Higgins v. Higgins

374 S.W.3d 56, 2010 Ark. App. 71, 2010 Ark. App. LEXIS 64
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedJanuary 20, 2010
DocketNo. CA 09-546
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 374 S.W.3d 56 (Higgins v. Higgins) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Higgins v. Higgins, 374 S.W.3d 56, 2010 Ark. App. 71, 2010 Ark. App. LEXIS 64 (Ark. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

WAYMOND M. BROWN, Judge.

[[Appellant Maurice Higgins appeals the February 10, 2009 corrected and substituted order of the Pulaski County Circuit Court finding that a constructive trust should be placed on the property located at 14416 West Baseline Road. Appellant argues that appellee lacked standing to bring the lawsuit, that the issue of constructive trust is barred by laches, and that the evidence did not meet the burden of proof of full, clear and convincing evidence as required in a constructive trust involving real property. We find no error and affirm.

Appellee was married to appellant’s brother for a number of years. They were divorced by a decree entered on January 14, 1991. Paragraph nine of the decree stated that appellee was given possession of the marital home located on West Bam-bie Road in Little Rock, Arkansas.1 Ap-pellee remained in possession of the home and paid Jim Walter Homes | .¿every month until the house was paid off. Once the house was paid off, appellant contacted appellee and asked her to send him the payoff letter, which she did. Appellee subsequently sent appellant a quitclaim deed, which was never signed. Controversy arose when appellee’s ex-husband placed four out of five acres for sale and the buyer wished to purchase the entire tract, including the house located at 14416 West Baseline Road. Appellant agreed to sell the property, including the house, and ap-pellee filed a complaint in Saline County. The complaint was eventually transferred to Pulaski County. A hearing took place on January 29, 2009, on the issue of constructive trust.

Charlie A. Higgins Jr. testified that he was the brother of appellant and ex-husband of appellee. According to Charlie, he had a trailer next to his grandmother Lela Higgins’s five acres of land on West Baseline Road. At some point, he became interested in building a home, and he and appellee went to Jim Walter. According to Charlie, once Jim Walter discovered he had a bankruptcy, he could not get financing. Charlie testified that he called appellant, who agreed to get the deed and the mortgage in his name. Charlie stated that Jim Walter prepared a deed and had him and his grandmother sign it. Charlie testified that he and appellee were able to get the house after appellant had signed for it. According to Charlie, he and appellee picked out a home, and the home was constructed in six weeks by one worker. Charlie stated that the house he purchased was a shell home and only ninety percent of the home was completed by Jim Walter. Charlie testified that he and appellee had the rest of the house fixed or completed, including carpet and linoleum put down, the paneling and | ¡¡inside doors put up, the cabinets built, the well and septic tank put in, the ceiling insulation and spackling applied, the air conditioner and heat put in, the lights fixed, the ceiling fans and fixtures put in, and bricks placed around the foundation. Charlie stated that they also had to tear down an old house located on the property and dispose of it. Charlie testified that they spent at least $15,000 on the house and that his mother put about $12,000 into the house. According to Charlie, appellant did not take part in picking the house and he did not pay for any of the improvements, or anything else, other than having the deed and the mortgage placed in his name. Charlie testified that he and appellee paid the notes on the house until their separation; following the separation, appellee made the payments until the house was paid off. Charlie said that appellant contacted him when he and appellee decided to get divorced and told Charlie that he (appellant) hoped Charlie was not going to put “Betty and them outdoors.” Charlie stated that the divorce decree gave the house to appellee and that he did not have any claim to the house. Charlie testified that the first time appellant saw the house was in 1988, when he went to his aunt’s funeral and stayed at the house. Charlie testified that appellant never sent him any document or anything stating that he and appellee were only renting the house.

On cross-examination, Charlie stated that the court in the divorce action did not make him quitclaim his interest in the house to appellee. At that point, appellant moved to have the case dismissed, arguing that appellee did not have any ownership interest in the house and therefore did not have standing to bring the suit. The motion was denied. Charlie testified |4that he came into ownership of the house because his aunt and grandmother wanted him to have it. Charlie stated that his grandmother did not deed him the house and that he did not have a deed ownership. Charlie said that he signed the deed with his grandmother because he was wondering why his name was not anywhere on the document if he was just getting a co-signer. Charlie acknowledged that the mortgage indicated that the final cost of the house was $89,136. Charlie testified that he paid the taxes on the property all the time and when he asked appellant to help with taxes, he never did. Charlie stated that he paid the taxes on the property to “keep from losing it.”

Appellee testified that she had lived in the house at 14416 West Baseline Road for twenty-two years. She stated that she paid Jim Walter every month and that she never paid any rent to appellant. Appellee testified that, although she was not present when Charlie and appellant had a discussion about the house, she knew what was going on. Appellee stated that she went with Charlie to Jim Walter to see about building a home. According to ap-pellee, Charlie had bad credit and needed a co-signer, so he asked appellant to be a co-signer. Appellant stipulated that appel-lee had made all the payments on the house. Appellee testified that she paid the property tax every year and submitted receipts into evidence. According to ap-pellee, appellant never helped with the house payments, the insurance payments, or the tax payments. Appellee stated that when she paid the house off, she received a congratulations letter in the mail. Appel-lee subsequently received a call from appellant asking if the house had been paid off and instructing her to mail the payoff letter to him, which she did. According |fito appellee, appellant told her that he would sign a quitclaim deed, but never did. Appellee testified that she made a lot of repairs to the house over the years and that she never asked appellant to help pay for any of them. Appellee stated that she never claimed anything about the house on her taxes because her preparer told her that it would not make a difference. According to appellee, appellant was not there during the construction of the house; however, he went there for his aunt’s funeral. She stated that she considered the house to be her and Charlie’s house.

On cross, appellee stated that she did not move out of the house when she and Charlie were divorced. She testified that she took care of Charlie and appellant’s grandmother; however, she denied that there was a deal with appellant that she could live in the house and make the payments and take care of their grandmother. Appellee testified that she did not remember the State taking the land for taxes and that appellant had to redeem the property. Appellee also stated that she did not remember having to repay Jim Walter for taxes they paid on her behalf. At the conclusion of appellee’s case, appellant made the following motion:

For the record, your Honor, I would like to renew my objections to Ms. Higgin’s [sic] standing. I’d like to renew my laches argument, and this doesn’t fall under a constructive trust. Nobody even owns this property.

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Bluebook (online)
374 S.W.3d 56, 2010 Ark. App. 71, 2010 Ark. App. LEXIS 64, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/higgins-v-higgins-arkctapp-2010.