Catt v. Catt

866 S.W.2d 570, 1993 Tenn. App. LEXIS 449
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedJuly 8, 1993
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 866 S.W.2d 570 (Catt v. Catt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Catt v. Catt, 866 S.W.2d 570, 1993 Tenn. App. LEXIS 449 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

CRAWFORD, Judge.

This case involves the disposition of property held by a husband and wife after husband’s death. Billy U. Lyman Catt (hereinafter Deceased) died intestate June 25, 1991. He was survived by Martin Catt (hereinafter Appellant), his only child, and Wanda Catt (hereinafter Appellee), his wife. Appellant was the child of Deceased and a former wife, but had been reared in the household of Deceased and Appellee and adopted by Ap-pellee prior to the death of Deceased.

Deceased was a resident citizen of the State of Mississippi at the time of his death and Appellant was appointed administrator of his estate in the Chancery Court of Desoto County, Mississippi.

This dispute involves a business run by Deceased and Appellee in Shelby County, Tennessee, known as C & W Auto Sales and Salvage (hereinafter C & W). Deceased and Appellee were married in 1971 and in 1973 bought the real property on which C & W was later located. The lot was purchased with marital funds of Deceased and Appellee. At the time of the purchase, Appellee was office manager of Jeffcoat Motors, and Deceased worked at Trojan Luggage. Appellee and Deceased started the business around 1975 while they were still employed at their other jobs, and Deceased’s father, Garland Catt, operated the business during the day.

Deceased and Appellee were divorced in 1982 in Shelby County and Deceased was awarded all the property with the exception of $50,000.00 which was to be paid by the terms of the marital dissolution agreement to Appellee. Approximately four months following the final decree of divorce, Deceased and Appellee remarried, and it is stipulated that all property, including funds, was returned to its status before the divorce.

In 1984, while Deceased continued working at Trojan, Appellee quit her job and began working at C & W full-time. In approximately 1985, Deceased and Appellee moved to the State of Mississippi, where they were residents at the time of Deceased’s death. Deceased quit his employment at Trojan in 1986 to begin working full-time at C & W. The largest growth of C & Ws business [572]*572occurred after the time Deceased and Appel-lee had moved to Mississippi.

Appellant began working at C & W in 1984 when he was 16 years old. He continued to work there for approximately seven years as a garage man or mechanic. When Appellant’s father became ill two years prior to his death, Appellant began assisting in the buying of cars for the lot. After the death of Deceased, Appellee continued with the business and actually had business cards printed and passed out to customers which stated, “C & W Auto Sales and Salvage, Wanda L. Catt & Son, Marty, Owners.” Later, Appellant made a claim as legal heir to part of the business, but was rejected by Appellee and he subsequently filed suit.

Appellant’s complaint seeks an accounting, possession and sale of the business and division of proceeds. He prays for operation of the business by a receiver until it is sold. The complaint alleges that Deceased conducted the business as a sole proprietorship and that pursuant to the Mississippi laws of descent and distribution, Appellant is entitled to a distributive share of the business. Appellant’s amended complaint alleges in the alternative that if the court should find that the business was not operated as a sole proprietorship by Deceased, the court should find that the business was operated as a joint venture or partnership between Deceased and Appellee. In that event, he prays that pursuant to Tennessee partnership law, the partnership be dissolved and the Deceased’s interest be distributed pursuant to the Mississippi laws of descent and distribution.

Appellee’s answer denies that Appellant is entitled to any share of the business known as C & W Auto Sales and Salvage and avers that the business was jointly owned by Ap-pellee and Deceased as tenants by the entirety, which became solely hers upon Deceased’s death.

This case was tried by the court without a jury, and at the conclusion of appellant’s proof, appellee moved for a “directed verdict,” which was granted by the court. We feel compelled to digress for a moment to comment on the procedure utilized in this case. Motions for directed verdict are neither necessary nor proper in a case that is being tried without a jury. City of Columbia v. C.F.W. Constr. Co., 557 S.W.2d 734 (Tenn.1977). Verdicts are rendered by juries; courts enter judgments. The words of Justice Brock writing for the Court in City of Columbia merit repetition here:

The motion authorized by this rule is not to be confused with a motion for directed verdict which is authorized by Rule 50, Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure. Motions for a directed verdict are neither necessary nor proper in a case which is being tried without a jury. Motions for dismissal in non-jury cases under Rule 41.-02(2), Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure, and motions for directed verdicts in jury cases under Rule 50, Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure, are somewhat similar, but, there is a fundamental difference between the two motions, in that, in the jury case, the judge is not the trier of facts while in the non-jury case he is the trier of the facts. In the jury case he must consider the evidence most favorably for the plaintiff, allow all reasonable inferences in plaintiffs favor and disregard all counteracting evidence, and, so considered, if there is any material evidence to support a verdict for plaintiff, he must deny the motion. But in the non-jury case, when a motion to dismiss is made at the close of plaintiffs case under Rule 41.02(2), the trial judge must impartially weigh and evaluate the evidence in the same manner as though he were making findings of fact at the conclusion of all of the evidence for both parties, determine the facts of the case, apply the law to those facts, and, if the plaintiffs case has not been made out by a preponderance of the evidence, a judgment may be rendered against the plaintiff on the merits, or, the trial judge, in his discretion, may decline to render judgment until the close of all the evidence. The action should be dismissed if on the facts found and the applicable law the plaintiff has shown no right to relief.

557 S.W.2d at 740.

The judgment of the trial court for defendant recites:

[573]*573[T]hat the law of the State of Tennessee is controlling as to the ownership of all realty and personalty involved in the business known as C & W Auto Salvage, and that it was owned by the defendant and her deceased husband as tenants by the entirety and not as a sole proprietorship or partnership or joint venture and, therefore, finds in behalf of the defendant.

Appellant presents two issues for this Court’s review. The first issue, as stated in Appellant’s brief, is:

1. Did the chancellor err in holding that the applicable law concerning the descent and distribution of the business, the realty and the personalty at 966 West Mitchell Road, Shelby County, Tennessee was the law of the situs of the property (Tennessee law) rather than the law of the state of domicile at the time of death (Mississippi law)?

We have closely examined the judgment of the trial court and his findings therein and cannot find that the court made any judgment as to the applicable state law of descent and distribution.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
866 S.W.2d 570, 1993 Tenn. App. LEXIS 449, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/catt-v-catt-tennctapp-1993.