Section 35 Petition to Reform Deed Description and to Quiet Title by Adverse Possession

• Library: Real Estate Fundamentals 2011

The following is an example of a petition to reform the description in a deed that was incorrect at the time of the conveyance. Defendants who conveyed the real estate are now deceased and their heirs are unknown. Count I of the petition is for reformation of the description, and Count II is, in effect, a suit to quiet title by adverse possession. This gives the plaintiff an opportunity to submit the case on two different theories. If there are two or more possible theories on which to base the case, it may be prudent to allege all possible theories, each in a separate count of the petition. In this manner, if the evidence is insufficient to sustain the first theory, there may be others on which to base title.

In the Circuit Court of __________ County, Missouri

John Brown and Suzi Brown, his wife, Plaintiffs )

v. ) Case No. _____

John Doe and Mary Doe, his wife, )

if living, and if deceased, their unknown heirs, )

devisees, grantees, assignees, donees, alienees, )

legatees, administrators, executors, )

guardians, mortgagees, trustees, legal )

representatives, and all other persons, )

corporations, or successors claiming by, )

through, or under them, Defendants. )

Petition

Count I

Plaintiffs, for Count I of their Petition, state:

1. On [date], defendants, John Doe and Mary Doe, his wife, sold to plaintiffs a...