Beall v. Beall

577 S.E.2d 356, 156 N.C. App. 542, 2003 N.C. App. LEXIS 188
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedMarch 18, 2003
DocketCOA02-743
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 577 S.E.2d 356 (Beall v. Beall) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Beall v. Beall, 577 S.E.2d 356, 156 N.C. App. 542, 2003 N.C. App. LEXIS 188 (N.C. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinions

LEVINSON, Judge.

Plaintiffs are the children of defendant and his ex-wife, Patricia Beall, and were bom 23 February 1977 and 27 November 1978. In 1987 defendant became a custodian for bank accounts and certificates of deposit opened under the Uniform Transfer to Minors Act (UTMA) and belonging to plaintiffs. Defendant and his ex-wife entered divorce proceedings in Florida, their place of residence, on 27 September 1988.

On 7 March 1991, as part of the divorce proceedings, defendant’s ex-wife filed a “Motion for Accounting of Children’s Money,” wherein she requested “a full accounting of the children’s money, together with an award of attorney’s fees and costs. ...” On 8 April 1991, the trial court entered an “Order on Motion for Accounting” requiring defendant to produce all records regarding the children’s trust assets, to provide those records to his ex-wife, and to transfer all children’s assets that he held into proper form under the UTMA.

During 1991 and 1992 defendant’s ex-wife made multiple motions for enforcement of prior orders requesting defendant be held in contempt for failing to make the accounting ordered and for unpaid alimony. On 12 December 1991, the trial court found that defendant did not owe unpaid alimony, but on 3 May 1994, the trial court entered an “Order on Motion to Enforce Prior Orders” ordering defendant to pay $3,337 to defendant’s ex-wife as repayment for furnishings, Christmas presents, and children’s expenses. This $3,337 was paid out of UTMA accounts. Although defendant’s ex-wife moved for a rehear[544]*544ing, that motion was denied, and the trial court indicated that its ruling was final.

In their complaint filed 16 March 1998 in Wake County, defendant’s current place of residence, plaintiffs argue defendant improperly transferred and misappropriated funds from their trust accounts for which he was custodian. Specifically, they allege constructive fraud, conversion, unfair and deceptive trade practice, and misappropriation, and they request an accounting, constructive trust, and punitive damages. Defendant moved for summary judgment, and after hearing arguments and taking evidence, the trial court granted defendant’s motion.

Summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and any party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. N.C.G.S. § 1A-1, Rule 56(c) (2001); Coastal Leasing Corp. v. T-Bar Corp., 128 N.C. App. 379, 496 S.E.2d 795 (1998). A defendant, as the moving party, bears the burden of showing that no triable issue exists. Roumillat v. Simplistic Enterprises, Inc., 331 N.C. 57, 62-63, 414 S.E.2d 339, 341-42 (1992). A defendant may meet this burden by showing that the plaintiff cannot surmount an affirmative defense. Id. at 63, 414 S.E.2d at 342. Once a defendant has met this burden, the plaintiff must forecast evidence tending to show that a prima facie case exists. Id.

Defendant contends (1) plaintiffs’ action is barred by res judicata and collateral estoppel, and (2) plaintiff Bradley Beall is barred by the statute of limitations. We turn first to defendant’s contention that plaintiffs are barred by res judicata and collateral estoppel.

First, we note, defendant correctly argues that Florida substantive law applies because the contract creating the children’s trusts were made in Florida under UTMA and because the acts alleged took place in Florida. Boudreau v. Baughman, 322 N.C. 331, 335, 368 S.E.2d 849, 854 (1988). However, as the claim was brought in this State, defendant’s current residence, the remedial or procedural laws of North Carolina apply. Id.; Byrd Motor Lines, Inc. v. Dunlop Tire and Rubber Corp., 63 N.C. App. 292, 297, 304 S.E.2d 773, 777 (1983).

The two doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel act to bar the relitigation of issues and rights already resolved. See King v. Grindstaff 284 N.C. 348, 200 S.E.2d 799 (1973). They do not determine the existence or non-existence of a right but serve to bar the remedy provided by such a right. Id. Thus, we examine the standards [545]*545necessary to the establishment of res judicata and collateral estoppel under North Carolina law.

Res judicata is a doctrine of claim preclusion that prevents relit-igation of a claim or cause of action between the same parties or their privies. Thomas M. McInnis & Assoc., Inc. v. Hall, 318 N.C. 421, 436, 349 S.E.2d 552, 561 (1986); see King, 284 N.C. 348, 200 S.E.2d 799. It precludes all issues that could or should have been raised in support or defense of the prior claim. Mclnnis & Assoc., 318 N.C. at 436, 349 S.E.2d at 561. Similarly, collateral estoppel is a doctrine of issues preclusion, preventing parties or their privies from relitigating “facts or issues actually determined in a previous action based upon a different claim or cause of action.” Id.

For res judicata to bar plaintiffs’ action defendant must show: (1) the previous suit resulted in a final judgment on the merits, (2) the same cause of action is involved, and (3) both he and plaintiffs were either parties or are in privity with the parties of the prior action. Id. at 429, 349 S.E.2d at 557.

Although the parties argued extensively whether defendant’s ex-wife stood in privity with plaintiffs, we need not reach that issue as we, nevertheless, find defendant has not met his burden of establishing the other elements necessary to res judicata. Although similar underlying facts to those forming plaintiffs’ basis for the present action may have led defendant’s ex-wife to request the accounting in the prior action, defendant has failed to show the present cause of action is not separate and distinct in kind from the earlier. Whereas the prior claim was a motion for an accounting arising out of divorce proceedings, the present claim is for fraud, conversion, unfair and deceptive trade practice, and misappropriation. There is insufficient evidence that this is the relitigation of that prior cause of action, not a new and distinct claim.

Turning to defendant’s argument that collateral estoppel bars plaintiffs’ action, to establish that affirmative defense, defendant must show: (1) the earlier action resulted in a final judgment on the merits, (2) the issue in question is identical to an issue actually litigated in the earlier suit, (3) the judgment on the earlier issue was necessary to that case, and (4) both parties are either identical to or in privity with a party or the parties from the prior suit. Id. at 428-29, 349 S.E.2d at 557; King, 284 N.C. at 355, 200 S.E.2d at 805.

Here, although the parties again focused primarily on the privity requirement, we need not reach that issue as defendant fails to estab[546]*546lish collateral estoppel

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cabrera v. Hensley
2012 NCBC 41 (North Carolina Business Court, 2012)
Bluebird Corp. v. Aubin
657 S.E.2d 55 (Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 2008)
Herring v. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education
656 S.E.2d 307 (Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 2008)
Blair v. Robinson
631 S.E.2d 217 (Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 2006)
Lassiter v. LabCorp Occupational Testing Services, Inc.
337 F. Supp. 2d 746 (M.D. North Carolina, 2004)
Spencer v. Town of Chapel Hill
290 F. Supp. 2d 655 (M.D. North Carolina, 2003)
Beall v. Beall
577 S.E.2d 356 (Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
577 S.E.2d 356, 156 N.C. App. 542, 2003 N.C. App. LEXIS 188, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/beall-v-beall-ncctapp-2003.