Hiestand v. Geier

396 So. 2d 744
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 24, 1981
Docket79-1048, 79-1301
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 396 So. 2d 744 (Hiestand v. Geier) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hiestand v. Geier, 396 So. 2d 744 (Fla. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

396 So.2d 744 (1981)

Arthur L. HIESTAND and Elaine D. Hiestand, Appellants,
v.
Martha GEIER, Appellee.

Nos. 79-1048, 79-1301.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

March 24, 1981.
Rehearing Denied April 28, 1981.

*745 Sinclair, Louis, Siegel, Heath, Nussbaum & Zavertnik and Paul Siegel, Miami, for appellants.

David D. Phillips, Horton, Perse & Ginsberg and Mallory H. Horton, Miami, for appellee.

Before SCHWARTZ, NESBITT and BASKIN, JJ.

BASKIN, Judge.

Martha Geier brought an action against Arthur Hiestand and Elaine Hiestand seeking imposition of a resulting trust on a note and mortgage which secured the balance of the purchase price in the sale of Sun State Oil Company to Harry Joseph Barkett. At issue was her agreement to purchase from the Hiestands half of Sun Oil's property and stock for $57,000. She contended that she owned half of Sun State Oil Company and was therefore entitled to receive half the proceeds upon its sale. The trial court rejected the Hiestands' response that Mrs. Geier had not paid $57,000, but instead had loaned Mr. Hiestand or the company $42,074.88 and had been fully reimbursed. The trial court ruled that Mrs. Geier had, by clear and convincing evidence, established her entitlement to a resulting trust in half the sale proceeds and later awarded her attorneys' fees.[1] Whether "clear and convincing evidence" constitutes the appropriate burden of proof to establish a resulting trust is the issue we now consider. We hold that "clear and convincing evidence" is the correct burden of proof. Since we also hold that the final judgment is supported by clear and convincing evidence, we affirm; however, we reverse the award of attorneys' fees as they are not authorized either by contract or statute.

In an attempt to raise money to cover debts owed to Internal Revenue Service incurred by Sun State Oil Company, the business founded by Arthur and Elaine Hiestand, Arthur Hiestand decided to sell company owned assets or property. In consideration of Martha Geier paying IRS $16,052 covering Hiestand's obligation to IRS, deeds were executed from Arthur and Elaine Hiestand and Sun State Oil Company to Arthur Hiestand and Martha Geier. The deeds were never recorded. A letter evidenced Mrs. Geier's agreement to pay $57,000.

3 October 1967 Mr. A.L. Hiestand 1099 N.E. 89th Street Miami, Florida Re: Sale of Real Property and Stock to Mrs. Geier
*746 Dear Art,
In accordance with your request, I have reviewed your proposed sale to Mrs. Geier and would like to make the following recommendations.
1) The Selling Price of the land held personally by you and Elaine should be sold for $31,500.00. This represents approximately one-half of the appraised valuation of the property by Harry Piepgras. The terms would be all cash subject to Mrs. Geier assuming one-half of the existing mortgage on the property or approximately $27,300.00 to you... .
2) The selling price of a 50% interest in the stock of Sun State Oil Co. Inc., would be $25,500.00 ..."

The company, which had dissolved, was incorporated as a new company under the same name. Arthur Hiestand owned fifty percent, Martha Geier forty-eight percent, and her nephew two percent.

Although books were kept reciting monies paid by Martha Geier over a period of time, a factual dispute arose as to the amount she actually paid. At trial, Martha Geier testified that she had paid "in the neighborhood of around sixty-three thousand and some odd dollars." A list of deposits she made was introduced in evidence. Arthur Hiestand admitted she had paid, either to the company or the corporation, $42,074.88.

Arthur Hiestand contended the payments from Martha Geier were loans and that she failed to pay the full purchase price of $57,000. In support of his contention, he testified that he had paid capital gains taxes on the entire sale proceeds and argued that since checks he wrote to her after the sale were marked loans, the evidence was insufficient to support her argument. When Sun State Oil Company was sold to Harry Barkett for $175,000, the proceeds of the sale were divided until Martha Geier received slightly more than she had advanced. Mrs. Geier argued that Arthur Hiestand had told her she would receive the proceeds of the sale to Harry Barkett when she gave him abstracts on the property and the corporate seal. Arthur Hiestand, on the other hand, claimed that he told Mrs. Geier he would divide the proceeds of the sale pending settlement of the issue until the funds she advanced had been recovered. According to Martha Geier, a resulting trust arose by virtue of the agreement between Geier and Hiestand to sell to Barkett upon the subsequent closing of the transaction and taking back of the mortgage. After considering the testimony and arguments presented by the parties, the trial court ruled:

The purchase price agreed between the parties was reasonably related to the book value of the corporation and the appraiser's report. All papers effectuating the transfer of the real and personal property were executed pursuant to the intent of the parties in September of 1967. It is uncontroverted that substantial payments were made by the Plaintiff on behalf of the defendant, as evidenced by the ledger sheet marked into evidence as Plaintiff's Exhibit 9.
The Defendant, Arthur Hiestand, testified under oath that his understanding of the escrow letter was to `get rest of $57,000.00 before that was all wound up.'
Time for performance was not specified in the escrow letter or executed documents. The Defendants' contention that $57,000.00 in [cash][2] was to be paid to him, is unrealistic, and strains the imagination of this Court to put such an interpretation on the intent of the parties to this transaction.
The Court, having weighed the testimony and believability of the witnesses and parties, that the payments by the Plaintiff, made to the Defendant, or on his behalf, or for the benefit of the corporation, were in excess of the agreed upon purchase price; that said consideration was made timely and within the terms and conditions of the agreement and intent of the parties. The Court further finds that the actions of the Defendant, subsequent to September, 1967, reaffirmed *747 his intent to sell one-half of the property to the Plaintiff. The notations on the checks paid to Mr. Geier [sic] are self-serving and have no legal effect.
The parties did not ask for an accounting, and the allegations of the Defendants that the Plaintiff did not have sufficient funds to pay the monies for the purchase price, and further that the Plaintiff received back all monies advanced. The Court will not go into the matter of the monies each of the parties deposited or withdrew from the corporation; nevertheless, the Court does find that the Plaintiff's testimony, and the exhibits in evidence, support the allegations of the Plaintiff by the greater weight of the evidence.
The Court has not ignored the testimony of the accountants or the income tax returns in evidence, as substantiating Defendants' contentions; however, the review of the journal, returns, checks, loan applications and other financial matters regarding the corporation, do not substantiate the parties intent or method of operation as outlined by the returns.
The Court finds as a matter of law and fact that the Plaintiff has established, by

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Bluebook (online)
396 So. 2d 744, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hiestand-v-geier-fladistctapp-1981.