Date: 1893-03-25
Source: ru:ND

To the Samara District Court

The attorney for Anton Kirlov Palaleev, a peasant from the village of Chuvashskiy Melekes in the Stavropol Uyezd of Samara Governorate, and for Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, assistant to the sworn attorney and resident of Samara on Postovaya Street in Rytykov’s House, as well as for Andrey Nikolaevich Khardin, sworn attorney of the Melekes Town Council and resident of Samara on Saratovskaya Street in Voshchakin’s House—these attorneys represent the case of Stepan Ivanovich Morochenkov, a peasant from the village of Selkova in the Sudogda Uyezd of Vladimir Governorate.

Defendant

The attorney for Stepan Morochenkov, sworn attorney Lyalin, brought an action against the Melekes Town Council and against the estate of Anastasia Golovina, the late wife of a reserve soldier, seeking to have the deed of sale—executed on July 17, 1890, before the Melekes notary Itesky and ratified on July 24, 1890, by the senior notary of the Samara District Court under Registry No. 1707—annulled. The deed had been issued to the Melekes Town Council for the sale of a homestead plot in the town of Melekes, designated Plan No. 60, to Anastasia Kirilova Morochenkova (née Golovina), the second wife of Stepan Morochenkov. The plaintiff sought to establish that Stepan Morochenkov held rightful ownership of this homestead plot.

The basis of the plaintiff’s claim rests on the fact that the late brother of the plaintiff, Pavel Ivanovich Morochenkov—who had owned the disputed homestead plot until 1888—paid the redemption fee for the plot, as prescribed by the Town Duma, on October 4, 1882. On December 30, 1882, he received Certificate No. 122 from the Town Council confirming his payment. This certificate was submitted by the plaintiff in his petition; it stated that upon Pavel Morochenkov’s payment of the redemption fee for the homestead plot, the plot “from this very date shall pass into the ownership of Morochenkov.” Consequently, the plaintiff argued, the subsequent sale of the homestead plot by the Town Council to Anastasia Golovina (as noted above, the deed of sale was executed in 1890) was invalid, since at the time of the sale, the homestead plot did not belong to the seller—the Town Council—but rather to Pavel Morochenkov himself.

However, the plaintiff’s argument is entirely mistaken. On December 23, 1888, the late Pavel Morochenkov submitted to the Melekes Town Council a notarized application requesting that the homestead plot listed under Plan No. 60 be transferred to the name of his wife, Anastasia Kirilova Morochenkova. The Town Council duly transferred the homestead plot to Anastasia Morochenkova’s name and issued her Certificate No. 34 on October 13, 1889, confirming payment of the redemption fee for the homestead plot.

This transfer was perfectly lawful, for Pavel Morochenkov’s payment of the redemption fee did not, in itself, transfer ownership of the homestead plot from the Town Council to Pavel Morochenkov (since, according to the law, the transfer of real property occurs only through feudal documents—and even then, only from the moment such documents are ratified by the senior notary). Rather, Pavel Morochenkov’s payment merely granted him the right to demand either the issuance of a feudal document for the land or the return of the money he had paid. Naturally, the Town Council’s assertion that “ownership passed to Morochenkov as of December 30, 1882” carries no legal weight, since domestic documents do not effect the transfer of real property rights.

Before the deed was issued, the homestead plot remained the property of the Town Council. After transferring the plot to Anastasia Morochenkova at Morochenkov’s request, the Town Council went on to execute the deed of sale transferring the plot to Anastasia Kirilova Morochenkova (née Golovina), the second wife of Stepan Morochenkov.

Thus, the plaintiff’s first claim—that the deed of sale be declared invalid—is rendered moot, and with it, his second claim—that ownership of the homestead plot under Plan No. 60 be recognized as belonging solely to Stepan Ivanovich Morochenkov, the sole heir of Pavel Morochenkov.

The disputed homestead plot is rightfully owned by Anton Kirilov Palaleev, a peasant and the natural brother and sole heir of Anastasia Kirilova Morochenkova (née Golovina), who passed away on February 3, 1891.

Based on the foregoing, we have the honor to request that the Samara District Court, in the case brought by Stepan Morochenkov against the Melekes Town Council and against the estate of the late wife of a reserve soldier, Anastasia Golovina, deny the plaintiff’s claims and order the plaintiff to bear the court costs and expenses incurred in the proceedings.

Enclosed herein: two powers of attorney, Morochenkov’s petition, copies of this response and its attachments, and a summons dated May 25, 1893.*

Assistant to the sworn attorney V. Ulyanov.

Sworn attorney A. Khardin.²*

Published in part in “Soviet State and Law,” 1956, No. 3, pp. 68–69.

Fund 2, Inventory 1, File 29—autograph.

1The case of A.K. Palaleev was heard in the Civil Division of the Samara District Court. Sworn attorney A.N. Khardin entrusted the handling of the case to V.I. Ulyanov. At the final hearing on May 18 (30), 1893, Ulyanov delivered two speeches and the court rendered its judgment: “Having heard the case of peasant Stepan Ivanovich Morochenkov against the Melekes Town Council and against the estate of the late wife of a reserve soldier, Anastasia Kirilova Golovina, the first wife of Morochenkov, and having considered the opinion of the Assistant Prosecutor, the Court rules: To deny the claim brought by Stepan Ivanovich Morochenkov, a peasant from the village of Selkova in the Sudogda Uyezd of Vladimir Governorate, against the Melekes Town Council and against the estate of the late wife of a reserve soldier, Anastasia Kirilova Golovina, the first wife of Morochenkov, while ordering the plaintiff to bear the court costs associated with the case” (RGASPI, F. 4, Inv. 1, File 37, p. 40). The Court ruled in favor of Palaleev.

V.I. Ulyanov served as assistant to sworn attorney A.N. Khardin from January 1892 to August 1893.

1* The words “two powers of attorney… 25 k.” were written by an unknown hand.

2* The signature of A.N. Khardin is an autograph.