, 842 (Tex. 2001). All doubt is resolved against the movant, and the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmovants. Id. All evidence favorable to the nonmovant is taken as true. Id. When a trial court's order granting summary judgment does not specify the ground or grounds relied on for its ruling, summary judgment will be affirmed on appeal if any of the theories advanced are meritorious. Dow Chem. Co. v. Francis, 46 S.W.3d 237, 242 (Tex. 2001).

The sufficiency of the legal description in any instrument transferring a property interest is a question of law. Haines v. McLean, 276 S.W.2d 777, 781-82 (Tex. 1955); Dixon v. Amoco Production Co., 150 S.W.3d 191, 194 (Tex. App.--Tyler 2004, pet. denied). For a legal description to be sufficient, the writing must furnish within itself or by reference to some other existing writing, the means or data by which the land to be conveyed may be identified with reasonable certainty. Morrow v. Shotwell, 477 S .W.2d 538, 539 (Tex. 1972). The legal description in the conveyance not only must furnish enough information to locate the general area as in identifying it by tract survey and county, it also must contain information regarding the size, shape, and boundaries. See Reiland v. Patrick Thomas Properties, Inc., No. 01-06-00341-CV, 2006 WL 2772848, at *4 (Tex. App.--Houston [1st Dist.] Sept. 28, 2006, no pet.). Even when the record leaves little doubt that the parties knew and understood what property was intended to be conveyed, the knowledge and intent of the parties will not give validity to the deed a nd neither will a plat made from extrinsic evidence. See Morrow, 477 S.W.2d at 540; Reiland, 2006 WL 2772848, at *4.

The Deed of Gift in this case contains the following property description:

AB BLK: 1650&31 LOT:318&61/ABST 1650 SUR318 E.B. O'NEAL,ABST318 SUR61/2 EB O'NEAL B 295.52

 

AB BLK; 1651&16 LOT:6&318 ABS 1651 SUR 6 ABS 1558 SUR 61/2 ABS 1650 SUR 318 E B O'NEAL SUBDIV 2 B121.13

 

AB BLK 1650 LOT: 0318 ABST 1650 SUR 318 E B O'NEAL ABST 318 SUR 61/2 E B O'NEAL ABST 318 SUR 61/2 E B O'NEAL C 97.30 acres

 

AB BLK: 165D1 LOT 0006 AB 1651 SUR 6 AB 1558 SUR 61/2 AB 1650 SUR 318 E B O'NEAL SUB DIV 2 P 20.00 acres

 

LS BLK: 0005 LOT: 0002 LOT 2 BLOCK 5 LA SALLE

LS BLK: 0005 LOT: 0001 LOT 1 BLOCK 5 LA SALLE

LS BLK: 0005 LOT: 0003 LOT 3 BLOCK 5 LA SALLE

 

ALL OF 1/6 INTEREST IN THE UNDIVIDED PABLO GARCIA EST :

AB BLK 0911 LOT: 0099 ABST 911 SUR 99 ACH7B P 54.00 acres

AB BLK; 0536 LOT: 0077 ABST 536 SUR 77 JOHNSON P 186.16 acres

AB BLK: 0911 LOT: 0099 ABST 911 SUR 99 ACH&B B 282.00 acres

AB BLK: 0536 LOT: 0077 ABST 536 SUR 77 JOHN JOHNSON C .50 acres

 

From the record, it would appear that the description of the property in the deed was copied from a report provided by the tax assessor-collector of La Salle County, Texas. On its face, however, the deed is insufficient to identify the property with reasonable certainty. First, the description provides no county, city, or State for the property. See Mayor v. Garcia, 104 S.W.3d 274, 277 (Tex. App.--Texarkana 2003, pet. dism'd w.o.j.). In addition, surmising that the conveyance included several different tracts of land, the legal description omits the acreage of certain tracts. See id. Although the appellants presented the affidavit of a land surveyor asserting that the legal description was sufficient, the surveyor states, "There is a way to go beyond the four corners of the document to locate the property." However, extrinsic evidence may not be used to supply the essential elements of the legal description. Wilson v. Fisher, 188 S.W.2d 150, 152 (Tex. 1945); see also Morrow, 477 S.W.2d at 540-41 (finding description insufficient even though a surveyor was able to make a plat locating the property after a search of abstract records and on directions given by an attorney); Reiland, 2006 WL 2772848, at *5 (finding description insufficient where surveyor was able to locate real property only by reviewing the Harris County Real Property Records).

Accordingly, the trial court did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of the appellees because the legal description of the property to be conveyed in the Deed of Gift did not sufficiently identify the property with reasonable certainty.

 

Rebecca Simmons, Justice

 

1. Sitting by assignment.