Blackmon v. Brazil

• Decision Date: 13 August 2004
• Citation: 895 So.2d 900
• Parties: Joseph BLACKMON v. Alma Griffin BRAZIL and Rebecca Evans.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

895 So.2d 900

Joseph BLACKMON v. Alma Griffin BRAZIL and Rebecca Evans.

1022078.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

August 13, 2004.

John F. Brasfield, Northport, for appellant.

Sarah L. (Sue) Thompson, Tuscaloosa, for appellees.

JOHNSTONE, Justice.

The defendant Joseph Blackmon appeals a summary judgment for the plaintiffs Alma Griffin Brazil and Rebecca Evans. We affirm.¹

Facts

In September 2002, the plaintiffs sued Blackmon to quiet title to land owned by the plaintiffs' father, John Griffin ("the elder John"), when he died intestate in 1966. The plaintiffs alleged that they were the only living heirs of the elder John when he died and, therefore, that they were the only persons who inherited his land by intestate succession. The plaintiffs further alleged that, while the elder John had fathered a son named John Griffin, Jr. ("the younger John"), the younger John died unmarried and without issue in 1949, 17 years before the elder John died.

On November 21, 2002, Blackmon counterclaimed for an adjudication of paternity in accordance with § 43-8-48(2)b., Ala.Code 1975, and for an award of a share of the estate of the elder John. Blackmon alleged that he was fathered by the younger John and that he was born out of wedlock to Angie Lee Blackmon Branch on January 16, 1946. Blackmon claimed that, since he was the son of the younger John, who predeceased the elder John, Blackmon was an heir of the elder John under the law of intestate succession. In answering Blackmon's counterclaim, the plaintiffs asserted as an affirmative defense that Blackmon's counterclaims were barred by the applicable statute of limitations.

Blackmon moved the trial court to order DNA testing of the parties, and the plaintiffs opposed that motion. The plaintiffs then moved for a summary judgment on the ground that the application of § 6-2-33(2), Ala.Code 1975, the 10-year statute of limitations applicable to claims by heirs for inheritances, entitled them to judgment as a matter of law not only on Blackmon's counterclaims but also on their quiet-title claims. First, the plaintiffs argued that § 6-2-33(2) barred both Blackmon's counterclaim for an adjudication of paternity in accordance with § 43-8-48(2)b. and his counterclaim for a share of the estate of the elder John. Second, the plaintiffs argued that, since Blackmon was barred by § 6-2-33(2) from claiming an ownership interest in the subject land, the plaintiffs were entitled to judgment as a matter of law on their quiet-title claims.

The plaintiffs supported their summary-judgment motion with their affidavits. The plaintiffs' affidavits stated that the younger John predeceased the elder John and left neither issue nor a surviving spouse and that thereafter, when the elder John died intestate in 1966, he left the plaintiffs as his sole heirs. The plaintiffs' affidavits stated further that the younger John, during his lifetime, denied that Blackmon was his child.

Blackmon opposed the summary-judgment motion with uncertified photocopies of affidavits by his mother and his aunt that he had previously recorded in the probate court and an unauthenticated copy of a real estate agent's listing contract dated October 2, 2000.² The affidavits of Blackmon's mother and aunt stated not only that the younger John had fathered Blackmon, but also that the younger John, during his lifetime, had acknowledged his fatherhood of Blackmon. Blackmon's date of birth, January 16, 1946, was undisputed by the parties. The listing contract, which granted a real estate agent the exclusive right to sell land the elder John owned at his death, named Blackmon as well as the plaintiffs as the sellers of the land.

Blackmon argued that no statute of limitations applied to his counterclaim for an adjudication of paternity. Blackmon also argued that his counterclaim for a share of the elder John's estate was not barred by § 6-2-33(2) because 10 years had not passed since that counterclaim accrued. Blackmon argued that, since he "has claimed to be a co-tenant and has always been treated as such by the [plaintiffs]," his counterclaim did not accrue until the plaintiffs attempted to oust him from the land.

By written order, the trial court stated and held:

"The facts are undisputed. The plaintiffs are daughters of [the elder John], who died in 1966. The plaintiffs had a brother, [the younger John], who died in 1949. The defendant, Joseph Blackmon, was born out of wedlock to Angie Lee Blackmon [Branch]. The defendant now claims to be the son of [the younger John]. Paternity has not [heretofore] been established. "Code of Alabama [1975, §] 43-8-48[,] allows a child to bring an action to establish paternity for the purposes of inheritance. Code of Alabama [1975, §] 26-17-8[,] provides that the provisions for establishing paternity do not extend the time within which a right of inheritance or succession may be asserted, beyond the time provided by law relating to distribution and closing of decedents estates or to the determination of heirship.

