Hellyer v. Hellyer

632 P.2d 263, 129 Ariz. 453, 1981 Ariz. App. LEXIS 478
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedJune 3, 1981
Docket2 CA-CIV 3573
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 632 P.2d 263 (Hellyer v. Hellyer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hellyer v. Hellyer, 632 P.2d 263, 129 Ariz. 453, 1981 Ariz. App. LEXIS 478 (Ark. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

OPINION

BIRDSALL, Judge.

This case comes to our court for the second time. In Hellyer v. Hellyer, 119 Ariz. 365, 580 P.2d 1219 (App.1978) we reversed a partial summary judgment entered by the trial court. We held there that the doctrine of judicial estoppel did not preclude the appellant here, John Tirrell Hellyer, from contending that the gift which is the principal subject matter of this appeal was subject to a condition subsequent. This appeal arises following a judgment of the trial court in the dissolution action between the parties in which the court held that the appellant had made an unconditional gift of all his substantial estate to the appellee.

The parties were married on January 11, 1975. On January 13 appellant executed a deed to his residence and other documents of title to personal property giving these properties to his new wife. The gift had been previously discussed in the office of his attorney on January 3. The property which was the subject matter of the gifts constituted all of the appellant’s estate except that he remained as the beneficiary of a trust from which he received an annual income of approximately $19,000. The value of the gift properties was approximately $163,679. The appellant claimed and testified in the trial court that there was an oral agreement between the parties which provided that in the event the marriage failed, all of the gift properties would be returned to him. The appellee denied any such oral agreement.

The judgment of the trial court found the gift properties to be the sole and separate property of the appellee, granted a dissolution of the marriage and ordered no spousal maintenance.

The appellant was previously married to Joan Hellyer and that marriage ended in divorce in 1969. Joan Hellyer, in an action in the Pima County Superior Court, sought to have the gift declared fraudulent as to her because of her status as a creditor entitled to support from the appellant. John and Margaret Hellyer were named as defendants. The trial court in that case, which was not appealed, ruled that as between these parties, John and Margaret Hellyer, the gift was valid, although fraudulent as to Joan Hellyer. The court ordered that the fraudulent conveyance could be cured by payment of certain sums and that an unmatured claim of Joan could not be secured. The gift was not set aside. The court in that case made no finding that the gift was intentionally fraudulent and presumably it applied the provisions of A.R.S. § 44-1004:

“Every conveyance made and every obligation incurred by a person who is or will be thereby rendered insolvent is fraudulent as to creditors without regard to his actual intent if the conveyance is made or the obligation is incurred without a fair consideration.”

The issues as presented by appellant are:

1. Did the evidence support the finding of the gift, appellant to appellee, husband to wife?
2. If so, was there an oral condition subsequent whereby the property would be returned if the marriage failed?
3. Did the court commit error in admitting certain evidence?
4. Did the trial court err in not admitting a prior written affidavit of a witness?
5. Did the court commit error in permitting an attorney to testify over an attorney-client privilege objection?

Appellee states additional issues which we do not address in view of our decision herein.

The trial court made findings of fact all of which we find amply supported by the evidence. These findings and the supporting evidence will be discussed as we consider each of the issues.

*455 Was there a gift?

Although appellant makes this an issue we find it is not really disputed. In his answer to appellee’s amended petition for dissolution, appellant “admits the gift”. In Hellyer v. Hellyer, supra, in which Mr. Hellyer was also the appellant, our court said, “We are unable to find a conflict in appellant’s position in the two cases [the instant case and the Joan Hellyer case]. He asserts the validity of the gift in both”. In opening statement by appellant’s counsel, after conclusion of appellee’s evidence, the gift was again admitted. The court’s finding of a valid gift of all the property is further supported by documentary evidence, the title instruments, gift tax return, and a letter from appellant to his attorney. We need not further belabor this point. There was a gift of all the property. We find no error on the first issue.

Was the gift conditional?

Appellant claims an oral agreement with appellee that if the marriage did not succeed she would return all the property to him. It was because of the claim of this alleged agreement that we reversed the trial court’s partial summary judgment in Hellyer. There we found that if such an agreement existed, it would not be inconsistent with a completed gift. The parties also argue this issue on a theory of constructive trust, i. e., that appellee held the properties for appellant in trust, subject to divestment if the marriage failed. The appellant had the burden of proving the existence of a constructive trust by clear and convincing evidence. King v. Uhlmann, 103 Ariz. 136, 437 P.2d 928 (1968); Chirekos v. Chirekos, 24 Ariz.App. 223, 537 P.2d 608 (1975).

The evidence relevant to this issue is in conflict. Appellant says there was such an oral agreement, appellee says there was not. Each party called other witnesses who testified to admissions by each party against their respective interest on this issue. The absence of any indication of any such condition in any of the documentary evidence supports the trial court’s finding. The claim of marital deduction for one-half the value of the gift on the federal gift tax return supports the finding. 1 The trial court found the gifts were unconditional and more specifically that:

“10. Respondent has not proven by clear and convincing evidence that the gifts were conditioned upon an oral promise by petitioner that the gift property was to be returned to respondent in the event that the marriage failed, nor that the gifts were made upon that condition.”

There was substantial evidence to support this finding and we will not disturb it. See King v. Uhlmann, supra.

The Joan Hellyer Evidence

The third issue concerns the admission of evidence which pertained at least in part to the issues in the Joan Hellyer case wherein she claimed, as appellant’s former wife, that the gifts with which we are concerned were a fraudulent conveyance affecting her rights to support from appellant. Both appellant and appellee were defendants in that case.

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Bluebook (online)
632 P.2d 263, 129 Ariz. 453, 1981 Ariz. App. LEXIS 478, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hellyer-v-hellyer-arizctapp-1981.