Halas v. Miller

527 N.E.2d 474, 173 Ill. App. 3d 218, 123 Ill. Dec. 11, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 1041
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJuly 18, 1988
DocketNo. 87—2059
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 527 N.E.2d 474 (Halas v. Miller) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Halas v. Miller, 527 N.E.2d 474, 173 Ill. App. 3d 218, 123 Ill. Dec. 11, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 1041 (Ill. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

JUSTICE QUINLAN

delivered the opinion of the court:

On March 10, 1981, the petitioner, Therese M. Halas, brought a petition to vacate and modify a consent decree and property settlement agreement regarding the dissolution of her marriage to George S. Halas, Jr., now deceased. (See Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 110, par. 2— 1401 (formerly section 72 of the Civil Practice Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 110, par. 72)).) The original consent decree for dissolution was entered in the circuit court of Cook County on January 17, 1975. The respondent to the petition, A. Gerson Miller, executor of the estate of George Halas, Jr., moved for summary judgment and the trial court granted that motion. Petitioner now appeals.

Petitioner and George Halas, Jr., were married on April 20, 1963, and had two children, Christine and Steven. Petitioner, represented by counsel, filed for divorce on January 4, 1974, and on January 17, 1975, the marriage was dissolved pursuant to a consent decree. The consent decree incorporated a negotiated settlement agreement between the parties. This agreement was based on financial information from the decedent, which had not been obtained through formal discovery procedures, but consisted of a 1972 IRS valuation of the stock of the Chicago Bears, a list of assets handwritten by the respondent, and other oral representations made to the petitioner by the decedent regarding his net worth. Pursuant to the agreement, which was entered by the court on the consent of both parties, petitioner received certain sums of money for herself and her children.

Petitioner's attorney in the divorce proceeding had advised her not to rely on the representations and the figures provided to her by the decedent, because, he told her, they were incomplete and most likely inaccurate. Petitioner’s attorney then advised her not to enter into the agreement for these reasons. Nevertheless, petitioner voluntarily signed the agreement without requesting additional information which could have been obtained through discovery, because she said she wanted to end the matter quickly, she was not concerned with the money aspect of the divorce, she was in poor health, and she did not want financial information concerning her husband and the Chicago Bears football club to become public. After the divorce and entry of the agreement, the decedent subsequently remarried and in December 1979, he died.

After her ex-husband’s death, petitioner filed a petition to vacate and modify the terms of the settlement agreement. (See Ill. Rev.

Stat. 1985, ch. 110, par. 2 — 1401.) The petition was based on the asserted fraudulent misrepresentations of the decedent concerning his true net worth when the settlement agreement was negotiated.

The trial court, on respondent’s motion, dismissed the petition without leave to amend. Petitioner appealed the trial court’s ruling on this issue and on certain other issues as well to the appellate court. On appeal, the appellate court affirmed the dismissal of the petition for lack of allegations of fact, but reversed the trial court’s denial of leave to amend and remanded the case with directions to allow the petitioner to amend her petition. (Halas v. Executor of Estate of Halas (1983), 112 Ill. App. 3d 940, 445 N.E.2d 1264.) Although an appeal was taken, the Illinois Supreme Court did not address the issue concerning denial of leave to amend or the propriety of the petition itself. In re Support of Halas (1984), 104 Ill. 2d 83, 470 N.E.2d 960.

Thereafter, petitioner filed her amended petition on October 10, 1985, and respondent then moved for summary judgment, relying on petitioner’s original deposition. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the respondent, finding that petitioner had not shown due diligence in filing the petition, that the petitioner had not shown due diligence in discovering the information she alleged had been fraudulently withheld, and, furthermore, that she was not denied any discovery which she had requested. Petitioner now appeals the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to respondent.

On appeal, petitioner contends that the trial court erred when it granted respondent’s motion for summary judgment filed under section 2 — 1005. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 110, par. 2 — 1005.) Petitioner argues that there are many disputed issues of material fact in this case and that, therefore, the trial court’s grant of summary judgment was in error. Petitioner asserts that the decedent fraudulently misrepresented his net worth, that he fraudulently concealed the facts by which she could and would have discovered the misrepresentations, and that these actions prevented her from filing her petition sooner. She relies on the affidavit of Gordon Cadwagan, an expert economist, who attested that the fair market value of the Chicago Bears in 1974 was vastly more than the IRS value used for purposes of the settlement agreement. She also claims that after decedent’s death, she found that decedent was actually worth more than what he had represented to her before the divorce was finalized. She concludes that because the information she was given was deliberately false, an inference of fraud can be drawn and that inference of fraud creates an issue to go before a trier of fact, and, thus, summary judgment was improper. Additionally, she argues that since the burden on a motion for summary judgment is on the moving party, in this case the respondent, that any inferences must be resolved in her favor. Petitioner further claims that she presented sufficient evidence to overcome respondent’s motion for summary judgment.

Petitioner asserts specifically that a disputed fact question exists as to whether she exercised due diligence in pursuing her claim or discovering the fraud. She argues it would be inappropriate to hold her to the strict due diligence standard since her health Was poor and since she had no reason, at that time, to doubt those assertions, and that extensive litigation in this case would have greatly hindered her health. Moreover, she argues that the due diligence requirement should, therefore, at least be submitted to the trier of fact, and, she also argues, alternatively, that the due diligence requirement should be excused here for equitable reasons. Accordingly, petitioner concludes that the trial court erred when it granted respondent’s motion for summary judgment.

Respondent, on the contrary, argues that the trial court properly granted summary judgment because there was no genuine issue of material fact and the petitioner was unable to present any evidence to satisfy the necessary elements of fraudulent concealment and due diligence. Respondent claims that the petitioner’s reliance on alleged disputed questions of fact as to the merits of her claim for fraud is misplaced, for if she cannot establish, by some evidence, that decedent fraudulently concealed facts as to his true net worth, or that she used due diligence to discover the alleged fraud, then her claim for relief under section 2 — 1401 must be barred.

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Related

Ptaszek v. Michalik
606 N.E.2d 115 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1992)
In Re MB
601 N.E.2d 1152 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1992)
In Re Marriage of Halas
527 N.E.2d 474 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1988)

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Bluebook (online)
527 N.E.2d 474, 173 Ill. App. 3d 218, 123 Ill. Dec. 11, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 1041, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/halas-v-miller-illappct-1988.