"Code of Alabama [1975, §] 6-2-33 [(2),] provides a ten-year statute of limitations for recovering hereditaments. Code of Alabama [1975, §] 6-2-8 [(a),] extends the ten-year statute of limitations for minors three years after the minor turns nineteen years of age.

"The evidence is that the defendant was three years of age when [the younger John] died. The defendant would have reached nineteen years of age in 1965. Reading all these statutes in pari materia, irrespective of the removal of the statute of limitations for establishing paternity, by Alabama case law, the defendant would have had until 1976 to file a claim against the estate of [the elder John]. The defendant never filed a claim until his answer and counterclaim in this case on November 21, 2002. The right to share in the estate of [the elder John] became time-barred, as a matter of law, ten years after his death in 1966.

"The counterclaim for paternity is not a proper claim in this case, since the estate of [the younger John] is not a party to this lawsuit. Therefore, the plaintiffs are entitled to judgment as a matter of law on their complaint and the defendant's counterclaim. Summary judgment is granted in favor of the plaintiffs and against the defendant."

In accordance with the order entering a summary judgment for the plaintiffs, the trial court then entered in favor of the plaintiffs a written judgment stating that the plaintiffs were the exclusive owners of fee simple title to the land owned by the elder John at his death. Thereafter, Blackmon filed a Rule 59(e), Ala. R. Civ. P., motion to alter, to amend, or to vacate the summary judgment, and the trial court denied this motion.

Issues

On appeal, Blackmon raises these issues: (1) whether the trial court erred in implicitly holding that the conflicting evidence regarding whether the younger John was Blackmon's father failed to establish a genuine issue of material fact, (2) whether the trial court erred in holding that Ala.Code 1975, § 6-2-33(2), barred Blackmon's claim to a share of the elder John's estate, (3) whether the trial court erred in holding that Blackmon's paternity claim was not proper since the estate of the younger John was not a party to the lawsuit, and (4) whether the trial court erred in granting the summary-judgment motion without first ordering genetic testing to determine whether the younger John was Blackmon's father. The dispositive issue is whether § 6-2-33(2) barred Blackmon's counterclaims.

Law

Rule 56(c)(3), Ala. R. Civ. P., provides that a summary judgment "shall be rendered forthwith 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." (Emphasis added.) In Bruce v. Cole, 854 So.2d 47, 54 (Ala.2003), this Court stated:

"Summary judgment is appropriate only when `there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.' Rule 56(c)(3), Ala. R. Civ. P., and Dobbs v. Shelby County Econ. & Indus. Dev. Auth., 749 So.2d 425 (Ala.1999). The court must accept the tendencies of the evidence most favorable to the nonmoving party and must resolve all reasonable doubts in favor of the nonmoving party. System Dynamics Int'l, Inc. v. Boykin, 683 So.2d 419 (Ala.1996). `[W]here the evidence is in conflict, the issue must [be tried to the fact-finder].' Kitchens v. Winn-Dixie Montgomery, Inc., 456 So.2d 45, 47 (Ala.1984). In reviewing a summary judgment, an appellate court, de novo, applies the same standard as the trial court. Dobbs, supra."

(Some emphasis added.)

The party moving for summary judgment bears "`the burden of production, i.e., the burden of making a prima facie showing that he is entitled to summary judgment.'" Ex parte General Motors Corp., 769 So.2d 903, 909 (Ala.1999) (quoting Berner v. Caldwell, 543 So.2d 686, 691 (Ala.1989) (Houston, J., concurring specially)).

"`The manner in which the movant's burden of production is met depends upon which party has the burden of proof ... at trial. If the movant has the burden of proof at trial, the movant must support his motion with credible evidence, using any of the materials specified in Rule 56(c), [Ala.] R. Civ. P. ("pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits"). The movant's proof must be such that he would be entitled to a directed verdict if this evidence was not controverted at trial.'"

Ex parte General Motors, 769 So.2d at 909 (quoting Berner, 543 So.2d at 691 (Houston, J., concurring specially)).

"`[T]his Court "will affirm the judgment appealed from if supported on any valid legal ground."' Smith v. Equifax Servs., Inc., 537 So.2d 463, 465 (Ala.1988) (citation omitted). This rule is qualified only by exceptions not applicable to the case now before us.

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