Hoff v. Goyer

160 So. 3d 768, 2014 WL 1646396, 2014 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 79
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedApril 25, 2014
Docket2120986
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 160 So. 3d 768 (Hoff v. Goyer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hoff v. Goyer, 160 So. 3d 768, 2014 WL 1646396, 2014 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 79 (Ala. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

MOORE, Judge.

Eliot Hoff and Susan Hoff appeal from a judgment of the Jefferson Circuit Court (“the circuit court”). We affirm in part and reverse in part.

Procedural History

On August 8, 2012, the Hoffs filed in the circuit court a complaint against Anita Goyer, Mary Miller, and Mark Goolsby (hereinafter referred to collectively as “the defendants”), alleging multiple claims “arising] out of a fraud orchestrated by Anita Goyer and Mary Miller, and facilitated by the wanton and negligent conduct of Mark Goolsby and others, which ... resulted in the theft and waste of estate assets.” The Hoffs alleged that they were beneficiaries of the estate of Susan Bibb Kidd, a protected person, that Goyer and Miller had acted as fiduciaries of Kidd,' and that Goolsby had acted as the conservator of Kidd’s estate.1 The Hoffs sought recovery of certain assets of Kidd’s estate that they alleged had been wrongfully converted by the defendants, the imposition of a constructive trust upon the assets of the estate that they alleged were in the possession of the defendants, an accounting of Goolsby’s actions regarding the assets of Kidd’s estate, and an order compelling Goolsby to recover from third parties certain assets of the estate, with interest. The complaint also included additional claims against Miller — assault and battery and the tort of outrage — that were unrelated to the administration of the assets of the estate.

All three defendants moved to dismiss the Hoffs’ complaint. On October 24, [770]*7702012, the Hoffs filed a consolidated response to the defendants’ motions to dismiss. On October 29, 2012, the Hoffs filed an additional response in opposition to Miller’s motion to dismiss.

On July 29, 2013, the circuit court dismissed the Hoffs’ complaint against the defendants. The circuit court held that all the Hoffs’ claims, except the assault-and-battery and the tort-of-outrage claims against Miller, were barred by Ala.Code 1975, § 6-5-440, Alabama’s abatement statute, because a petition for final settlement of Kidd’s estate was pending in the Jefferson Probate Court (“the probate court”) at the time the Hoffs filed their action in the circuit court. The circuit court based its dismissal of the assault- and-battery and the tort-of-outrage claims against Miller on the various arguments set forth by Miller, which are discussed below. On August 20, 2013, the Hoffs filed their notice of appeal to this court.

Standard of Review

Although the defendants filed motions to dismiss,

“the trial court had before it materials outside the pleadings, and it did not expressly decline to consider those materials in making its ruling. Therefore, the motion[s] to dismiss [were] converted into ... motion[s] for a summary judgment.
“ ‘When materials outside the pleadings accompany a motion to dismiss, the. trial court is “not bound to limit itself to the pleadings.” Papastefan v. B & L Constr. Co., 356 So.2d 158, 160 (Ala.1978). “[W]here matters outside the pleadings are considered on a motion to dismiss, the motion is converted into a motion for summary judgment ... regardless of its denomination and treatment by the trial court.” Boles v. Blackstock, 484 So.2d 1077, 1079 (Ala.1986). Indeed, unless the trial court expressly declines to consider the extraneous material, its conclusions may be construed to include the extraneous material. Cf. Ex parte Liberty Nat’l Life Ins. Co., 825 So.2d 758, 763 n. 1 (Ala.2002) (trial court’s express refusal to consider extraneous material constituted an exclusion).’ ”

Ex parte Ismail, 78 So.3d 399, 402 n. 1 (Ala.2011) (quoting Phillips v. AmSouth Bank, 833 So.2d 29, 31 (Ala.2002)).

“ ‘ “The standard of review applicable to a summary judgment is the same as the standard for granting the motion. ...” McClendon v. Mountain Top Indoor Flea Market, Inc., 601 So.2d 957, 958 (Ala.1992).
“ ‘ “A summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Rule 56(c)(3), Ala. R. Civ. P. The burden is on the moving party to make a prima facie showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that it is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. In determining whether the movant has carried that burden, the court is to view the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party and to draw all reasonable inferences in favor of that party. To defeat a properly supported summary judgment motion, the nonmoving party must present ‘substantial evidence’ creating a genuine issue of material fact — ‘evidence of such weight and quality that fair-minded persons in the exercise of impartial judgment can reasonably infer the existence of the fact sought to be proved.’ Ala.Code 1975, § 12-21-12; West v. Founders Life Assurance Co. of Florida, 547 So.2d 870, 871 (Ala.1989).”
[771]*771“‘Capital Alliance Ins. Co. v. Thorough-Clean, Inc., 639 So.2d 1349, 1350 (Ala.1994). Questions of law are reviewed de novo. Alabama Republican Party v. McGinley, 893 So.2d 337, 342 (Ala.2004).’ ”

Cobb v. Fisher, 20 So.3d 1253, 1256-57 (Ala.2009) (quoting Pritchett v. ICN Med. Alliance, Inc., 938 So.2d 933, 935 (Ala.2006)).

Discussion

All Claims Except the Assault- and-Battery and Tort-of-Outrage Claims

On appeal, the Hoffs first argue that Regions Bank v. Reed, 60 So.3d 868 (Ala.2010), a case relied on by the circuit court, was improperly decided. We note, however, that Reed was decided by our supreme court. “[T]his court is bound by the decisions of our supreme court. Ala. Code 1975, § 12-3-16. We are not at liberty to overrule or modify those decisions. Thompson v. Wasdin, 655 So.2d 1058 (Ala.Civ.App.1995).” TenEyck v. TenEyck, 885 So.2d 146, 158 (Ala.Civ.App.2003). Therefore, we will not reverse the circuit court’s judgment on this basis.

The Hoffs also argue that the requirements for abatement were not met. Section 6-5-440, Ala.Code 1975, Alabama’s abatement statute, provides:

“No plaintiff is entitled to prosecute two actions in the courts of this state at the same time for the same cause and against the same party. In such a case, the defendant may require the plaintiff to elect which he will prosecute, if commenced simultaneously, and the pen-dency of the former is a good defense to the latter if commenced at different times.”

In Reed, supra, certain beneficiaries of a particular trust filed, on November 20, 2008, a complaint in the circuit court against Regions Bank, the trustee of the trust, and the trustee’s investment adviser, seeking damages for alleged wrongdoing in connection with the investment of the trust’s assets. 60 So.3d at 873. The trustee filed a motion to dismiss, asserting that it had filed a petition for final settlement of the trust in the probate court on November 19, 2008, and asserting the affirmative defense of abatement based on § 6-5-440. The circuit court denied the trustee’s motion to dismiss, and the trustee filed a petition for a writ of mandamus with the Alabama Supreme Court, seeking an order directing the circuit court to dismiss the action based on the abatement statute.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Price v. Ala. One Credit Union (Ex parte Price)
244 So. 3d 949 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 2017)
McConico v. Patterson
204 So. 3d 409 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
160 So. 3d 768, 2014 WL 1646396, 2014 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 79, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hoff-v-goyer-alacivapp-2014.