Syfrett v. Syfrett-Moore

115 So. 3d 1127, 2013 WL 3389547, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 10926
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJuly 9, 2013
DocketNo. 1D12-4218
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 115 So. 3d 1127 (Syfrett v. Syfrett-Moore) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Syfrett v. Syfrett-Moore, 115 So. 3d 1127, 2013 WL 3389547, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 10926 (Fla. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

WETHERELL, J.

Appellant seeks review of the trial court’s order denying her motion to dismiss a complaint for declaratory judgment filed by “Estate of Raymond L. Syfrett” (Estate), as well as the order entering summary judgment in favor of the Estate. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

[1128]*1128On January 7, 2011, the Estate filed a two-page, seven-paragraph “Complaint for Declaratory Judgment” alleging that Raymond L. Syfrett (the decedent) owned two units at Sun Harbor Marina; that he transferred those units to Appellant and Raymond Lewis Syfrett (Raymond1) on November 1, 2005; that one of the units, Unit 265, was sold for back taxes in 2008; and that the transfer of Unit 265 was “in error and/or invalid.” The complaint further alleged that “[t]his action is to determine the rightful owner of [Unit 265] prior to the tax deed transfer.” The relief sought in the complaint is “an order determining the transfer of Unit # 265 prior to the tax deed sale invalid and that the [Estate] was the owner of said parcel at the time of decedent’s death.” The complaint did not challenge the tax deed sale or allege that the Estate was now the lawful owner of the unit, nor did the complaint include any allegations explaining why the 2005 transfer was invalid or why the Estate presently needed a declaration as to the lawful owner of Unit 265 in 2005, six years prior to the filing of the complaint and three years prior to the tax deed sale.

The plaintiff named in the complaint was the Estate, not either of the co-personal representatives of the Estate. The complaint was filed by Clayton R. Syfrett, who is an attorney and one of the co-personal representatives of the Estate, but the signature block on the complaint reflects that Mr. Syfrett filed the complaint as “Attorney for Plaintiff [the Estate]” not in his capacity as a co-personal representative. However, at the hearing on the motion for summary judgment, Mr. Syfrett stated that he was only representing himself as co-personal representative, and another lawyer appeared at the hearing on behalf of the other co-personal representative, Appellee Elizabeth Syfrett-Moore,2 even though Ms. Syfrett-Moore was not identified in any of the pleadings.

On July 5, 2011, Appellant filed a motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to adequately state a claim for declaratory relief. Among other things, the motion pointed out that none of the deeds referenced in the motion were attached to the complaint and that only one of the co-personal representatives filed the complaint. The motion also noted that the decedent’s probate case was still open and therefore the dispute framed by the complaint should be considered as an adversary proceeding in the probate case. The motion sought an order dismissing the complaint or requiring the Estate to amend the complaint to address the pleading deficiencies.

Appellant did not set the motion to dismiss for a hearing until March 21, 2012, and by that time, the Estate had filed a motion for summary judgment. The Estate argued in the motion for summary judgment that the decedent was not of sound mind when he transferred Unit 265 to Appellant and Raymond and, therefore, the Estate was entitled to a declaration that it was the lawful owner of the unit at the time of the decedent’s death. Attached to the motion were affidavits from the decedent’s brother, Frank Syfrett, M.D., and H. Cranston Pope, the attorney who prepared the deed transferring Unit 265. In his affidavit, Dr. Syfrett opined “as a physician and as someone who knew [1129]*1129[the decedent] his entire life” that the decedent was not of sound mind and was incapable of making competent decisions on November 1, 2005, due to his pain and medication levels. Mr. Pope stated in his affidavit that the decedent was “extremely weak and feeble and clearly medicated” when he signed the deed but expressed “no opinion one way or the other” whether the decedent had sufficient ability to fully understand what he was doing when he signed the deed transferring Unit 265 to Appellant and Raymond. Appellant did not file a response in opposition to the motion, but she did file her own affidavit, which among other things, challenged the Estate’s evidence that the decedent was not competent to execute the deed.

The trial court heard the motion to dismiss and the motion for summary judgment at the same hearing. It was not until this hearing that the Estate explained why it was seeking a declaratory judgment. Specifically, counsel for the Estate indicated that the complaint was filed because the county was holding proceeds from the tax sale on Unit 265 and that the Estate had filed a claim for those proceeds. Counsel also made clear that the Estate was not seeking a declaration as to the other units transferred to Appellant and Raymond, nor was it challenging the tax deed sale or making any claim as to the present ownership of Unit 265.

On August 1, 2012, the trial court entered separate orders denying the motion to dismiss and granting the Estate’s motion for summary judgment. The summary judgment order indicated that the only evidence presented to the court showed that the decedent was incompetent when he executed the deed. Accordingly, the trial court declared that the conveyance of Unit 265 to Appellant and Raymond was invalid and that the Estate was the the owner of the unit at the time of the decedent’s death. Appellant timely appealed.3,4

We review de novo the trial court’s rulings on Appellant’s motion to dismiss and the Estate’s motion for summary judgment. See Fla. Bar v. Greene, 926 So.2d 1195, 1199-1200 (Fla.2006).

The purpose of a declaratory judgment is “to afford parties relief from insecurity and uncertainty with respect to rights, status and other equitable or legal relations.” Santa Rosa Cnty. v. Admin. Comm’n, 661 So.2d 1190, 1192 (Fla.1995) (citing Martinez v. Scanlan, 582 So.2d 1167, 1170 (Fla.1991)). When the dispute involves the interpretation of a deed such as in the instant case, a party may seek declaratory relief pursuant to section [1130]*113086.021, Florida Statutes. To state a claim for declaratory judgment, the plaintiff must allege:

that there is a bona fide, actual, present practical need for the declaration; that the declaration should deal with a present, ascertained or ascertainable state of facts or present controversy as to a state of facts; that some immunity, power, privilege or right of the complaining party is dependent upon the facts or the law applicable to the facts; that there is some person or persons who have, or reasonably may have an actual, present, adverse and antagonistic interest in the subject matter, either in fact or law; that the antagonistic and adverse interest are all before the court by proper process or class representation and that the relief sought is not merely the giving of legal advice by the courts or the answer to questions propounded from curiosity.

May v. Holley, 59 So.2d 636, 639 (Fla.1952).

Here, we agree with Appellant that the complaint did not meet this pleading standard. First and foremost, the complaint failed to include any allegations explaining the Estate’s “bona fide, actual, present practical” need for a declaration as to the lawful owner of Unit 265 in 2005, six years prior to the filing of the complaint and three years prior to the tax deed sale.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
115 So. 3d 1127, 2013 WL 3389547, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 10926, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/syfrett-v-syfrett-moore-fladistctapp-2013.