Nikols v. GOODMAN & CHESNOFF

2009 UT App 79, 206 P.3d 295, 626 Utah Adv. Rep. 14, 2009 Utah App. LEXIS 70, 2009 WL 706659
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedMarch 19, 2009
Docket20080503-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 2009 UT App 79 (Nikols v. GOODMAN & CHESNOFF) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nikols v. GOODMAN & CHESNOFF, 2009 UT App 79, 206 P.3d 295, 626 Utah Adv. Rep. 14, 2009 Utah App. LEXIS 70, 2009 WL 706659 (Utah Ct. App. 2009).

Opinions

OPINION

BENCH, Judge:

1 1 Plaintiff John Nikols appeals from the trial court's denial of his motions to discharge writs of attachment against four properties that were legally titled in his son's name. We affirm because Plaintiff failed to establish the existence of a purchase money resulting trust in his favor by clear and convincing evidence.

[297]*297BACKGROUND

12 At the center of this controversy are four parcels of land (the Properties) legally titled in the name of Plaintiffs adult son, Michael Nikols (Son). It is undisputed that Plaintiff purchased the Properties between 1988 and 1994 and titled them in Son's name. In 2007, the law firm Goodman & Chesnoff obtained a judgment against Son for unpaid legal fees resulting from David Chesnoffs (Chesnoff) representation of Son, who was facing federal drug charges. Chesnoff also sought and obtained writs of attachment against the Properties.

13 Plaintiff initiated this action against Chesnoff, alleging that Plaintiff was the owner of the Properties and requesting that the trial court discharge the writs of attachment. Claiming that he was the only party burdened and benefitted by the Properties and that he never intended the legal transfer of title to Son as a gift, Plaintiff asked the trial court to rule that a purchase money resulting trust existed in his favor.

14 The trial court held an evidentiary hearing to give Plaintiff an opportunity to present evidence relating to his claim of equitable ownership through a purchase money resulting trust. At that hearing, Plaintiff presented only his own testimony as evidence that a purchase money resulting trust existed in his favor. He explained how he funded the purchases and stated that he titled the Properties in Son's name to expedite the purchases in light of Plaintiff's own credit problems. Plaintiff also stipulated to facts concerning his previous debts and creditors that were inconsistent with statements he had made to the trial court at the initial hearing. The stipulation made it clear that the credit problems allegedly causing Plaintiff to title the Properties in Son's name were not resolved until several years after the timing Plaintiff had initially represented.1

15 Neither Son nor Chesnoff testified. Son understandably did not want to run the risk of incriminating himself if subjected to cross-examination. Chesnoff was willing to take the stand but did not do so at the request of Plaintiff, who did not want Ches-noff to disclose information concerning the federal charges facing Son. The trial court ultimately refrained from prospectively ruling that the testimony of Chesnoff and Son could be limited, indicating that those issues could only be resolved once the witnesses took the stand.

T6 The trial court ruled that without any corroborating evidence, Plaintiff's own testimony was insufficient to persuade the court that a purchase money resulting trust had been created. The trial court considered the length of time during which the Properties remained in Son's name, as well as the inconsistent statements Plaintiff had made at the previous hearing, as support for its conclusion. The trial court concluded that Plaintiff had failed to establish that he owned the Properties at the time Chesnoff attached them. Plaintiff now appeals the trial court's ruling.

ISSUES AND STANDARDS OF REVIEW

T7 Plaintiff asks us to reverse the trial court's ruling that the Properties remain subject to execution of the previous judgment against Son. In cases involving equitable issues such as a resulting trust, "we will not disturb the trial court's findings of facts unless the evidence clearly preponderates against [them]." Zion's First Nat'l Bank v. Fennemore (In re Estate of Hock), 655 P.2d 1111, 1114 (Utah 1982); see also Jacobson v. Jacobson, 557 P.2d 156, 158 (Utah 1976) (acknowledging the trial court's "advantaged position" and giving a trial court's findings and judgment "considerable deference" in cases where a party is attempting to reform a deed). We will "assess the quality and quantity of the evidence to determine whether it [298]*298'clearly preponderates against' the trial court's [determination] that the appropriate standard of proof has been satisfied." In re Estate of Hock, 655 P.2d at 1114 n. 1.

ANALYSIS

18 Plaintiff claims that the evidence he presented was sufficient to establish the existence of a resulting trust in his favor and, as a result, that Chesnoff should be precluded from satisfying Son's debt by executing the writs of attachment against the Properties. "[A] purchase money resulting trust is an equitable remedy designed to implement what the law assumes to be the intentions of the putative trustor." Id. at 1114. According to the Restatement (Second) of Trusts, a purchase money resulting trust is presumptively created "where a transfer of property is made to one person and the purchase price is paid by another." Restatement (Second) of Trusts § 440 (1959). However, where the "transferee is a wife, child or other natural object of bounty of the person by whom the purchase price is paid, [the presumption is that] a resulting trust does not arise unless the [payor] manifests an intention that the transferee should not have the beneficial interest in the property." Id. § 442.

{9 The Utah Supreme Court requires a party that seeks to alter or rebut a deed or other such document to do so by clear and convincing evidence. See In re Estate of Hock, 655 P.2d at 1114; Jacobson, 557 P.2d at 158; Northcrest, Inc. v. Walker Bank & Trust Co., 122 Utah 268, 248 P.2d 692, 693 (1952) ("[Olne who asserts the invalidity of a deed must so prove by clear and convincing evidence."). Because Plaintiff's efforts to have the writs discharged attempt to avoid the legal significance of the deed to the Properties, he must prove his alleged purchase money resulting trust by clear and convincing evidence.

I. Sufficiency of the Evidence

110 The evidence that Plaintiff presented at the evidentiary hearing consisted almost entirely of his own testimony. Plaintiff testified concerning his intent in titling the Properties in Son's name, and on appeal, Plaintiff claims that he successfully created a prima facie case that a valid purchase money resulting trust existed in his favor. This prima facie argument mistakes the effect of this evidence on Plaintiff's ultimate burden to prove, by clear and convincing evidence, the existence of the purchase money resulting trust. Plaintiff cannot alleviate himself of his ultimate burden of proof by merely presenting some evidence in support of his claim. Plaintiff bears the responsibility to prove the existence of the purchase money resulting trust by clear and convincing evidence, which has been repeatedly described by Utah case law as evidence demonstrating "that there is no serious or substantial doubt as to the correctness of the conclusion." See Northcrest, 248 P.2d at 698.

T11 For multiple reasons reflected in the record, the trial court concluded that Plaintiff failed to meet his burden and did not sufficiently establish the existence of a purchase money resulting trust.

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

Related

Bird v. McCauley (In re McCauley)
520 B.R. 874 (D. Utah, 2014)
Nikols v. Chesnoff
435 F. App'x 766 (Tenth Circuit, 2011)
Nikols v. GOODMAN & CHESNOFF
2009 UT App 79 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2009 UT App 79, 206 P.3d 295, 626 Utah Adv. Rep. 14, 2009 Utah App. LEXIS 70, 2009 WL 706659, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nikols-v-goodman-chesnoff-utahctapp-2009.