Harper v. Fikes

336 S.W.2d 631, 1960 Tex. App. LEXIS 2301
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 1, 1960
DocketNo. 10784
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 336 S.W.2d 631 (Harper v. Fikes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harper v. Fikes, 336 S.W.2d 631, 1960 Tex. App. LEXIS 2301 (Tex. Ct. App. 1960).

Opinion

ARCHER, Chief Justice.

This is a suit invoking the equitable powers of the Court, filed on December 7, 1954, in the trial court, by H. E. Harper, Trustee in Bankruptcy of the Estate of C. Taylor Cole, a Bankrupt, against Leland Fikes and F. L. Mitchell, as defendants, to enforce specific performance of two certain written contracts entered into between Mitchell, on [633]*633the one hand, and Cole, the Bankrupt, on the other hand, and as incidental thereto for •an accounting to determine if the income from certain oil and gas properties had discharged various sums of money against ■said properties, and if not, for a declaratory judgment, fixing the amount of money yet to be paid.

In due time, Fikes filed his answer, and a •cross action and a third-party action against Harper, Trustee, and against cross-•defendants, Eva James LeGere and husband, Martin LeGere, Richard L. Grodin ■and Charles A. Kothe, for a judgment •declaring that Harper, Trustee, LeGere and husband, Grodin and Kothe had no right to ■exercise the options granted to Cole to purchase the properties described in the contracts, and had no right to enforce specific performance of the contracts.

July IS, 1959, the trial court rendered •summary judgment for appellee, Leland Fikes, that appellant, Harper, Trustee, and •cross-defendant and intervener, Grodin, and cross-defendants, LeGere and husband, take ■nothing by reason of the claims and causes •of action asserted by them in their pleadings heretofore filed in said cause in the trial court and this appeal by Harper, Trustee, is from that judgment.

The appeal is founded on two points, with -five subpoints under Point No. 1, and the points are:

“1. The trial court erred in not granting judgment for appellant because the undisputed facts proved affirmatively all the elements which entitled appellant to a judgment declaring 'his ownership of the option rights and •ordering an accounting by appellee.
“A. The option contracts created in ■Cole an absolute right to acquire for •$200,00 the fractional interests named in the properties described, subject only to the condition precedent that the ■debts listed be first recouped from income derived from the properties.
“B. The option rights acquired by Cole under the said contracts continued undiminished in Cole because his attempted assignments to James, Kothe, and Grodin were void.
“C. Under the Bankruptcy Act appellant acquired, and he now owns, the title of Cole to the option rights.
“D. Appellant, as cestui que, is entitled to an accounting from his trustee, appellee, who has exclusive possession of the facts which will determine when the option can be exercised.
“E. Since the undisputed facts establish affirmatively appellant’s title to the option rights and his right to an accounting, the trial court should have rendered summary judgment for appellant.
“2. The trial court erred in rendering judgment for appellee on his amended motion for summary judgment because appellee’s motion did not conclusively negate the existence of unresolved issues of fact material to the relief sought by appellee.”

Appellee has made counterpoints and are that:

“1. The disposition of the option rights by Cole for a valuable consideration in violation of the contractual provisions requiring him to give ten days written notice of the terms and conditions of such disposition and giving Mitchell the option to take the same on such terms and conditions, defeats the appellant’s right to specific performance, as a matter of law.”

The second counterpoint is that:

“2. Appellant, as Trustee in Bankruptcy, owns no right, title or interest in the rights granted to Taylor Cole and the contracts involved in this action, and hence, owning no interest, he has no cause of action to enforce specific performance or an accounting of said contracts.”

[634]*634The subcounterpoints under the second counterpoint are:

“(a) No title to the option rights or property vested in appellant because Cole had for a valuable consideration disposed of the same long before he was adjudged a bankrupt.
“(b) No title to the option rights vested in appellant by operation of law because he had failed to assume such executory contracts as is required by the Bankruptcy Act.
“(c) The rights of Cole to acquire the property under the contracts involved were personal to him.”

The third counterpoint is:

“Appellant, owning no right, title or interest in the rights granted to Taylor Cole and the contracts involved in this action, is not entitled to any accounting.”

The fourth counterpoint is:

“The judgment of the trial court is proper and should be affirmed because the pleadings, depositions, admissions and affidavits on file show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact, and the undisputed facts show that appellee is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”

The material facts in this case are few, and of course, undisputed. In the fall of 1949, appellee and Harold L. Knop purchased from Taylor Cole and his associates undivided interests in various oil properties. The legal title to the properties was conveyed by instruments dated September 1, 1949, to F. L. Mitchell, who held the same in trust for appellee, as to three-fourths and Knop, as to one-fourth. By an instrument dated June 1, 1950, Knop conveyed his one-fourth interest in the properties to appel-lee. There being no further need for the trust, Mitchell, by instruments bearing the same date, conveyed the legal title to the properties to appellee, except as to two leases previously conveyed by him. Appel-lee now .owns all of said properties, except those conveyed by Mitchell, and some other leases which have terminated because of cessation of production.

At the time of the purchase of said properties, appellee and Knop agreed with Cole that he would have a personal right and option to acquire, for nominal considerations, an undivided one-fourth interest in the properties conveyed by Cole-Darden Oil Company and by Cole and Dar-den, individually, and an undivided one-eighth interest in the properties conveyed by Cole’s associates, subject to certain reservations and conditions which were agreed upon. It was further agreed that the personal rights and option granted to Cole could only be sold and disposed of in the specific manner set out in Article IV of the contracts, which condition was an inducement to appellee and Knop to enter into* said agreements. Article IV of said contract reads as follows:

“Cole shall give Mitchell ten (10) days’ written notice before making any sale or disposition of his rights under this contract, setting out in said notice-in writing, the terms, conditions and provisions of said proposed sale or disposition during which ten (10) day period, the said Mitchell shall have the right to elect to acquire Cole’s right under this contract upon the same terms,, provisions and conditions as are set out in said notice. In the event Mitchell fails to elect to acquire Cole’s rights-under this contract within ten (10) days after receipt of such notice, as-herein provided for, then Cole may proceed to sell and dispose of his.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
336 S.W.2d 631, 1960 Tex. App. LEXIS 2301, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harper-v-fikes-texapp-1960.