In Re Estate of Davis

832 So. 2d 534, 2001 WL 1497176
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedNovember 27, 2001
Docket2000-CA-01232-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 832 So. 2d 534 (In Re Estate of Davis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Estate of Davis, 832 So. 2d 534, 2001 WL 1497176 (Mich. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

832 So.2d 534 (2001)

In the Matter of the ESTATE OF Edward A. DAVIS, Deceased.
Diana B. Davis, Appellant,
v.
Sidney D. Davis, Jr., Phillip Davis, Deborah Ammann, Jean Cockrell, Marty Steinberger, Nell Mathis, Lisa McDaniels, and Estate of Sidney D. Davis, Sr., Deceased, Deborah Ammann, Executrix, Appellees.

No. 2000-CA-01232-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

November 27, 2001.
Rehearing Denied February 12, 2002.

*535 Orbie S. Craft, Brandon, Attorney for Appellant.

Robert Russell, Williard W. Terrell Stubbs, Attorneys for Appellees.

Before McMILLIN, C.J., BRIDGES, and CHANDLER, JJ.

CHANDLER, J., for the court.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

FACTS

¶ 1. Edward A. Davis died on December 9, 1995, leaving behind a will and a codicil. The will allocated Davis's assets to a large group, including his nieces and nephews, his caretakers, the March of Dimes, and the American Cancer Society; however, the will left nothing to his wife, Diana B. Davis. The codicil, however, stated that Diana Davis should be given a very fair treatment and consideration in the division of the estate. The will was presented for probate and the Simpson County Chancery Court issued an order admitting the will to probate and granting letters testamentary. Thereafter, Ms. Davis petitioned for widow's support and statutory renunciation of the will. Moreover, she brought a lawsuit contesting the will on the grounds that Edward Davis lacked the mental capacity necessary to execute the will, that the heirs under the will exerted undue influence over Edward Davis, and that several of the heirs conspired to intentionally interfere with Diana and Edward's marital relationship. The will contest was tried before a jury and the jury found against Ms. Davis.

¶ 2. On April 15, 1997, the chancery court held a hearing pertaining to the widow's allowance and ordered that $2,500 per month be paid Ms. Davis for one year. Thereafter, the court entered an order, to which both parties agreed, staying the payment of the widow's allowance and preserving the heirs' rights to interlocutory appeal.

¶ 3. On April 10, 2000, all remaining issues were to go to trial before the Simpson Country Chancery Court. That day, the parties entered into settlement negotiations, and two days later, announced in court that they had reached a settlement. The chancellor asked the parties to dictate the settlement into the record and stated that "[o]nce it's dictated and there's that agreement, once we leave today, it's over."

*536 ¶ 4. During the hearing, Ms. Davis expressed concern over the potential tax consequences of the $600,000 she was to receive as part of the agreement. The chancellor responded by stating no one could guarantee that the money would be tax free. However, the parties agreed that "every reasonable effort" would be made to see that the $600,000 from the estate would be tax free; neither Ms. Davis nor her attorneys continued their objection. Ms. Davis also objected to any agreement which released and protected her former attorney from future malpractice claims; however, the chancellor clarified that the release did not include Ms. Davis's former attorney. Thereafter, without an objection from any party, the chancellor announced that he approved the settlement.

¶ 5. The attorneys drafted an agreed order pursuant to the terms of the settlement agreement. Ms. Davis then declined to sign the agreement and refused to comply with its terms. On June 22, 2000, the chancellor compelled entry of the previous agreement that had been dictated into the record. During this hearing, Ms. Davis objected to the enforcement of the agreement. The chancellor allowed her to read a prepared statement into the record that reiterated her previous arguments and alleged economic duress. The chancellor, finding that an agreement had been reached at the previous hearing, entered final judgment.

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 6. Diana Davis makes the following assignments of error:

I. WHETHER THE CHANCELLOR ERRED IN ENTERING THE AGREED ORDER.
II. WHETHER THE TERMS OF THE AGREED ORDER WERE THOSE CONTEMPLATED BY THE PARTIES.

¶ 7. We will not disturb the findings of a chancellor unless the chancellor was manifestly wrong or clearly erroneous. Bowers Window and Door Co., Inc. v. Dearman, 549 So.2d 1309, 1312-13 (Miss. 1989). In other words, where the chancellor's factual findings are supported by trustworthy evidence, they are insulated from reversal on appellate review. Jones v. Jones, 532 So.2d 574, 581 (Miss.1988).

DISCUSSION

I. WHETHER THE CHANCELLOR ERRED IN ENFORCING THE AGREEMENT.
A. Was there a meeting of the minds?

¶ 8. Diana Davis argues that the agreement should not be enforced as there was no meeting of the minds. Specifically, she laments that her in-court assertions, taken with her refusal to sign the agreed order, amounted to nothing more than "an agreement to agree later." The heirs, however, insist that the agreement was dictated into the record after extensive negotiation and consultation with legal counsel and family members; therefore, the agreement became binding despite the fact that after it had been reduced to writing Ms. Davis refused to sign it. After careful inspection of the record before us, this Court concludes that the chancellor did not commit manifest error when he determined that the parties were bound by the agreement.

¶ 9. It is well established that settlement agreements are contracts. See McManus v. Howard, 569 So.2d 1213, 1215 (Miss.1990); East v. East, 493 So.2d 927, 931-32 (Miss.1986). As a contract, the *537 settlement agreement must contain an offer, acceptance, and consideration. Gatlin v. Methodist Med. Ctr., Inc., 772 So.2d 1023, 1029(¶ 20) & n. 3 (Miss.2000). Consideration and a meeting of the minds between competent contracting parties are the essential elements of a valid, binding agreement. Viverette v. State Highway Comm'n of Mississippi, 656 So.2d 102, 102 (Miss.1995); Brooks v. Brooks, 145 Miss. 845, 850, 111 So. 376, 377 (1927). This Court has noted there cannot be a meeting of the minds until the offeree accepts the provisions and terms set out by the offer. Edwards v. Wurster Oil Co., Inc., 688 So.2d 772, 775 (Miss.1997); Anderton v. Business Aircraft Inc., 650 So.2d 473, 476 (Miss.1995)(stating that "[f]ailure to communicate acceptance of an offer is fatal to creation of a valid contract.").

¶ 10. An offeree may accept an offer in a number of different ways. See Edwards, 688 So.2d at 775; Gatlin, 772 So.2d at 1029(¶ 20)(noting that acceptance often comes in the form of unwritten agreements). This Court has held that a meeting of the minds could be inferred where the parties to a settlement announce in court that an agreement has been reached and subsequently read the agreement into the trial court record. Carroll v. Henry, 798 So.2d 560(¶ 5) (Miss.Ct.App.2001). See also Palmere v. Curtis, 789 So.2d 126, 131(¶ 10) (Miss.Ct.App.2001)(stating that the dictation of an agreement into the trial court record can constitute evidence of acceptance).

¶ 11. As in Carroll and Palmere, the two parties in the present case announced to the court that an agreement had been reached. Furthermore, they proceeded to read the agreement into the record.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
832 So. 2d 534, 2001 WL 1497176, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-estate-of-davis-missctapp-2001.