Thornhill v. Thornhill

905 So. 2d 747, 2004 WL 2663800
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedNovember 23, 2004
Docket2003-CA-01515-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 905 So. 2d 747 (Thornhill v. Thornhill) 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
Thornhill v. Thornhill, 905 So. 2d 747, 2004 WL 2663800 (Mich. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

905 So.2d 747 (2004)

Michael Bruce THORNHILL, Appellant,
v.
Jean F. THORNHILL, Appellee.

No. 2003-CA-01515-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

November 23, 2004.

*748 Shirlee Marie Fager-Baldwin, Hattiesburg, for appellant.

John D. Smallwood, Tupelo, for appellee.

EN BANC.

IRVING, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. William Bruce Thornhill entered into a property settlement agreement with his former spouse, Alice Thornhill, and agreed to maintain a life insurance policy for the benefit of the parties' minor child, Michael Bruce Thornhill. William later added his new wife Jean as co-beneficiary of the policy. Upon William's death, the insurance company paid half of the insurance proceeds to Michael and the other half to Jean. Thereafter, Michael filed a petition, asserting his rights to all of the funds. Jean filed a motion to dismiss Michael's action. In response, Michael filed a motion for summary judgment. The *749 chancellor granted Jean's motion to dismiss, and denied Michael's motion for summary judgment. Aggrieved by the chancellor's decision, Michael now appeals and presents the following issue for our review: whether the court erred in granting Jean's motion to dismiss and in denying his motion for summary judgment.

¶ 2. We find that the trial court erred in dismissing Michael's complaint although we find no error in the refusal of the court to grant summary judgment to him.

FACTS

¶ 3. William and Alice were divorced in 1992. Pursuant to a property settlement agreement, William agreed to maintain a life insurance policy for Michael. The property settlement agreement specifically provided that "William Bruce Thornhill shall continue to provide a life insurance policy, insuring his life, in the amount of $100,000.00, with the minor child of the parties to be the named beneficiary thereon...." Shortly thereafter, William married Jean F. Thornhill and added his new wife as co-beneficiary of the existing life insurance policy, thus making Michael and Jean co-beneficiaries of the policy.[1] William died in November 1997, and the insurance company paid one-half of the proceeds to Michael and the other one-half to Jean.

¶ 4. Under the belief that William died intestate, Michael petitioned the chancery court for appointment as administrator of his father's estate, and the court entered an order on February 24, 1999 appointing him administrator. Jean filed an objection to Michael's petition, and the court appointed Jean executrix of her husband's estate on August 9, 1999. A notice to creditors was first published in the newspaper on April 7, 2000. On August 30, 2000, Michael filed an objection to the final accounting and distribution of his father's estate, alleging that he was entitled to all of the insurance funds and that the remaining funds in Jean's possession should be an allowable claim against his father's estate.

¶ 5. Michael then filed a complaint in the Lamar County Circuit Court on December 21, 2000, alleging that he was entitled to the value of the life insurance policy pursuant to the judgment of divorce and property settlement agreement. He asked the court to direct Jean to release unto him the remaining proceeds of his father's life insurance policy. The Lamar County Circuit Court transferred the action to the chancery court on June 7, 2001.[2] On June 14, 2001, Michael filed a voluntary dismissal of his objection to the final accounting and distribution of his father's estate. William's estate was closed by court order on July 5, 2001.[3] Michael filed an amended *750 petition on July 10, 2001, alleging that since Jean received a portion of the proceeds from the life insurance policy, and the proceeds belonged to him, the proceeds received by Jean were held in a constructive and/or a resulting trust for him. He stated that the resulting and/or constructive trust arose due to William's obligations to him and that Jean knew or should have known of that obligation. Jean filed a motion on September 28, 2001, to dismiss Michael's claim. Thereafter, on March 7, 2003, Michael filed a motion for summary judgment on the issue of the life insurance proceeds. An order granting Jean's motion to dismiss and denying Michael's motion for summary judgment was entered on June 10, 2003. Additional facts will be related during our discussion of the issue.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUE

¶ 6. Michael argues that the chancery court erred in denying his motion for summary judgment and granting Jean's motion to dismiss. He further claims that since his father agreed to maintain a $100,000 life insurance policy for his (Michael's) benefit, his father entered into a binding contractual obligation. Michael maintains that as a result, his father's contractual obligations are binding upon his father's heirs, legatees and legal representative and are, therefore, enforceable against Jean under a theory of constructive trust.

¶ 7. Jean, however, argues that although the provisions of the property settlement agreement were contractual in nature, and, therefore, binding upon Michael's father, they are not binding upon her as a third party. She further argues that a claim that Michael's father failed to meet his contractual obligation should have been brought against his estate. She also argues that, although Michael filed an objection in the estate and demanded the disputed funds, his claim was time barred since the objection was filed more than ninety days after the first notice to creditors.

Standard of Review

¶ 8. The law is well settled with respect to the grant or denial of summary judgments. A summary judgment is proper "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." M.R.C.P. 56(c). "All that is required of an opposing party to survive a motion for summary judgment is to establish a genuine issue of material fact by the means available under the rule." Lowery v. Guaranty Bank and Trust Co., 592 So.2d 79, 81 (Miss.1991) (citing Galloway v. Travelers Ins. Co., 515 So.2d 678, 682 (Miss.1987)). "In determining whether the entry of summary judgment [is] appropriate, [the appellate court] reviews the judgment de novo, making its own determination on the motion, separate and apart from that of the trial court." Id. "The evidentiary matters are viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party." Id. "If after this examination, there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, then summary judgment is affirmed, but if after examining the evidentiary matters there is a genuine issue of material fact, the grant of summary judgment is reversed." Id.

¶ 9. Similarly, "[an appellate court's] standard of review for a motion to dismiss is well established." Black v. City of Tupelo, 853 So.2d 1221, 1223(¶ 4) (Miss. 2003). "A motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Mississippi Rules of *751 Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) raises an issue of law." Id. "[An appellate court] reviews questions of law de novo." Id. "When considering a motion to dismiss, the allegations in the complaint must be taken as true, and the motion should not be granted unless it appears beyond doubt the plaintiff will not be able to prove any set of facts in support of his claim." City of Tupelo, 853 So.2d at 1224 (citing Poindexter v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
905 So. 2d 747, 2004 WL 2663800, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thornhill-v-thornhill-missctapp-2004.