Noble v. Tyler (61 Ohio St. 432, 1900)

Minshall, J.

The real question in this case is, When did the rent for which these notes were given, accrue? If upon the facts as found, it accrued, in the proper sense of the term, in the life time of Marcella McLean, the notes, to their full value, should have been inventoried as assets of her estate. The lease, in each case, or more properly speaking, the agreement for the occupation and farming of the land, was made, the one August 15, 1892, and the other September 3, of the same year. They gave to the tenant, in each case, the right to seed part of the land in wheat in the fall of 1892, and to farm the land for the year 1893. This is the common way among farmers of renting lands to be farmed for a year — wheat in our climate being sown in the fall and harvested in the following summer. No one would claim, under this letting, either tenant could have sown his tract in wheat in the fall of 1893, with the right to harvest it in 1894, for all his rights in the premises were to end with the harvesting of the crops, cultivated in that year, and the rent then accrued; and would have been payable but for the agreement by which the time was extended to the first of March following.

By an indulgence of the common law in favor of agriculture, incorporated in the statute law of this state, Sections 6026 and 6027, Revised Statutes, one whose estate may be terminated by an event, the time whereof is uncertain, has the right to reap what he has sown, although this may, to some extent, trench upon the occupancy of the tenant of the next estate in remainder or reversion. This, however, cannot be said to impair the next estate; for it is an incident, created by law, of every estate in reversion or remainder — a burthen, if it be one, imposed, as we have said, in the interest of agriculture; for, when the termination of an estate is uncertain, it would greatly discourage the cultivation of the land, if every such tenant must sow at his peril. Hence it is that the right to harvest growing crops, sown and cultivated before the termination of the partícula,.' estate, in no légal sense infringes upon the next estate in possession. Every such estate is created subject to such contingency; and the right is an inch dent to every estate whose termination is not fixed by some definite time. When the time of the termination of an estate is definitely known, the reason ceases, and no such right exists; and this is why we have said, that if either of the renters of Mrs. McLean had sown the land rented to him in wheat in the fall of 1893, he would have done so at his peril, as the termination of his tenancy was a fixed period, limited to the time in which annual crops are usually harvested in the fall.

It therefore follows, as we think, that the agreement for the cultivation of the particular farms of the deceased, terminated in her life time, and the rent agreed to be paid on or before March 1,1894, had accrued, and the notes should have been inventoried at their full value as assets of her estate. The makers of the notes could make no defense to their collection, as they had fully enjoyed, under the agreement and the law, the consideration for their respective promises to pay.

Much confusion has arisen in the case from the fact that the rent did not, by the agreement of the parties, become due until March 1, 1894, about six months after the death of the life tenant, from which it is assumed that the rent then accrued. This would imply that the term, instead of being for a year, was for a year and six months, which is contrary to the fact. The accrual of rent does not necessarily depend upon the time fixed by the parties for its payment. The accrual of rent has respect to the term of the lease. It accrues as the term elapses and is fully accrued when the term is complete. The term and the enjoyment of it is the consideration for the rent; when the term is complete the rent has accrued. If, as claimed, the question depends upon when the rent is made payable,, irrespective