Rigsby v. Rigsby

149 S.W.3d 318, 356 Ark. 311, 2004 Ark. LEXIS 129
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedFebruary 26, 2004
Docket03-318
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 149 S.W.3d 318 (Rigsby v. Rigsby) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rigsby v. Rigsby, 149 S.W.3d 318, 356 Ark. 311, 2004 Ark. LEXIS 129 (Ark. 2004).

Opinions

Jim Hannah, Justice.

Appellant Harold Rigsby appeals the order of the Logan County Circuit Court finding that his son, appellee Brett Rigsby, is entitled to an undivided one-half interest of real property located in Magazine, Arkansas. This case has previously been before this court on two occasions. See Rigsby v. Rigsby, 340 Ark. 544, 11 S.W.3d 551 (2000) (Rigsby I), and Rigsby v. Rigsby, 346 Ark. 337, 57 S.W.3d 206 (2001) (Rigsby II). Since this case is a subsequent appeal following an appeal which has been decided in this court, we have jurisdiction of the case pursuant to Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 1-2(a) (7) (2003).

Facts

A recitation of the facts may be found in Rigsby II; we therefore limit a restatement of the facts necessary to an understanding and a determination of the issues raised by Harold for reversal. In Rigsby II, Harold appealed the trial court’s order finding that he and Brett formed a partnership in 1984 when they agreed to undertake a mutual debt for the purpose of the new house, and that the real property then became property of that partnership. Harold also appealed the trial court’s finding that Harold and Brett were equal partners in the ownership of the land, and that such ownership extended to all mineral interests. We reversed the part of the trial court’s order regarding the ownership of the real property and respective mineral interests, and we remanded the case for a determination of whether Brett was entitled to any relief.

Subsequent to our decision in Rigsby II, Brett filed an amended complaint, in which he argued, inter alia, that Harold should be estopped from asserting that he owned the property individually. In his answer, Harold argued that Brett was not entitled to an equitable claim, and he specifically denied that Brett was entitled to any interest in the mineral rights of the property.

The trial court held a hearing to determine whether Brett was entitled to any relief. At the hearing, Harold stated that in 1971, he acquired both the surface rights and the mineral rights to the real property at issue. Harold stated that prior to the trial court’s determination that both he and Brett were entitled to reserve their respective interests in the mineral rights, he had received all royalties from the mineral rights on the property and had not paid any of the royalties to Brett. Harold testified that he did not recall Brett ever asking him for mineral rights.

Brett testified that, prior to filing the lawsuit, he did not make any claim for any mineral interests owned by his father because “there wasn’t any mineral rights coming in to speak of. If there were, I wasn’t aware of it.” However, Brett stated that he was “under the understanding that the mineral rights were with the property. . . .” Brett also stated that his father told him that the property was “all going to be mine someday.”

At the conclusion of the hearing, Harold requested that he be allowed to submit a brief to present his argument that Brett was not entitled to any mineral interests in the property because the mineral rights had been severed from the surface rights of the land. The trial court granted Harold’s request, and both Harold and Brett submitted post-trial briefs.

On December 26, 2002, the circuit court entered an order, which stated in part:

3. Plaintiff claims an equitable one-half interest in real property and prayed in his original and amended Complaint for a partition of the property and division of the proceeds of sale. As this Court previously found that the property should be partitioned, and that both Plaintiff and Defendant are entitled to the delivery of one-half of the sale proceeds or one-half of the property in kind.
4. The property has been sold since the entry of the original Order in this case, and proceeds of the sale have been divided equally between the Plaintiff and Defendant, with the exception that the Defendant received credit at the time of sale for payments that he made on the original note prior to the time that the property was refinanced and remortgaged ini 984.
5. It is the finding of the Court that the parties both lived on the property, and both made contributions and improvements to the property and it appreciated in value. Based on the evidence before the Court it appears that all of the improvements caused the increase in value and the Court cannot assign specific values to any particular improvement made by either party.
6. It is the finding of the Court that during the occupancy of the property by the parties that the Plaintiff would from time to time request that his interest in the property be formalized, and the Defendant testified at the first trial of this case and at the most recent hearing that he would tell the Plaintiff that he could spend whatever he wished to on improvements to the property because some day it would all be his.
7. The Court finds from the testimony of the parties that the Plaintiff would not have continued to contribute to the payment of the mortgage nor construct improvements on the property or invest in the property had he not relied to his detriment upon the statements of the Defendant. Further, the Court finds that the Plaintiffs reliance on Defendant’s statements was reasonable and in good faith.
8. The Court finds that if the Defendant were allowed to retain all of the proceeds of the sale of the property or all of the rights of ownership in the property, that he would be unjustly enriched at the expense of the Plaintiff. It is the finding of the Court that a constructive trust should be imposed upon the above described property, and the proceeds from its sale, and that the Plaintiff and Defendant should each be beneficiaries of the constructive trust. The property has been sold and the proceeds of the sale of the surface have been divided. It is the finding of the Court that the mineral interests which were reserved by the parties are the property of the Plaintiff and Defendant equally.

On appeal, Harold argues that the trial court’s finding that Brett is entitled to an undivided one-half interest in both the surface rights and the mineral rights of the property, under a theory of promissory estoppel, is clearly erroneous since there is insufficient evidence in support of such a finding. Harold also argues that the trial court was clearly erroneous in finding that the surface rights in the property should be divided equally because the division results in a substantial windfall to Brett. Finally, Harold argues that the trial court’s finding that the mineral rights in the property should be divided equally between the parties is arbitrary and clearly erroneous.

Standard of Review

Our standard of review in chancery cases is de novo. HRR Arkansas, Inc. v. River City Contractors, Inc., 350 Ark. 420, 87 S.W.3d 232 (2002). We do not reverse a finding of fact of the chancery court unless we conclude that the chancery court has clearly erred. Id.; Weigh Sys. South, Inc. v. Mark’s Scales & Equip., Inc., 347 Ark.

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Rigsby v. Rigsby
149 S.W.3d 318 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
149 S.W.3d 318, 356 Ark. 311, 2004 Ark. LEXIS 129, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rigsby-v-rigsby-ark-2004.