Edmondson v. Edmondson

599 S.W.2d 765, 269 Ark. 664, 1980 Ark. App. LEXIS 1279
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedMay 28, 1980
DocketCA 80-39
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 599 S.W.2d 765 (Edmondson v. Edmondson) 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
Edmondson v. Edmondson, 599 S.W.2d 765, 269 Ark. 664, 1980 Ark. App. LEXIS 1279 (Ark. Ct. App. 1980).

Opinion

Steele Hays, Judge.

This is a family dispute over the ownership of a certain tract of land in Carroll County. In 1966 Charlie Edmondson died intestate leaving eleven children to survive him. Appellant, Albert J. (Jack) Edmond-son, who is one of the deceased’s children, had lived with his father and had taken care of the “homeplace” since his discharge from the Army in 1946. Dick Edmondson, his oldest brother, also worked on the farm during that time. Upon Mr. Edmondson’s death, both Dick and appellant Jack made arrangements to obtain quitclaim deeds from the .other children of their interest in the property. There was testimony at the trial to indicate that the deceased father had expressed a desire to give the property to appellant. Appellant had testified that Dick had made all the arrangements with the other children, but three of the children testified that appellant had discussed the matter with them before they signed the quitclaim deed.

In 1967, nine of the children quitclaimed their interest in the property to appellant. One sister, Susie Alvard, sold her interest to appellant for a valuable consideration of $2,272.72.

In 1978, appellant filed an action to quiet title to the tract of land in question which consisted of approximately 172 acres. Appellees, the other surviving children of Charles Edmondson and their heirs, filed a response to the petition to quiet title. They also counterclaimed on the basis that the quitclaim deed was procured by fraud and that there existed a confidential relationship between appellant and the other heirs of Charles Edmondson. Furthermore, they alleged that appellant orally promised that he would hold the property and upon the sale of such property, he would divide the proceeds among the heirs. As a result of this alleged oral promise, petitioners contended that a constructive trust should be declared on any proceeds obtained from the sale of such property.

The Chancellor rendered a decision against appellant, stating that he had failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that title should be quieted in his name. Furthermore, the Chancellor held in favor of the counter-petitioners (appellees), stating that they had shown by clear and convincing evidence that the dispute property was conveyed to appellant for use during his lifetime and was to be divided among all the heirs at his death. Appellant brings this appeal from the judgment below.

Appellant alleges five points for reversal which can be narrowed down to one central issue — namely, whether a constructive trust should be imposed upon the disputed property in favor of the other heirs of Charles Edmondson.

We find the facts in this case to be similar in many respects to the facts in Walker v. Biddell, 225 Ark. 654, 284 S. W. 2d 840 (1955). In Walker, supra, appellant obtained quitclaim deeds from his two sisters to 320 acres of land held by their family for many years. One sister and the other sister’s heirs brought suit to have the quitclaim deeds cancelled, contending that they had merely executed the deeds to appellant to make it easier to execute oil-and-gas leases on the property. Appellant contended that he had always owned the property, that he had put the property in the name of his two sisters to avoid the possibility of a judgment creditor levying on the property, and that the two sisters simply reconveyed the property back to appellant when the claim was paid.

The Walker children had inherited the land from their father and had lost it in a foreclosure proceeding twenty years later. Title was regained when one Henry Stevens conveyed the property to appellant’s wife and his two sisters. It remained that way until appellant’s two sisters quitclaimed their interests in the property to him. On appeal, the Arkansas Supreme Court found that appellees had met their burden of showing by clear and convincing evidence that the deeds in question were made in reliance upon appellant’s oral promise to hold the land for himself and his sisters. The court specifically adverted to a letter written by appellant to one of the sisters recognizing her interest in the property and assuring her that he was not taking it from her. This evidence considered with the other testimony - was enough to meet the burden of proof. The court also held that the statute of frauds does not apply to a constructive trust. A constructive trust will arise when the grantee’s oral promise to hold property for the grantor is fraudulently made or when a promise is given by a grantee who stands in a confidential relation to the grantor. Armstrong v. Armstrong, 181 Ark. 597, 27 S.W. 2d 88 (1930); Restatement, Trusts § 44.

In the instant case, all of these factors are present that were stated in the Walker case. Three of Charles Edmond-son’s descendents testified that appellant had made an oral promise to hold the property for the benefit of himself and the grantors and if he ever sold the property, the proceeds would be divided among the heirs. This evidence was corroborated by a letter (Defendant’s exhibit #1) written by appellant to appellee, Leva Summers, which stated in part:

Well, Sis, we have gotten everything fixed up on the homeplace, had to pay Susie off at $25,000 making her $2,273.1 paid her by she is out now am going to fix it so you or your children will get your one ninth part in time, don’t knoiv just when . . . (Tr. 141) (Emphasis added).

Also, appellant’s testimony indicates that some promise or agreement was made at the time the heirs quitclaimed their interest in the property to appellant and that he later changed his mind about following through with the agreement:

“Q. Why did you change your mind, Mr. Jack?
A. I didn’t change my mind.
Q. You never have changed your mind?
A. I did after she filed this outfit and broke the promise.
Q. After she filed the outfit and broke the promise. Now, you tried to quiet title where you could sell it first, didn’t you, Sir?
A. Some of the deeds was in pretty much of a mess. I tried to get ’em straightened out.
Q. Well, I haven’t seen those messes, but that’s alright. So you decided that after she filed against this quiet title that you wouldn’t give them nothing. Is that your testimony?
A. I decided I’d give ’em what I wanted 'em to have and who I wanted to have it . . .”
“Q. Do you recall telling me that when you got married that’s when you changed your mind?
A. No.
Q. You don’t recall that? (T. 135).
A. I recall that, but what caused me to change my mind was that law changed the situation.
Q. How did the law change the situation, Mr. Jack?
A. I couldn’t explain that just exactly.
Q. Did your attorney tell you that?
A. No.
Q.

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

Related

Beeson v. Beeson
667 S.W.2d 368 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 1984)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
599 S.W.2d 765, 269 Ark. 664, 1980 Ark. App. LEXIS 1279, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/edmondson-v-edmondson-arkctapp-1980.