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Final Copy 286 Ga. 541

S09A1804. MANN v. BLALOCK. Thompson, Justice. In this quiet title action, appellant Charles S. Mann appeals from an order of the superior court adopting the report of a Special Master and decreeing that fee simple title to an undeveloped two-acre tract of land in Lamar County is vested in appellee N. L. Blalock. In 1995 Hattie Thelma Mann died owning the real property at issue. She named appellant (her brother) as executor with power to administer her estate. In Item V of her Last Will and Testament, she disposed of the land as follows: "I give, bequeath, and devise to my beloved nephew, Lawrence Mann, two acres of land to live on, and, in the event said Lawrence Mann should not live on said two acres of land, same will revert to my estate."1 Pursuant to that bequest, appellant conveyed the property by administrator's deed to Lawrence Mann in 1996. Apparently based on information that Lawrence Mann was not residing

Lawrence Mann is also known as Allen Lawrence Mann, but for purposes of consistency he will be referred to as Lawrence Mann in this opinion.
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on the property, in 2004 appellant filed a prior quiet title action ("2004 action") pursuant to which an order was entered vesting fee simple title to the two-acre parcel in appellant as executor of the estate.2 On the next day, appellant in his capacity as executor, deeded the property to himself individually. In 2004 the Lamar County Commissioner conducted a tax sale to levy on the property for unpaid taxes for the years 2002 and 2003. A title search showed Lawrence Mann as the owner and taxpayer of record and he was named as a defendant in fi. fa. and served with notice of the proceedings. The tax commissioner also named and served appellant as a party due to uncertainty in the chain of title. The property was sold on the courthouse steps to appellee who acquired a tax deed from the commissioner. In addition, Lawrence Mann executed a quitclaim deed in favor of appellee in 2005, expressly releasing any right of redemption he may have had resulting from the tax sale. Both the tax deed and the subsequent quitclaim deed were duly recorded and indexed. In 2007 appellee filed the present action seeking to remove as clouds upon

It was established at the hearing before the Special Master that Lawrence Mann had at some time in the past lived in a trailer on the property, but that he had not resided on the property since the death of the testatrix.
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the title (1) the order resulting from the 2004 quiet title action, and (2) the administrator's deed from appellant in his capacity as executor to Lawrence Mann. The matter was heard before a Special Master who found that the 2004 petition to quiet title was defective as a matter of law; that the administrator's deed conveyed fee simple title to Lawrence Mann without reservation or limitation; and that any restriction or limitation contained in Item V of Hattie Mann's will was null and void once appellant conveyed the property in fee simple to Lawrence Mann. The Special Master recommended that appellee be granted fee simple title to the land free and clear of any clouds or encumbrances. The superior court adopted the Special Master's findings and entered final judgment for appellee. This appeal followed. Before turning to the findings of the Special Master, we note that "`[i]n an action to quiet title brought under OCGA

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Georgia Law