Wicks v. Wicks

67 So. 3d 88, 2011 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 11, 2011 WL 118273
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedJanuary 14, 2011
Docket2090817
StatusPublished

This text of 67 So. 3d 88 (Wicks v. Wicks) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wicks v. Wicks, 67 So. 3d 88, 2011 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 11, 2011 WL 118273 (Ala. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

THOMPSON, Presiding Judge.

Jeanette Wicks (“Jeanette”) appeals from the judgment of the Colbert Circuit Court that, among other things, ordered her to sell her interest in certain real property to Jeffrey Robert Wicks II (“Jay”). For the reasons stated herein, we reverse.

Jay filed an action against his father, Jeffrey R. Wicks (“Jeff’), and his stepmother, Jeanette, on December 23, 2008, styling his complaint a “petition for declaratory judgment.” In his complaint, Jay alleged that Jeff and Jeanette were currently involved in a divorce action and that an issue had arisen regarding a parcel of real property located in Sheffield (“the property”). Jay alleged that his paternal grandparents, who are deceased, had owned the property and that, through estate proceedings, the property had been granted to his father and his uncle, Ronald E. Wicks (“Ronald”), who were the only heirs of his paternal grandparents. Jay asserted that conflicting deeds regarding the property had been recorded and that one of the deeds vested him with ownership of the property while one of the deeds vested Jeff and Jeanette with ownership of the property. Jay alleged that he had paid the taxes and insurance on the property since 2005 and that, because the house on the property had been uninhabitable, he had spent a substantial amount of money to renovate it. He asserted that Jeff and Jeanette had not paid the taxes or the cost of insurance for the property and that they had not contributed to the maintenance and improvements on the property. Jay asserted that he was the owner of the property, and he asked the court “to render a declaratory judgment adjudging and granting” the property to him.

On September 9, 2009, the trial court held a bench trial. At the trial, several deeds were submitted into evidence. The first deed introduced was executed on August 1, 2005, and recorded on September 12, 2005. By that deed, Ronald and Jeff conveyed ownership of the property to Jeff and Jeanette as joint tenants with right of survivorship. A second deed, which was executed on September 14, 2005, and recorded later that day, was introduced into evidence. By that deed, Jeff purported to convey the property to Jay. The deed does not list Jeanette as a grantor, and she did not execute that deed. A third deed, which was identical to the first deed, was introduced. It also was executed on September 14, 2005, and was recorded later that day.

At the trial, Ronald testified that the property had originally belonged to Edward Wicks and Evelyn Wicks, who were Jeffs and Ronald’s parents. Ronald testified that Evelyn Wicks had died in 1989 and that Edward Wicks had died in 2004. Ronald stated that he had been the executor of Edward Wicks’s estate and that Jeff and he were Edward Wicks’s sole heirs. Ronald testified that, at Edward Wicks’s death, Edward Wicks had owned the prop[90]*90erty and an automobile. Ronald stated that Jeff and Ronald had agreed that Ronald would receive the automobile and that Jeff would receive the property with the intent to give the property to Jay. Ronald testified that the automobile was worth between $10,000 and $12,000 and that the house on the property was in poor condition. He stated that he believed that the automobile and the property had had comparable values, although he stated that his opinion as to the value of the house was speculation.

Jay testified that he and Josh Wicks, Jay’s younger brother (“Josh”), began living in the house on the property in 2004, while their paternal grandfather’s estate was being probated. Jay testified that Josh, Jeff, and he did a substantial amount of work to the house, including, among other things, replacing the roof, replacing the central-air-conditioning unit, and replacing the kitchen and bathroom floors. He testified that the total cost of all the improvements to the property was $38,083. Jay stated that he received a letter dated April 9, 2008, during the time that Jeff and Jeanette were going through a divorce, indicting that Jeanette planned to move into the house on the property on April 15, 2008. Jay testified that this was the first notice he had that Jeanette claimed an interest in the property, and he stated that, had he known that Jeanette had claimed an interest in the property, he would not have made all the improvements to the property that he had made. Jay testified that he had paid all the property taxes for the property in 2006, 2007, and 2008 for the tax years 2005 to 2007. This testimony was supported by tax records entered into evidence showing that the property was assessed in Jay’s name. Jay testified that the property was insured in his name and that he had paid the premium for the property insurance beginning in 2005. Jay stated that Jeanette had never offered to pay the property insurance or property taxes on the property and that she had not paid for any of the improvements that he had made to the property.

Jeanette testified that she and Jeff were married in October 2004. She testified that she had helped with the improvements on the property by cleaning and painting and that some of the improvements, such as the new roof and the new central-air-conditioning unit, had been paid for out of a bank account that Jeff and she had held jointly. Jeanette stated that Jeffs and her intention had been to allow Jay and his younger brother to live on the property and that, once they moved off of the property, she and Jeff were going to sell it. She testified that she paid the taxes on the property for 2004 or 2005. She also stated that she and Jeff were paying for the property insurance on the property when they were married in 2004.

Jeff testified that it had been Ronald’s and his intention that Ronald’s daughter receive their father’s automobile and that Jay receive the property. He stated that he believed that the automobile and the property were approximately equal in value. He testified that Jeanette did not pay for any of the improvements to the property as she had testified. Jeff testified that it had been his intention that Jay would own the property.

After the trial, Jeanette filed a brief in which she argued that the evidence at trial demonstrated that she owned a one-half interest in the property as a tenant in common with Jay. She asserted that Jeff and Ronald had taken ownership of the property as tenants in common and that the August 1, 2005, deed conveyed title to Jeff and her as joint tenants with right of survivorship, each owning an undivided, one-half interest in the property. She as[91]*91serted that the effect of the September 14, 2005, deed of the property from Jeff to Jay served to convey Jeffs one-half interest in the property to Jay, destroying the surviv-orship rights and causing Jay and her to become tenants in common of the property. She argued that the third deed, which was identical to the first deed, was invalid because, at the time it was recorded, neither Jeff nor Ronald had any legal interest remaining in the property. As to the testimony at trial regarding improvements that had been made to the property, Jeanette argued that the issue of reimbursement among cotenants was not an issue that was before the court and that, instead, the only issue before the court was the request for relief in Jay’s complaint, i.e., a declaration of the parties’ respective rights in the property. She argued that “each tenant in common has the right to petition the court for sale or division of the property” and that, “when an action for partition is filed and/or upon further request of the Court,” she would file a brief addressing those issues.

Jay also filed a brief after the trial.

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Bluebook (online)
67 So. 3d 88, 2011 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 11, 2011 WL 118273, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wicks-v-wicks-alacivapp-2011.