Deloch v. Hughes, 66343

• Court: Court of Appeal of Missouri (US)
• Writing for the Court: CARL R. GAERTNER; GRIMM, C.J., and DOWD
• Citation: 896 S.W.2d 668
• Parties: Marvell DELOCH and Margo Hegwood, Appellants, v. Edye Lynn HUGHES, Respondent.
• Docket Number: No. 66343,66343
• Decision Date: 21 March 1995

Page 668

896 S.W.2d 668 Marvell DELOCH and Margo Hegwood, Appellants,
v.
Edye Lynn HUGHES, Respondent. No. 66343. Missouri Court of Appeals,
Eastern District,
Division Five. March 21, 1995.
Rehearing Denied April 20, 1995.

Page 669

James Edward Terry, St. Louis, for appellants.

James R. Dankenbring, St. Louis, for respondent.

CARL R. GAERTNER, Judge.

Marvell Deloch and Margo Hegwood appeal from the trial court's judgment concerning Deloch's petition to partition real estate located in St. Louis and Hegwood's claim for the imposition of an equitable lien on the real estate.

Appeal dismissed.

On October 11, 1956, Marvell and Jessie Deloch were married. They had one child, Edye Hughes, born on January 18, 1959. They separated in December 1962, and Jessie maintained custody of Hughes. In 1984, Jessie purchased a home located at 2818 Abner Place in St. Louis. ¹ She then permitted Deloch to occupy the property in exchange for his agreement to pay $200.00 per month in rent and the taxes and maintenance costs for the property. Deloch occupied the premises and upheld his agreement to make the requisite payments until Jessie's death.

Jessie died intestate on May 26, 1985, leaving Deloch and Hughes as her only surviving heirs. At the time of her death, Jessie resided in Cook County, Illinois, and she held fee simple title to the Abner property.

On May 28, 1985, Deloch executed under oath a disclaimer in Cook County, Illinois, in which he waived all interest in Jessie's estate in favor of Hughes. The disclaimer specifically included the Abner property and the proceeds from Jessie's life insurance policy and pension. In exchange for the disclaimer, Hughes agreed to permit Deloch to occupy the Abner property without paying rent. Deloch has not paid rent on the property since June 1985.

Jessie failed to designate a beneficiary to the proceeds of her insurance policy. Deloch advised Hughes to assign all of Jessie's insurance proceeds to him to expedite their distribution. He agreed to transfer the proceeds to Hughes upon receiving them. In November 1985, Deloch received $107,000.00 in proceeds from Jessie's insurance but only gave Hughes $1,000.00. Additionally, Deloch has received all of Jessie's federal pension checks since 1986. Also, in 1988 Hegwood began living with Deloch at the Abner property.

On August 21, 1991, Deloch filed in the Circuit Court of St. Louis a petition for partition of the Abner property. Hughes filed an answer and counterclaim. On February 13, 1992, Hegwood was joined as a plaintiff to the underlying action, and she filed a claim seeking the imposition of a $20,000.00 equitable lien on the Abner property

Page 670

for alleged improvements she made on the property.

The case was tried without a jury on November 15, 1993. On December 14, 1993, the trial court entered its findings of fact, conclusions of law and order in which it: (1) ordered that Hegwood's equitable lien claim be denied; (2) declared that Deloch and Hughes were the owners of the Abner property as tenants in common; (3) ordered that the Abner property be partitioned, the proceeds be distributed equally to Deloch and Hughes and the parties be prohibited from purchasing the realty; and (4) awarded Hughes $20,400.00 in equitable relief. This appeal followed.

Appellants' statement of facts ignores the requirements of Rule 84.04(c), which provides that an appellant's brief must contain a "fair and concise statement of the facts relevant to the questions presented for determination without argument." The purpose of the statement of facts is to set forth an immediate, accurate, complete and...