Fletcher v. Fletcher

2011 Ark. App. 89, 381 S.W.3d 129, 2011 Ark. App. LEXIS 82
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedFebruary 2, 2011
DocketNo. CA 10-701
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 2011 Ark. App. 89 (Fletcher v. Fletcher) 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
Fletcher v. Fletcher, 2011 Ark. App. 89, 381 S.W.3d 129, 2011 Ark. App. LEXIS 82 (Ark. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

CLIFF HOOFMAN, Judge.

| iAppellant Alpha Fletcher appeals the trial court’s order dismissing her complaint and finding that an absolute gift of the real property in dispute, known as the “Brownsville Store,” was made by appellant and her husband at the time, appellee Richard Fletcher, to their daughter, co-appellee Erin Fletcher. On appeal, Alpha Fletcher argues that the trial court erred in finding that the elements of an effective inter vivos gift were established by clear and convincing evidence and asks this court to hold that the property belongs to Alpha and Richard as tenants in common or, in the alternative, to Alpha and Erin as tenants in common. We affirm the trial court’s decision.

Alpha Fletcher filed for divorce from her husband, Richard Fletcher, in November 2005. The parties attempted to reconcile shortly thereafter and again began to cohabit. |2According to Richard’s testimony, in December 2005 or early January 2006, he and Alpha began to discuss purchasing the property known as the “Brownsville Store” for their daughter, Erin, as a birthday gift. The property in question consisted of an old store, not currently in operation, as well as the 4.66 acres on which the store was located. Both Alpha and Richard Fletcher testified that they intended to purchase the Brownsville Store for Erin as a family business and that Erin would operate the store, with some participation by the rest of the family. Richard also testified that he and Alpha both went to look at the property with the realtor and that he told the realtor in Alpha’s presence that he wanted the property titled in Erin’s name. Alpha, however, claimed that she was not present during this conversation with the realtor.

On January 5, 2006, Richard paid $5000 in earnest money and obtained an offer and acceptance agreement on the Brownsville Store that was signed by Erin Fletcher. There is conflicting testimony as to exactly when this agreement was signed by Erin. In Erin’s testimony at the trial, she stated that she signed the papers on January 5th at her parents’ house, although she testified that she did not read through them and that she did not know what they were. Then around the date of January 12th, Erin and her parents celebrated her birthday at a local restaurant. Erin testified that her parents told her that they were giving her the Brownsville Store at that time and that they both handed her the offer and acceptance agreement for the store and told her “Happy Birthday.” They then discussed that the store was going to be run as a family business but that Erin would own it. Erin testified that she | agave the papers back to them that evening and that she didn’t discuss the property with either of her parents until the real-estate closing on February 16, 2006.

Richard testified that he found out about the closing on the Brownsville Store that day and that he obtained a cashier’s check and told Erin to be there. Alpha Fletcher was not at the. closing. The funds used to purchase the property came from Richard’s account, and the parties are in agreement that this money was marital property. The deed was entered in Erin’s name and was filed on February 17, 2006. Erin testified that it was not until right before the closing that she knew that her name would be on the deed. After the closing, Erin stated that she and her mother went out to inspect and clean the property and that they discussed future plans for the business. Erin also testified that from the time she received the deed, her mother was aware that Erin was now the owner of the store and that Alpha did not give Erin the impression that she had any concerns or objections to that fact. Erin testified that she has lived in the store since March 2007 and that her boyfriend and her father live there as well. According to Erin, there is an office next to the store that Richard leases from Erin, and he has funded the account from which improvements to the store have been made. The store is not currently being operated as a business.

Alpha and Richard Fletcher again separated sometime after February 2006, and at the divorce hearing on June 27, 2007, the trial court divided the majority of the Fletchers’ property equally, with one-half to each party as tenants in common. There was some discussion at that hearing as to the Brownsville Store, and the trial court stated that there |4would have to be a separate action to quiet title for this property to be divided pursuant to the divorce, as the legal title is in Erin Fletcher’s name. On August 21, 2007, Alpha Fletcher filed a Complaint in Equity, alleging that Erin holds legal title to the Brownsville Store but that Alpha and Richard have an equitable interest in the property and that Erin holds the property in constructive trust for Alpha and Richard. Both parties filed motions for summary judgment, which were denied by the trial court due to material issues of fact in this case. The trial court stated in its letter opinion that there were numerous conflicts in the testimony as to whether the property was a gift to Erin and as to how much knowledge Alpha had related to this gift; thus, summary judgment would be inappropriate. On March 18, 2010, an order was entered by the trial court dismissing Alpha’s complaint with prejudice and finding that an absolute gift of the Brownsville Store was made by Alpha and Richard Fletcher and that neither Alpha nor Richard have any interest in the property. The trial court also found that Erin does not hold the property in constructive trust for her parents.

Alpha now appeals from this decision and argues that the trial court erred in finding that the elements of an effective inter vivos gift were established by clear and convincing evidence. A valid inter vivos gift is effective when the following elements are proven by clear and convincing evidence: (1) the donor was of sound mind; (2) an actual delivery of the property took place; (3) the donor clearly intended to make an immediate, present, and final gift; (4) the donor unconditionally released all future dominion and control over the property; and (5) the donee accepted the gift. O’Fallon v. O’Fallon, 341 Ark. 138, 14 S.W.3d 506 (2000); Bellis v. Bellis, 75 Ark.App. 213, 56 S.W.3d 396 (2001); Estate of Sabbs v. Cole, 57 Ark.App. 179, 944 S.W.2d 123 (1997). On appeal, the test is not whether there is clear and convincing evidence to support the trial court’s finding, but whether this court can say that the trial court’s findings are clearly erroneous. Bellis, supra. A finding is clearly erroneous when, even though there is evidence to support it, the appellate court on the entire evidence is left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed. O’Fallon, supra. On review, we defer to the trial court’s evaluation of the credibility of the witnesses. Id.

In this case, Alpha does not challenge the first element of a valid inter vivos gift; namely, that she and Richard were of sound mind. Alpha first argues that the trial court erred in finding that she knew, understood, and intended the effect of her act in gifting the Brownsville Store to Erin. As Alpha points out, the abstracted testimony shows many inconsistencies in the extent of Alpha’s knowledge and intent regarding the gift of the store.

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Bluebook (online)
2011 Ark. App. 89, 381 S.W.3d 129, 2011 Ark. App. LEXIS 82, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fletcher-v-fletcher-arkctapp-2011.