Stone v. French

Francis French wrote to his brother Dudley French stating his intent, absent a prior sale, to prepare and place a deed granting Dudley the property in an envelope with instructions to mail and record it upon Francis's death; the letter and executed deed were discovered shortly before Francis died and delivered to Dudley afterward, who recorded the deed and took possession before selling to his brother-in-law, John Stone (defendant). In a later partition action naming Francis's heirs (including Dudley) as plaintiffs, the trial court found the deed to Dudley had never been validly delivered, and Stone appealed.