Byrd v. Abney

99 So. 3d 1180, 2012 Miss. App. LEXIS 662, 2012 WL 5327416
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedOctober 30, 2012
DocketNo. 2011-CA-00596-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 99 So. 3d 1180 (Byrd v. Abney) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Byrd v. Abney, 99 So. 3d 1180, 2012 Miss. App. LEXIS 662, 2012 WL 5327416 (Mich. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

GRIFFIS, P.J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Ricky Byrd and Vera Byrd appeal the chancellor’s decisions to award Cynthia Byrd Abney and Susie Byrd a one-half interest each in the subject property and to award attorney’s fees to Cynthia. Ricky and Vera argue that Vera should have received a constructive trust for a fee simple interest in the property.

¶ 2. Ricky and Vera raise four issues on appeal. They first argue that the decision to award Susie an undivided one-half interest in the property via a constructive trust was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Next, they argue that it was error for the chancellor to: give Vera the option to buy Cynthia’s undivided one-half interest in the property for $11,100.41; award a $3,500.07 insurance check for the property to Cynthia as an offset to the attorney’s fees due to her; and award attorney’s fees of $8,240.20 to Cynthia.

FACTS

¶ 8. Vera owned property in Lakeland View subdivision in Jackson County, Mississippi. In March 2002, Vera deeded the property to Ricky. Vera did so because she feared the property would succumb to her creditors’ claims. Ricky promised to deed the property back to Vera upon her request.

¶ 4. In December 2002, Ricky deeded the property to Cynthia. Ricky did so because he feared he would lose the property in his divorce. Cynthia testified that she agreed to accept the deed on the condition she incurred no expenses. Ricky testified that Cynthia promised to deed the property back to Vera. Ricky paid some of the taxes on the property. He also paid one or two years of the homeowner’s insurance premiums.

¶5. Cynthia paid $11,100.41 in homeowner’s insurance premiums. In 2007, Cynthia cancelled the joint policy that ben-efitted herself and Vera. Cynthia purchased a new renter’s dwelling insurance policy on the property with herself as the sole beneficiary.

¶ 6. Vera lived in Texas until 2005. Vera lived with Susie until 2006 when Susie moved out and to a nursing home. Vera testified that Susie did not want to live with her. Susie testified that Vera did not want her there and that Vera harassed her by placing water buckets in front of her door and moving her walker. In 2008, Vera requested that Cynthia deed back the property. Cynthia refused.

¶ 7. In January 2008, Ricky filed suit against Cynthia and alleged the breach of a fiduciary duty. Susie intervened and alleged that the home was purchased for her benefit in 1990. Susie is the mother of Vera, Cynthia, and Ricky. Susie lived at the home on the property from 1990 to 2006. Susie testified that she paid $200 a month for a one-half interest. Susie testified that the property was not titled in her name because her Social Security benefits would have been reduced.

¶ 8. On May 24, 2010, Cynthia filed her answer. In Cynthia’s answer, she stated that she agreed to deed back the property upon Vera’s request. However, that agreement was based on Vera’s reimbursement for expenses that Cynthia paid.

[1183]*1183¶ 9. Susie and Cynthia filed counterclaims that involved the tax and insurance expenses Cynthia had paid and the mortgage payments Susie had paid. At trial, Vera testified that the payments from Susie were rent payments, not mortgage payments.

¶ 10. The chancellor held that an undivided one-half interest in the property vested in Susie and Cynthia. The chancellor also ordered Vera and Ricky to pay Cynthia $8,240.20 in attorney’s fees, and that amount was to be offset by a $8,500.07 insurance check that the court ordered Vera to sign over to Cynthia. The chancellor gave Ricky and Vera sixty days to purchase Cynthia’s interest for $11,100.41, the amount of the expenses incurred by Cynthia for taxes and insurance on the property.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 11. In appeals from the chancery court, this Court applies a limited standard of review. McNeil v. Hester, 753 So.2d 1057, 1063 (¶21) (Miss.2000). “This Court will not overturn a chancellor’s findings of fact when supported by substantial evidence unless an erroneous legal standard [was] applied or [the chancellor was] manifestly wrong.” Grafe v. Olds, 556 So.2d 690, 692 (Miss.1990). “The standard of review employed by this Court for review of a chancellor’s decision is abuse of discretion.” McNeil, 753 So.2d at 1063 (¶ 21) (citation omitted). For questions of law, the standard of review is de novo. Id.

ANALYSIS

1. Whether the chancellor’s decision that an undivided one-half interest in the property vested in Susie was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.

¶ 12. The chancellor held that “a constructive trust has been established in favor of [Susie,] and an undivided one-half interest in the [property] shall vest in [Susie] .... ” Ricky and Vera argue that Susie never requested a constructive trust at trial. They argue that Susie testified that she did not want any interest in the property or money returned to her.

¶ 13. However, Susie testified that she would like the money she paid back or “something out of the house.” Susie lived there sixteen years. The record demonstrates Susie was elderly, frail, confused, emotional, and at times appeared to contradict herself.

■ ¶ 14. “A constructive trust is a fiction of equity created for the purpose of preventing unjust enrichment by one who holds legal title to property which, under principles of justice and fairness, rightfully belongs, to another.” McNeil, 753 So.2d at 1064 (¶ 24). The definition of constructive trust is:

one that arises by operation of law against one who, by fraud, actual or constructive, by duress or abuse of confidence, by commission of wrong, or by any form of unconscionable conduct, artifice, concealment, or questionable means, or who in any way against equity and good conscience, either has obtained or holds the legal right to property which he ought not, in equity and good conscience, hold and enjoy.

Id. (citations omitted).

¶ 15. A court of equity is authorized to create a constructive trust where there is a confidential relationship and abuse of that confidence. Id. at (¶25). Proof of fraud is not required. Id.

¶ 16. “In order for the chancellor to have properly imposed a constructive trust, he must have found that there was a confidential relationship between [Susie] and [Vera], plus substantial credible evi[1184]*1184dence that [Vera] abused the relationship to obtain property which [she] ought not, in equity and good conscience, hold and enjoy.” Id. at 1064 (¶ 27).

¶ 17. There was testimony that Susie’s adult children agreed to help find a house for Susie and the younger children. Susie had had a bad divorce and was receiving Social Security disability benefits. Susie’s name was not on the deed because it might have adversely affected her Social Security benefits. The monthly mortgage payment, excluding taxes and insurance, was $388.97. Susie paid $200 to Vera every month. The mortgage was paid in full before April 2001. Susie had paid Vera a total of $25,910 over a ten-year period, an average of approximately $215.91 a month. The mortgage payment including escrow was $430.25.

¶ 18. After the mortgage was paid off, Susie did not make any more monthly payments. Yet, she lived in the house six more years.

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Bluebook (online)
99 So. 3d 1180, 2012 Miss. App. LEXIS 662, 2012 WL 5327416, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/byrd-v-abney-missctapp-2012.