Brown v. Oliver
Kansas Supreme Court
256 P. 1008 (1927)
Brown (plaintiff) bought land with a hotel on it from Oliver (defendant) under a written contract that never mentioned the hotel's personal property. After the sale, Oliver took possession of the hotel through an assigned lease, but when Brown told him to leave, Oliver departed in the night taking the personal property with him. Brown sued in replevin to recover the property; the trial court ruled for Brown, and Oliver appealed, presumably arguing the written contract's silence on the personal property should control.
Whether, when a written contract is only partially integrated, parol evidence may be considered to determine whether the parties intended a disputed subject not mentioned in the contract to be governed by that written document.