Hall-Bouldin v. Bouldin

497 S.W.3d 385, 2016 Mo. App. LEXIS 853, 2016 WL 4529583
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 30, 2016
DocketED 103701
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 497 S.W.3d 385 (Hall-Bouldin v. Bouldin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hall-Bouldin v. Bouldin, 497 S.W.3d 385, 2016 Mo. App. LEXIS 853, 2016 WL 4529583 (Mo. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

Gary M. Gaertner, Jr., Judge

Introduction

Douglas A. Bouldin (Husband) appeals the trial court's partial summary judgment in favor of Chelle A. Hall-Bouldin (Wife) on Husband’s motions to divide undivided assets and for fraud. Husband argues a genuine factual dispute exists regarding whether the parties’ prior dissolution addressed all marital assets. Husband also argues that the trial court erred in determining that his fraud claim was barred by the statute of limitations. We affirm.

Background

On November 9, 2009, the dissolution court dissolved the marriage of Husband and Wife. The dissolution judgment incorporated a settlement agreement (Settlement) between the parties addressing, among other things, the division of marital property. The Settlement contained a provision for bank accounts, which stated the following:

Each party shall be deemed the owner of his or her own bank accounts. [Wife] is awarded all accounts at People’s Bank and Trust, no matter how the accounts are titled.

On October 18, 2011, Husband filed a motion to modify the dissolution judgment as it related to child custody and support, as well as a motion for contempt. Husband filed his third amended petition on November 10, 2014. This petition contained four counts: Count I, a motion to modify; Count II, a motion for contempt; Count III, a motion to divide undivided assets; and Count IV, a motion for fraud. The trial court severed Counts I and II from Counts III and IV. ■

Counts III and IV concerned Husband’s claim that Wife had failed to disclose certain bank accounts during the dissolution proceeding. In Count III, Husband alleged that ten bank accounts- held at People’s Bank and Trust Co. (the disputed accounts), with values totaling approximately $229,276.27, should have been included as marital assets and divided by the dissolution court.1 In Count IV, Husband alleged [387]*387Wife deliberately failed to disclose these accounts, constituting fraud.

[388]*388Wife moved for summary judgment on Counts III and IV.2 The trial court granted Wife’s motion, finding that prior to the dissolution judgment, Husband’s counsel had subpoenaed and had received from People’s Bank and Trust Co. the records for each of the ten disputed accounts listed in his petition. The trial court also found that these accounts were divided in the parties’ Settlement and subsequent dissolution judgment by the provision stating that all accounts at People’s Bank and Trust were awarded to Wife. The trial court pointed out that the Settlement included language acknowledging that the parties had performed limited discovery regarding their respective assets and that they assumed the risks in doing so. Finally, the trial court found that Husband’s claim for fraud was barred by the applicable five-year statute of limitations, running from April of 2009, when People’s Bank and Trust Co. produced bank records for the disputed accounts. This appeal follows.

Standard of Review

In reviewing the trial court’s summary judgment, we view the record in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, according him or her the benefit of all reasonable inferences from the record. ITT Commercial Fin. Corp. v. Mid-Am. Marine Supply Corp., 854 S.W.2d 371, 376 (Mo.banc 1993). We take facts set forth by affidavit or otherwise in support of the motion as true unless contradicted by the non-moving party’s response. Id.

Our review of summary judgment is essentially de novo. Id. We employ the same criteria for testing the propriety of summary judgment as the trial court. Id. Summary judgment is appropriate where the movant demonstrates a right to judgment as a matter of law based on material facts about which there is no genuine dispute. Id. at 380-81.

Discussion

Husband raises two points on appeal. First, he argues that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment on his motion to divide undivided assets because a genuine issue of material fact existed regarding whether two of the disputed accounts were divided in the dissolution judgment. Second, Husband argues that the trial court erred in determining his fraud claim was barred by the statute of limitations because he did not learn of the existence of the disputed accounts until June of 2014. Because the question raised in Point II affects our analysis of Point I, we discuss Point II first.

Point II

Husband argues in Point II that the trial court erred in determining that his fraud claim was barred by the five-year statute of limitations. We disagree.

Section 516.1203 states that the following must be initiated “[wjithin five years: ... (5) An action for relief on the ground of fraud.” Further, a fraud claim is “deemed not to have accrued until the discovery by the aggrieved party, at any time within ten years, of the facts constituting the fraud.” Section 516.120.5.

Courts interpreting this statute have required plaintiffs “to act with due diligence to discover ‘the facts constituting the fraud.’” Schwartz v. Lawson, 797 S.W.2d 828, 836 (Mo.App.W.D.1990). Thus, “[wjhere the means for discovery exist, a [389]*389plaintiff is deemed to know of the fraud, so that the period of limitations commences to run then.” Sharpe v. Sharpe, 243 S.W.3d 414, 417 (Mo.App.E.D.2007) (quoting Schwartz, 797 S.W.2d at 832).

Here, not only did Husband have the means to discover the existence of the disputed accounts, he actually had records of the disputed accounts. Husband’s counsel served a subpoena on People’s Bank and Trust Co. on April 10, 2009, requesting “records and statements of any and all accounts for which [Wife] has in her name or jointly with others.” In response, on April 13, 2009, People’s Bank and Trust Co. produced statements for each of the accounts listed in Husband’s petition. •;

Husband argues, however, that whether he actually knew of these accounts at that time is still a question of fact. He argues he was entitled to rely on representations of Wife during the dissolution proceeding that she had no other accounts besides those listed on her property statement, which did not include the disputed accounts. He concludes this issue precludes summary judgment, as in Kamey v. Wohl, wherein this Court found that whether one party relied on misrepresentations of another party was a disputed fact. 785 S.W.2d 630, 634 (Mo.App.E.D.1990).

However, in Kamey, this Court found that an issue of fact existed as to whether the wife there had actually relied upon the husband’s allegedly fraudulent statements, and then left for the trial court to determine whether the fact that she was represented by an attorney negated any right she had to rely on such statements. Id. In contrast here, it is clear Husband did not rely on Wife’s statements, because Husband’s attorney subpoenaed records from the bank to verify Wife’s statements. Husband cannot now argue that he actually did rely on her statements and was harmed thereby.4

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497 S.W.3d 385, 2016 Mo. App. LEXIS 853, 2016 WL 4529583, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hall-bouldin-v-bouldin-moctapp-2016.