Miles v. Miles

949 So. 2d 774, 2006 WL 1737619
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJune 27, 2006
Docket2005-CA-00158-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 949 So. 2d 774 (Miles v. Miles) 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
Miles v. Miles, 949 So. 2d 774, 2006 WL 1737619 (Mich. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

949 So.2d 774 (2006)

Ricky C. MILES And Christy M. Young, Appellants
v.
Tony L. MILES, Appellee.

No. 2005-CA-00158-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

June 27, 2006.
Rehearing Denied November 21, 2006.

*776 Jan R. Butler, Eupora, Attorney for Appellants.

Dewitt T. Hicks, Columbus, Attorney for Appellee.

Before LEE, P.J., GRIFFIS and ROBERTS, JJ.

ROBERTS, J., for the Court.

FACTS

¶ 1. H.C. Miles, Jr. and Mattie Gray Miles lived in Webster County, Mississippi. They had three children; Ricky, Christy, and Tony. The Miles' three children grew up on approximately 120 acres of real property.[1]

¶ 2. The GM & O railroad owned a right-of-way across the Miles' property. In effect, that right-of-way divided the Miles' property into two parcels. The eastern parcel had frontage access to Highway 15. The Miles' home was on that forty acre eastern parcel. Additionally, Mr. Miles built a shop on the eastern parcel and conducted his carpentry business out of that shop. The western parcel contained approximately eighty acres. There were no structures on the western parcel. However, there was unevenly distributed timber on the western parcel.

¶ 3. Over time, Ricky moved to Tennessee and Christy moved to Maryland. Tony remained near his parents. In 1986, Mr. and Mrs. Miles deeded 2.02 acres of the eastern parcel to Tony. Tony built his home on that property. Tony also used Mr. Miles's shop to conduct his contracting business.

¶ 4. Mr. Miles died in 2001. After Mr. Miles died, Tony continued to use the shop. Predeceased by her husband, Mrs. *777 Miles passed away in the spring of 2003. Mrs. Miles left a will. According to her will, Mrs. Miles left her real property to Ricky, Christy, and Tony. That is, Ricky, Christy, and Tony each inherited an undivided one-third interest in the eastern and western parcels.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 5. On June 30, 2003, Ricky and Christy filed a complaint for partition of land in the Webster County Chancery Court. Ricky and Christy named Tony as the sole defendant to their complaint. Ricky and Christy asked the chancery court to (a) partite the land into three equal parcels and (b) sell the ancestral home along with a small lot. On January 9, 2004, Ricky and Christy filed an amended complaint for partition. They did not alter their request to partite the land or to sell the ancestral home. However, they requested that the chancery court grant them access to the western parcel across the railroad right of way.

¶ 6. On January 20, 2004, Tony filed his answer to Ricky and Christy's original and amended complaints. Tony also filed a counter-complaint for partition. By his counter-complaint, Tony requested that the chancery court award him the entire east parcel. Tony also requested that the chancery court order him to pay owelty to Ricky and Christy to compensate them and to equalize the division.

¶ 7. On February 11, 2004, the chancery court conducted the first of many hearings. John Scott Tenhet, a land appraiser, testified that the market value of the eastern parcel was $100,000. That estimate included the ancestral home. E. Lynn Prine, a timber expert, testified that the value of the timber on the western parcel was approximately $106,795. Prine also divided the western parcel into three smaller tracts of 25.26 acres. According to Prine, tract 1A, the northern tract, contained $47,580 in timber, tract 2A, the middle tract, contained $22,314 in timber, and tract 3A, the southern tract, contained $36,901 in timber. Tenhet used Prine's timber estimate and concluded that the value of the western parcel was $144,000.

¶ 8. In June of 2004, Ricky and Christy agreed on a reciprocal transfer. Ricky gave Christy his undivided one-third interest in the western parcel. In exchange, Christy gave Ricky her undivided one-third interest in the eastern parcel. Afterwards, Ricky owned a two-thirds interest in the eastern parcel, Christy owned a two-thirds interest in the western parcel, and Tony owned a one-third interest in both the eastern and western parcels.

¶ 9. On August 20, 2004, the chancellor filed an opinion and ordered that it would be possible to partite the land. The chancellor directed Ricky and Christy to submit three potential commissioners. Likewise, the chancellor directed Tony to submit three potential commissioners. The chancellor also instructed that the eastern parcel would be divided into two tracts. According to the chancellor, the special commissioners were to award one tract to Tony and that tract should include the land on which the ancestral home and the shop was located. The chancellor qualified that instruction. The special commissioners were only to award that tract to Tony "if such division [was] practicable." The chancellor also instructed the special commissioners to award the other tract of the eastern parcel to Ricky. As for the western parcel, the chancellor instructed the special commissioners to award one tract to Tony and one tract to Christy.

¶ 10. On September 30, 2004, the chancellor entered a judgment. According to the chancellor's judgment, the chancellor appointed three commissioners "to inspect the property and render a decision in accordance with the Opinion . . . regarding *778 whether the property can be partited in kind or whether a sale should be made with a division of the proceeds of the property."

¶ 11. On November 15, 2004, the special commissioners filed their report. The commissioners' report stated that the eastern parcel contained 35.41 acres and the western parcel contained 74.21 acres — 109.62 acres total. The special commissioners agreed that both parcels could be partited in kind.

¶ 12. The commissioners' report stated that, as for the western parcel, Christy should receive 49.47 acres and Tony should receive 24.74 acres. As for the eastern parcel, the commissioners found that it was not "practical" to award Tony the tract that contained the ancestral home and the shop "because the value would be more than one-third of the total value of the East Parcel." To that end, the commissioners concluded that Ricky should receive the ancestral home and the shop and the 1.6 acres that surrounded it as well as an additional 13.47 acres of the eastern parcel. As for Tony's share of the eastern parcel, the commissioners concluded that Tony should receive 21.94 acres. The commissioners noted that Tony's suggested award "would include the property in front of his present home and run north."

¶ 13. On November 17, 2004, the chancellor filed an order and directed the parties that they must make their objections, if any, in writing and they must file them within five days. The order also instructed the parties to state why the commissioners' report should not be approved, confirmed and accepted. On November 22, 2004, Ricky and Christy filed objections to the special commissioners' report.

¶ 14. The chancellor did not conduct a hearing on Ricky and Christy's objections. Regardless, on December 15, 2004, the chancellor issued her final judgment and her judgment confirming the special commissioners' report. The chancellor added a slight modification to the special commissioners' report. The chancellor gave Ricky an easement for ingress and egress over Tony's tract on the east parcel.

¶ 15. On December 28, 2004, Ricky and Christy filed a postjudgment motion for new trial or, alternatively, to alter or amend the judgment. On January 4, 2005, the chancellor entered an order and denied Ricky and Christy's postjudgment motions.

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Bluebook (online)
949 So. 2d 774, 2006 WL 1737619, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miles-v-miles-missctapp-2006.