Bradford v. Bradford

915 S.W.2d 723, 52 Ark. App. 81, 1996 Ark. App. LEXIS 92
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedFebruary 21, 1996
DocketCA 94-1313
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 915 S.W.2d 723 (Bradford v. Bradford) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bradford v. Bradford, 915 S.W.2d 723, 52 Ark. App. 81, 1996 Ark. App. LEXIS 92 (Ark. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

John Mauzy Pittman, Judge.

Katie Bradford has appealed from an order of the Van Burén County Chancery Court allowing her son, appellee, Darrell Bradford, to intervene in his parents’ divorce action. In this order, the chancellor granted appellee specific performance of an oral contract whereby his parents agreed to convey a parcel of real property to him. On appeal, appellant argues that the chancellor erred in allowing appellee to intervene in the divorce case and in granting specific performance of the agreement. We affirm the chancellor’s decision in all respects.

In 1992, appellant and her husband, Emmitt Bradford, verbally agreed to sell appellee a thirty-eight-acre parcel of land adjoining their home for $20,000.00. Appellee paid his parents in full, took possession of the land, and built a shed and a larger building on the property. While the property was being surveyed prior to the execution of the deed, appellee got married. Appellant strongly objected to this marriage and changed her mind about conveying the property to appellee. In order to avoid further conflict, appellee accepted the return of his $20,000.00.

The discord within the family did not abate, however, and appellant sued Emmitt for divorce in August 1993. In December 1993, appellant was granted a divorce. The chancellor, however, specifically provided in the divorce decree that all issues pertaining to the property interests of the parties were reserved for a separate hearing to be held in the near future.

On January 7, 1994, appellee filed a “petition” with the chancery court in the divorce action in which he stated that his father was willing to convey the land but that appellant had refused to do so. Appellee stated that he had obtained appraisals of the two buildings that he had constructed on the property and that their total value was $12,543.00. Appellee requested the chancellor to order his parents to sell him the property as they had agreed or award him the value of the improvements. Appel-lee did not file a separate motion for leave to intervene.

In response to appellee’s petition, appellant argued that appellee was not a party to this case and did not have standing to obtain relief. She admitted that the parties had refunded the $20,000.00 to appellee.

The property issues were tried to the court on March 1, 1994. Appellant pointed out that appellee had not yet been granted leave to intervene. Over appellant’s objection, the chancellor allowed appellee to remain in the courtroom during the hearing.

Appellant testified that appellee had built the small shed on the property before there was any discussion of conveyance. She stated that she had eventually agreed to deed the thirty-eight acres to appellee and had had it surveyed for that purpose. She also admitted that appellee had paid her and her husband $20,000.00. She stated that she had refused to go through with the sale because she did not approve of appellee’s marriage.

Emmitt testified that appellee had bulldozed roads, built two buildings, and cut timber on the property and had paid $20,000.00 for the land. He stated that he had agreed to give appellee his money back to make peace and that he agreed with appellee’s petition for conveyance of the property.

Appellee testified that he had begun building the shed before the parties reached the agreement to sell him the property and had constructed the bigger building after he paid his parents the $20,000.00.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the chancellor stated:

I don’t really like a situation of an individual not having an attorney, because it increases the possibility of reversal and things not being done right. I do appreciate and understand this is a family situation, and I also do appreciate that — how if another lawsuit got started, then it could throw a monkey wrench in the gears of'getting this thing resolved, and even a bad decision is better than no decision . . . and lingering in limbo forever, so I’m going to construe the pleadings liberally and go ahead and affect Mr. Darrell Bradford’s petition as a petition for intervention. I’m going to conform the proof to the pleadings. I’m going to construe his request as a demand for specific performance in an intervention — a formal intervention, and I’m going to grant his request for specific performance. I don’t know what more evidence or indicia of partial performance there could be, and Miss Bradford openly testified that the only reason it wasn’t consummated was just an act of defiance on her part. And, they, back before any of these pressures were on them, negotiated and came to the conclusion that it was worth twenty thousand dollars ($20,000). . . . They need to go ahead and finish their bargain.

In the order entered April 28, 1994, the chancellor found that appellee had taken possession of the property, had paid the full purchase price of $20,000.00, and had made all improvements thereon. The chancellor granted appellee’s petition for specific performance of the agreement and ordered that, upon appellee’s payment of $20,000.00, a deed be delivered to him. In this order, the chancellor also directed that all of appellant’s and Emmitt’s marital personal and real property be sold at public auction. Appellant filed her notice of appeal on April 29, 1994.

On June 30, 1994, appellant filed a motion under Ark. R. Civ. P. 60(b) to correct the decree. She requested the chancellor to find that the oral agreement to convey the property violated the statute of frauds. This motion was not granted.

For her first point on appeal, appellant argues that, even though appellee filed his petition pro se, he was still required to conform to the Rules of Civil Procedure. In response, appellee states that he is in agreement with this principle. It is true that all litigants, including those who proceed pro se, must conform to the rules of procedure, or else demonstrate good cause for not doing so. Arnold & Arnold v. Williams, 315 Ark. 632, 870 S.W.2d 365 (1994), cert. denied, _ U.S. _, 115 S.Ct. 489 (1994).

In her second point, appellant argues that the chancellor erred in allowing appellee to intervene without strictly complying with the “mandatory requirements” of Ark. R. Civ. P. 24. Appellant argues that appellee was required to file a separate motion for intervention in addition to his petition for specific performance and that his failure to do so requires reversal.

We note that appellant did not articulate this argument before the trial court. Although she argued that appellee had not yet been allowed to intervene, she did not argue that his petition was inadequate under Rule 24. This court has stated that it will not consider arguments on appeal that were not fully developed at the trial level. First Nat’l Bank v. Adair, 42 Ark. App. 84, 854 S.W.2d 358 (1993).

In any event, we would find no error on the facts of this case. It is true that, ordinarily, there must be pleadings in support of the relief awarded by the court. See Bachus v. Bachus, 216 Ark. 802, 227 S.W.2d 439 (1950).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
915 S.W.2d 723, 52 Ark. App. 81, 1996 Ark. App. LEXIS 92, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bradford-v-bradford-arkctapp-1996.