Ware v. Ware

161 P.3d 1188, 2007 Alas. LEXIS 63, 2007 WL 1575525
CourtAlaska Supreme Court
DecidedJune 1, 2007
DocketS-11687
StatusPublished
Cited by45 cases

This text of 161 P.3d 1188 (Ware v. Ware) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Alaska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ware v. Ware, 161 P.3d 1188, 2007 Alas. LEXIS 63, 2007 WL 1575525 (Ala. 2007).

Opinions

OPINION

CARPENETI, Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

In this intra-family dispute, two siblings vie for control of the family homestead. Susan Ware, a pro se litigant, sued her brother Brandie Ware on the theory that he unlawfully exerted his influence and will over their eighty-seven year old mother, Margaret, and convinced Margaret to give him the family homestead. Brandie moved for summary judgment, contending that Susan had not produced any evidence beyond her personal conviction that Margaret would not have given the land to Brandie unless she had been unduly influenced. The superior court granted Brandie’s motion for summary judgment and awarded Brandie attorney’s fees in excess of the statutory minimum. Because Susan has not provided any evidentiary support for her claim of undue influence, we affirm the superior court’s grant of summary judgment. We also affirm the superior court’s award of enhanced attorney’s fees because the award was within the court’s discretion.

[1191]*1191II. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

A. Facts

In 1998 John Wesley Ware and his wife Margaret placed their homestead in a revocable living trust known as the Ware Family Trust. The homestead encompasses several acres of land, five houses, and multiple unimproved lots on the Eenai Peninsula. John passed away in April 1999. Upon John’s death, Margaret became owner of the family homestead. In March 2000, when Margaret was eighty-three years old, she transferred the homestead and other real and personal property into another revocable living trust entitled the Margaret Ware Revocable Living Trust (Trust).1 Margaret was named both grantor and trustee. Her four children — Roger, Brandie, Susan, and Lance— were the named beneficiaries. She had previously executed a will in which she provided that if her husband were to die before she did, the “home” would go to her four children.

The terms of the trust divided the property fairly evenly. Brandie, Roger, and Lance all own homes on the property, and under the terms of the trust they would individually acquire the land on which their homes sit. Susan would acquire the grantor’s interest in the family home, as well as a Civil War powder horn. Roger would receive the family jewelry and Brandie would get another powder horn.

In February 2003, however, Margaret, in her capacity as trustee of the Trust, conveyed the entire homestead property to Brandie for ten dollars. Margaret signed the statutory warranty deed and recorded it. Upon receiving title to the property, Brandie quit-claimed his mother a life estate in the property.

Margaret sent a notarized letter to her son Lance in which she explained her decision to sell the property to Brandie:

Lance,
You must contact Brandie to converse about any property. My entire homestead property was sold to Brandie Ware. I am tired of being bothered by you scaring me into saying things like the land is mine. I told you on the telephone you should contact Brandie. I want you to know I sold all the land to Brandie. No more stress from you.
Margaret Ware

B. Proceedings

After Margaret deeded the property to Brandie, Susan sued Brandie on the grounds that he had exerted undue influence over their mother, and that he had been unjustly enriched as a result. Brandie denied the allegations and counter-claimed in order to quiet title.

Susan moved for an injunction in April 2004, requesting that the court prevent Brandie from “taking any more actions, including property transfers, of the Ware Homestead, during the pendency of this matter, without notifying the Court, Ms. Ware, and any interested parties.” The court denied Susan’s motion for injunction because “it is not clear to the court what activities Plaintiff wishes to prohibit or require of Defendant, and because Plaintiff does not clearly indicate what sort of irreparable harm she believes she will suffer without entry of a preliminary injunction.” However, the court invited Susan to file a new motion specifically addressing these issues.

In July 2004 Brandie moved for summary judgment, arguing that Susan had alleged no facts to support her claim of undue influence. Rather, he argued, “[s]he has simply opined that she doesn’t believe that her mother would deed the property to Brandie unless he unduly influenced her.” Brandie cited Margaret’s deposition, in which Margaret testified that she had not been pressured into transferring the deed and that it was her idea to transfer title to Brandie. Susan replied, “The fact that the parties’ mother turned over everything to one child in the absence of a satisfactory explanation sufficiently stands out as to present a prima facie case of undue influence.” The court granted [1192]*1192Brandie’s motion for summary judgment, finding no genuine issue of material fact regarding Margaret’s competence or undue influence, and dismissed Susan’s complaint with prejudice.

In addition, the court ordered Susan to pay Brandie’s attorney’s fees pursuant to Alaska Civil Rule 82, including enhanced fees under Rule 82(b)(3).

Susan appeals both the summary judgment decision and the award of augmented attorney’s fees.

III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review a grant of summary judgment de novo, applying our independent judgment2 and adopting the rule “that is most persuasive in light of precedent, reason, and policy.”3 Summary judgment “is affirmed if the evidence in the record fails to disclose a genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”4 All reasonable inferences of fact are drawn in favor of the nonmoving party and against the moving party.5 “The moving party has the burden of proving the absence of issues of material fact.”6 Once the moving party has made a prima facie showing of the absence of a genuine issue-of material fact, the burden shifts to the non-moving party to show that it “can produce admissible evidence reasonably tending to dispute the movant’s evidence.”7

We review an award of attorney’s fees under an abuse of discretion standard.8 “The trial court has broad discretion in awarding attorney’s fees; this court will not find an abuse of discretion absent a showing that the award was arbitrary, capricious, manifestly unreasonable, or stemmed from improper motive.”9

IV. DISCUSSION

A. The Superior Court Did Not Err in Granting Summary Judgment to Brandie on Susan’s Undue Influence Claim.

1. Inter vivos transfers of property from parents to children are presumptively gifts.

While we have not previously addressed inter vivos transfers of property from parents to children, “a considerable body of precedent ... holds that an unexplained transfer of property from a parent to a child raises a rebuttable presumption, or inference, that a gift was intended.”10 We [1193]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
161 P.3d 1188, 2007 Alas. LEXIS 63, 2007 WL 1575525, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ware-v-ware-alaska-2007.