Smiley v. Yllander

105 So. 3d 1171, 2012 WL 6119011, 2012 Miss. App. LEXIS 807
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedDecember 11, 2012
DocketNo. 2011-CA-00593-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 105 So. 3d 1171 (Smiley v. Yllander) 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
Smiley v. Yllander, 105 So. 3d 1171, 2012 WL 6119011, 2012 Miss. App. LEXIS 807 (Mich. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

MAXWELL, J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. This ease involves damages imposed against Gary Lamar Smiley and his wife, Mary Ann Smiley, for the wrongful removal of timber from property the chancellor found they held in trust for the plaintiffs’/appellees’ benefit. While Mississippi law requires clear and convincing evidence to establish the existence of a trust, here, we are uncertain whether the chancellor employed this standard when deciding the trust issue. We remand for the chancellor to consider whether clear and convincing evidence supports the existence of a trust. And if so, the chancellor must determine what portions of fault on the timber-removal claim, if any, should be attributable to settling defendants or nonparties. We affirm the misappropriation award.

Facts and Procedural History

¶ 2. Jeanette Smiley, an eighty-four-year-old retired bank employee with no children, executed a will on October 14, 2004, leaving her home in Amite County and fifty of the 140 acres on which it stood to her nephew, Gary, and his wife, Mary Ann. Jeanette expressly conditioned the devise on Gary and Mary Ann moving into her home and caring for her until her death. Jeanette’s will left the remaining ninety acres to fifteen other nieces and nephews.

¶ 3. On May 23, 2005, approximately five months after Gary and Mary Ann had moved into Jeanette’s home, Jeanette executed a general durable power of attorney in the couple’s favor, authorizing them to act on her behalf. Then, on November 28, 2005, Jeanette executed a warranty deed conveying all 140 acres of her property in Amite County, including the ninety-acre tract, to Gary and Mary Ann. Jeanette made the conveyance “trusting” Gary would follow her will. The warranty deed specifically expressed that:

This conveyance is executed trusting that Gary Lamar Smiley will follow the dictates of my Last Will and Testament with regard to the disposition of the [1174]*1174above described property. In the event, however, that said Gary Lamar Smiley should predecease me, then, in that event, his executor/administrator shall follow the dictates and dispose of said property according to my Last Will and Testament.

(Emphasis added).

¶ 4. Jeanette died on July 5, 2006. And less than a month later, Gary and Mary Ann began clear-cutting the property’s timber. Though Jeanette’s will left the couple only fifty of the 140 acres, Gary and Mary Ann concentrated their timber-cutting efforts on the separate ninety-acre tract — the property Jeanette had reserved in her will for other family members.

¶ 5. The plaintiffs — ten devisees of the ninety-acre tract — sued Gary and Mary Ann; Timberland Management Services Inc.; Eddie Franklin; and Buffalo Wood, Land, and Timber Inc. The plaintiffs sought damages for the wrongful harvesting of timber on this tract, alleging that Gary and Mary Ann held the ninety-acre tract in trust for their benefit. They also claimed Gary and Mary Ann had misappropriated over $100,000 from Jeanette. The plaintiffs settled with Timberland, Franklin, and Buffalo Wood for a total of $98,000 for their role in harvesting timber on the ninety acres. But the plaintiffs proceeded to trial against Gary and Mary Ann.

¶ 6. After holding a trial, during which she reviewed the will and warranty deed, the chancellor found the deed to Gary and Mary Ann had created some sort of trust, subject to the express terms of Jeanette’s will. Finding Gary and Mary Ann held the ninety-acre tract in trust for the plaintiffs’ benefit, the chancellor awarded the plaintiffs $292,319.32 for wrongful timber removal.1 She also awarded the plaintiffs $44,692.62 on their misappropriation claim.

Discussion

¶ 7. On appeal, Gary and Mary Ann argue the chancellor erred in (1) applying damages set forth in Mississippi Code Annotated section 95-5-10 (Rev.2004), (2) determining a trust arose from the warranty deed, (3) valuing the damages, and (4) finding they misappropriated Jeanette’s funds.

Standard of Review

¶ 8. We will not disturb a chancellor’s findings if supported by substantial evidence unless the chancellor abused his or her discretion, was manifestly wrong, or applied an incorrect legal standard. Sanderson v. Sanderson, 824 So.2d 623, 625-26 (¶ 8) (Miss.2002) (citation omitted). We review a chancellor’s legal conclusions de novo. Joel v. Joel, 43 So.3d 424, 429-30 (¶ 18) (Miss.2010).

I. Wrongful Removal of Timber

A. Applicability of Section 95-5-10

¶ 9. As to the wrongful-timber-removal claim, Gary and Mary Ann argue the chancellor erred in applying section 95-5-102 [1175]*1175rather than assessing damages under the doctrine of waste. Both parties agree section 95-5-10 provides the exclusive remedy for cutting trees without consent. See Stockstill v. Gammill, 943 So.2d 35, 47 (¶ 24) (Miss.2006). However, Gary and Mary Ann argue section 95-5-10’s statutory damages were not available since they owned the ninety-acre tract as either co-tenants or life tenants with the plaintiffs. As they see it, due to their claimed co-ownership, any damages resulting from their authorization to cut the trees should have instead been assessed under the common-law doctrine of waste. See Tolbert v. Southgate Timber Co., 943 So.2d 90, 98-99 (¶ 29) (Miss.Ct.App.2006) (“[W]hen some but not all with ownership interests authorized agents to conduct the cutting, those claims are for waste whether against the contracting owners or against their agents as joint tortfeasors.”).

¶ 10. But a claim for waste only applies against those involved in the cutting of commonly owned timber. And here, the chancellor found the couple did not hold the ninety-acre tract as cotenants with the plaintiffs but were instead trustees “who owed an ever higher duty to them.” Based on this “trust” relationship, the chancellor determined the plaintiffs could recover for wrongful timber removal from the ninety-acre tract. Since the existence or imposition of this claimed trust is material to our review of the chancellor’s findings on the appropriate remedy for tree removal, we must closely examine the trust issue.

B. The Trust for Plaintiffs’ Benefit

¶ 11. Generally, trusts are classified under two broad categories: (1) express trusts and (2) implied trusts. Express trusts arise from a party’s manifestation of an intention to establish such an agreement and are created by a trust instrument. Miss.Code Ann. § 91-9-103(a) (Supp.2012). If the trust holds real property as an asset, the trust agreement must be in writing and signed by the grantor. Miss.Code Ann. § 91-9-1 (Rev.2004); Alvarez v. Coleman, 642 So.2d 361, 366-67 (Miss.1994).

¶ 12. While an express trust must be written, implied trusts differ in that they arise by implication of the law or are presumed from the circumstances. Mississippi recognizes two types of implied trusts: (1) resulting trusts and (2) constructive trusts. A resulting trust “is designed to give effect to the unwritten but actual intention of the parties at the time of the acquisition of title to the affected property.”

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Bluebook (online)
105 So. 3d 1171, 2012 WL 6119011, 2012 Miss. App. LEXIS 807, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smiley-v-yllander-missctapp-2012.