Gallagher v. Townsend

443 P.3d 847
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedJune 25, 2019
DocketS-18-0211
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 443 P.3d 847 (Gallagher v. Townsend) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gallagher v. Townsend, 443 P.3d 847 (Wyo. 2019).

Opinion

BOOMGAARDEN, Justice.

*849[¶1] Appellant, Rhonda Gallagher, appeals from the district court's order partitioning a vacant lot that she and Appellee, Curtis Townsend, own as joint tenants with rights of survivorship. Ms. Gallagher contends that the district court improperly partitioned the property. She also contends that the district court erred in determining the amount of property taxes Mr. Townsend paid. We reverse and remand.

ISSUES

[¶2] Ms. Gallagher raises two issues, which we restate as follows:

1. Did the district court err when it partitioned the property?
2. Did the district court err when it determined Mr. Townsend paid $4,241.53 in property taxes?

FACTS

[¶3] The parties cohabitated from approximately October 2007 until March 2009 and share a child together. In 2008, Mr. Townsend purchased a vacant lot for $25,014.20 with his own funds. The warranty deed conveyed the property to the parties as joint tenants with rights of survivorship. The parties each paid property taxes through the years-Ms. Gallagher paid $510 in property taxes and Mr. Townsend paid the remaining property taxes.1 After Ms. Gallagher moved to Colorado in July 2013, Mr. Townsend invoiced Ms. Gallagher for maintenance costs as they arose, but she did not pay the invoices.

[¶4] In August 2017, Ms. Gallagher filed suit seeking partition of the lot. The district court appointed partition commissioners, who determined that the property could not be partitioned in kind without manifest injury to its value and should be sold. The district court agreed, ordered the sale of the lot if neither party elected to purchase the other party's share, and valued the property at $33,500. Although the district court determined that each party owned a one-half interest in the lot, it ordered that Mr. Townsend be paid the first $25,017.202 -the amount he paid to purchase the property-from the sale or election proceeds and that any excess proceeds be divided equally between the parties. The district court determined that an equitable division of the proceeds was proper because "Mr. Townsend paid the entire purchase price, maintained[ ] the property, and paid the majority of the expenses associated with the property during the parties' short relationship." Ms. Gallagher timely appealed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[¶5] "Following a bench trial, this court reviews a district court's findings and conclusions using a clearly erroneous standard for the factual findings and a de novo standard for the conclusions of law." Hofstad v. Christie , 2010 WY 134, ¶ 7, 240 P.3d 816, 818 (Wyo. 2010) (citation omitted).

[¶6] "Requests for equitable relief are matters over which the district court exercises broad discretion." Jacoby v. Jacoby , 2004 WY 140, ¶ 7, 100 P.3d 852, 855 (Wyo. 2004) (citation omitted).

In determining whether there has been an abuse of discretion, we focus on the "reasonableness of the choice made by the trial court." If the trial court could reasonably conclude as it did and the ruling is one based on sound judgment with regard to what is right under the circumstances, it will not be disturbed absent a showing that some facet of the ruling is arbitrary or capricious.

Id. (citations omitted). However, "[e]ven when acting in equity, the district court is not free simply to do what it thinks is fair." Id. ¶ 10, 100 P.3d at 855. "Equitable discretion *850may be limited by statute." McCarthy v. Lippitt , 150 Ohio App. 3d 367, 381, 781 N.E.2d 1023, 1033 (2002) (citation omitted).

DISCUSSION

I. Did the district court err when it partitioned the property?

[¶7] Partition is a civil action; the rules of equity supplement, but do not substitute for, the statutory procedures. Platt v. Platt , 2011 WY 155, ¶ 18, 264 P.3d 804, 808-09 (Wyo. 2011) (summarizing the court's lengthy discussion of partitions in Field v. Leiter , 16 Wyo. 1, 90 P. 378 (Wyo. 1907) ). Wyoming Statutes §§ 1-32-101 et seq. set forth the procedures for partition of real property. Martin v. DeWitt , 2014 WY 112, ¶ 22, 334 P.3d 123, 129 (Wyo. 2014) (citation omitted). When, as here, property cannot be partitioned in kind without manifest injury to its value, the statutes provide that "[t]he money or securities arising from a sale of or an election to take the estate shall be distributed and paid by order of the court to the parties entitled thereto, in lieu of their respective parts and proportions of the estate and according to their just rights therein." Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-32-114 (LexisNexis 2017).

[¶8] We first review whether the district court erred in determining Ms. Gallagher's and Mr. Townsend's respective shares in the property. We then review whether the district court properly distributed the sale or election to take proceeds "according to their just rights therein."3 Id.

A. The parties' respective shares.

[¶9] "In a suit for partition, the court must first determine the respective shares which the parties hold in the property, before the property can be divided." 2 Tiffany Real Property § 479.1 (3d ed.), (database updated Sept. 2018); see also

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443 P.3d 847, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gallagher-v-townsend-wyo-2019.