Willoughby v. Moon

404 So. 2d 619, 1981 Ala. LEXIS 3802
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedSeptember 25, 1981
Docket79-553
StatusPublished

This text of 404 So. 2d 619 (Willoughby v. Moon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Willoughby v. Moon, 404 So. 2d 619, 1981 Ala. LEXIS 3802 (Ala. 1981).

Opinion

ALMON, Justice.

This is an appeal by Willoughby from a judgment finding that Theolene Moon, in accordance with an agreement, was indebted to Willoughby in the amount of $11,000. The judgment also ordered Willoughby to assign to Theolene Moon a judgment previously rendered against her husband Win-field Moon.

On November 24, 1970, O. M. Willoughby obtained a $225,365 judgment against Win-field Moon in Jefferson County. Unable to satisfy the judgment in Jefferson County, [620]*620Willoughby brought suit on the judgment in Cullman County in July of 1972. That suit was dismissed before trial apparently with the consent of all parties. There was evidence that the suit had been dismissed upon an agreement between Willoughby and Winfield and Theolene Moon. A purported copy of the agreement was offered in the present suit, but not allowed into evidence. The agreement was supposedly entered into in April 1973. Subsequently, in April, 1976, the parties entered into a settlement agreement whereby Willoughby agreed to assign his judgment against Win-field Moon, to Theolene Moon upon her paying him the sum of $20,000. Theolene paid Willoughby $9,000 upon execution of the agreement but did not pay the balance because she said Willoughby told her she “could pay the balance anytime I was able.” The evidence was disputed as to Willough-by’s demands for payment. It was admitted that Willoughby had called Theolene and asked for the balance to be paid but she told him she could not pay at that time. There was no indication as to when the demand was made or whether Willoughby took any action upon Theolene’s failure to pay. As of the filing of the present suit in 1978, Theolene had not made any payments under the 1976 agreement other than the $9,000 paid initially. While the present suit was pending, Theolene paid $11,000 into Court as full payment under the agreement.

The following issues were put to the trial court by consent of the parties:

1. The issue as to the validity and enforceability of the agreement dated April of 1973.
2. The issue of the validity and enforceability of the agreement dated April 30, 1976.
3. The issue of the determination of the amount due under either of the two agreements, in the event the court finds that either or both of the agreements are enforceable.
4. The issues raised as to the indebtedness claimed by the Plaintiff from the Defendant in the Amended Complaint.

For a better understanding of this case we set forth the findings of fact and conclusion of the trial court:

This cause is before the Court on the Complaint of O. M. Willoughby, as amended, wherein, the original Complaint sought the declaration that certain lands described therein were owned by the Defendant, Winfield Moon, and sought to have these lands sold to satisfy a Judgment held by the Plaintiff against said Defendant. This Complaint was amended on June 26, 1978, by requesting, additionally, that Plaintiff have a Judgment for Seventeen Thousand Twenty-Six and 00/100 ($17,026.00) Dollars, plus interest from the Defendants, Winfield Moon and Theolene Moon, on an open account theory. The Defendants filed separate Answers to the original Complaint and to the Amended Complaint and the Defendants, Winfield Moon and Theolene Moon, amended their Answer by paying into Court the sum of Eleven Thousand and 00/100 ($11,000.00) Dollars, on the date of June 14, 1978.
By agreement, the issues to be tried by the Court were set down in an Order of this Court, dated October 23, 1978, and these issues were tried before this Court on December 15,1978, however since that time several post-trial Briefs have been filed and several post-trial settlement conferences have been held and scheduled, the latest being November 21, 1979. At that time, the Plaintiff was allowed thirty (30) days to file a rebuttal to the Defendants’ Brief of November 21, 1979, and for all practical purposes that is the date that this case was taken under advisement by this Court.
After considering all of the evidence and the Briefs filed and the legal arguments heard by the Court and the Court not intending anything uncomplimentary, it appears that the facts and the parties and their business dealings are unusual, however, when addressing the issues as set forth in the Order of this Court, dated October 23, 1978, it appears that the alleged agreement of the parties, dated [621]*621April, 1973, is not enforceable by this Court. There is evidence that an agreement was reached between the parties in April, 1973, and evidence concerning the details of the agreement, however, the agreement being in writing, a purported copy thereof was not allowed into evidence on the objection of the Plaintiff. There is some conflict regarding the amount of a debt owed by the Defendant, Winfield Moon, to the Plaintiff in 1973 and there is evidence, of course, that the parties had other business dealings after any agreement that was reached in 1973. One of the problems appears to be with regard to the fact that good records were not maintained regarding these transactions between the parties. Defendants’ Exhibit “4” indicates that there was a Twenty Thousand and 00/100 ($20,000.00) Dollar settlement between the parties and there is evidence that after, the settlement some transactions were had between the parties and the Plaintiff claims additional sums due him, in addition to the settlement figure, as a result of certain items listed on Defendants’ Exhibit “4”, among which are payments for worthless checks and attorney’s fees. The evidence is not clear concerning these items and all of these items appear to have occurred in a point of time prior to the time the parties entered an agreement on April 30, 1976. There is evidence, also, to the effect that the Plaintiff had possibly included these same items in the settlement agreement of the parties dated April 30, 1976. It further appears that the Plaintiff dismissed a law suit against the Defendants, which was similar to the original Complaint herein, at about the same time that the alleged agreement of April, 1973, was reached. To conclude regarding these matters, it appears that any agreement that the parties may have had in April, 1973, is not enforceable by this Court.
The agreement of the parties, dated April 30, 1976, appears valid. This agreement was duly executed for a valid consideration, a part of which was the payment of the sum of Twenty Thousand and 00/100 ($20,000.00) Dollars. The evidence indicated that the Defendant, Theolene Moon, paid to Plaintiff the sum of Nine Thousand and 00/100 ($9,000.00) Dollars on the date of the agreement, thereby leaving a balance due the Plaintiff in the amount of Eleven Thousand and 00/100 ($11,000.00) Dollars. Normally, it would appear that the Twenty Thousand and 00/100 ($20,000.00) Dollar payment would be due presently since no payment time was specified, but it appears that Plaintiff and Defendant, Theo-lene Moon, orally amended the agreement, whereby this Defendant was allowed to pay on that date the sum of Nine Thousand and 00/100 ($9,000.00) Dollars and allowed to pay the balance of Eleven Thousand and 00/100 ($11,000.00) Dollars later when she was able, when she could get the money.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Hartford Accident and Indemnity Co. v. Oglesby
308 So. 2d 695 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1975)
Smith v. Pope
197 So. 2d 767 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1967)
Alabama Power Co. v. Martin
341 So. 2d 695 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1977)
Seybold v. Magnolia Land Co.
376 So. 2d 1083 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1979)
Hendrix, Mohr & Yardley, Inc. v. City of Daphne
359 So. 2d 792 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1978)
Richards v. William Beach Hardware Co.
7 So. 2d 492 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1942)
Drake v. Goree
22 Ala. 409 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1853)
Sims v. City of Birmingham
55 So. 2d 833 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1951)
Shirley v. McNeal
133 So. 2d 873 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1961)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
404 So. 2d 619, 1981 Ala. LEXIS 3802, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/willoughby-v-moon-ala-1981.