Dixon v. Dixon

• Decision Date: 03 June 2021
• Docket Number: No. 20210070,20210070
• Parties: John W. DIXON, Petitioner and Appellant v. Billie DIXON, Respondent and Appellee
• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

960 N.W.2d 764

John W. DIXON, Petitioner and Appellant v. Billie DIXON, Respondent and Appellee

No. 20210070

Supreme Court of North Dakota.

FILED JUNE 3, 2021

Greg W. Hennessy, Williston, ND, for petitioner and appellant.

Spencer D. Ptacek (argued) and Lawrence Bender (on brief), Bismarck, ND, for respondent and appellee.

Crothers, Justice.

[¶1] Respondent and appellee Billie Dixon moves to dismiss petitioner and appellant John W. Dixon's appeal due to mootness and lack of jurisdiction because the appeal was taken without a N.D.R.Civ.P. 54(b) certification. We grant the motion and dismiss the appeal.

I

[¶2] The Shirley A. Dixon Revocable Trust was created in 1972. The trust agreement provided that, if Shirley Dixon's husband did not survive her, her four children would become remainder beneficiaries of the trust, and trust property would be allocated equally to them upon her death. Billie Dixon and John Dixon are two of Shirley Dixon's four children.

[¶3] This action started in October 2013 when John Dixon sought an accounting of the trust, removal of Billie Dixon as trustee, court supervised administration of the trust, reimbursement of the trust for unauthorized distributions, and his attorney fees expended in the action. Shirley Dixon died on November 19, 2015. In March 2017, the district court granted summary judgment denying the petition, and John Dixon appealed. This Court reversed and remanded for further proceedings. Dixon v. Dixon , 2018 ND 25, ¶ 21, 905 N.W.2d 748. At the time of the first appeal, the district court was not supervising administration of the trust and an immediate appeal was permitted. See Matter of Curtiss A. Hogen Trust B , 2018 ND 117, ¶ 12, 911 N.W.2d 305 ("The district court granted Steven Hogen's request for supervised administration of the Trust to avoid a ‘plethora of appeals’ and piecemeal litigation. Rodney Hogen's initial appeal in this Trust proceeding was from a decision issued before the court approved the trustee's final report, and his second appeal after our temporary remand was from an order approving the trustee's final report."); In re Estate of Grengs , 2015 ND 152, ¶¶ 16-21, 864 N.W.2d 424 (describing the finality rule as applied to supervised and unsupervised estates).

[¶4] After trial on remand the district court granted John Dixon's request for supervised administration of the trust and denied the remaining requests for relief. The court also ordered "that Respondent shall proceed with final disbursement of the Trust's assets and terminate the Trust, under this Court's supervision, upon the completion of any appeal or the expiration of the 60-day period allowed for the filing of a notice of appeal." The court directed that "The clerk shall enter a judgment in accordance with this Order."

[¶5] A document titled "Judgment" was entered on September 19, 2019. John Dixon appealed that judgment on November 17, 2019. John Dixon subsequently withdrew the appeal after this Court requested briefing from both parties on appealability of the purported judgment. On May 4, 2020, this Court dismissed John Dixon's appeal without reaching the question whether the September 19, 2019 "judgment" was appealable.

[¶6] On December 11, 2020, Billie Dixon filed a Petition for Order Allowing Trustee to Make Final Distribution and Allowing Termination of the Trust. On December 28, 2020, John Dixon filed objections to the petition, and on the same day the court granted Billie Dixon's petition. On February 26, 2021, John Dixon appealed the district court's order granting the petition. On April 12, 2021, Billie Dixon moved to dismiss the appeal. On April 24, 2021, the district court granted Billie Dixon's motion for stay, ordering "that its Order Allowing Trustee to Make Final Distribution and Allowing Termination of the Trust (Doc. ID# 239), and any attempts to enforce that Order, are hereby stayed, effective March 29, 2021, pending completion of the appeal in this matter filed by Petitioner John W. Dixon."

II

[¶7] Billie Dixon moves to dismiss this appeal as moot and for lack of N.D.R.Civ.P. 54(b) certification. We conclude the latter issue is dispositive.

A

[¶8] In North Dakota the right to appeal is statutory, and we must dismiss for lack of jurisdiction if the law does not provide a basis for an appeal. In re Estate of Hollingsworth , 2012 ND 16, ¶ 7, 809 N.W.2d 328. "Only judgments and decrees constituting a final judgment and specific orders enumerated by statute are appealable." Investors Title Ins. Co. v. Herzig , 2010 ND 138, ¶ 23, 785 N.W.2d 863 (citation omitted); accord N.D.R.Civ.P. 54(a). Our framework for analyzing finality and our appellate jurisdiction involving unadjudicated claims is well established:

"First, the order appealed from must meet one of the statutory criteria of appealability set forth in NDCC § 28-27-02. If it does not, our inquiry need go no further and the appeal must be dismissed. If it does, then Rule 54(b), NDRCivP, [if applicable,] must be complied with. If it is not, we are without jurisdiction."

Matter of Estate of Stensland , 1998 ND 37, ¶ 10, 574 N.W.2d 203 (quoting Gast Constr. Co., Inc. v. Brighton P'ship , 422 N.W.2d 389, 390 (N.D. 1988) (citations omitted)). For purposes of this appeal we assumed without deciding the December 28, 2020 order satisfies N.D.C.C. § 28-27-02(5) as one involving the merits of an action.

[¶9] "We ‘will not consider an appeal in a multi-claim or multi-party case which disposes of fewer than all claims against all parties unless the trial court has first independently assessed the case and determined that a Rule 54(b) certification is appropriate.’ " Pifer v. McDermott , 2012 ND 90, ¶ 9, 816 N.W.2d 88 (quotation omitted). We have made clear that the purpose of N.D.R.Civ.P. 54(b) is to facilitate our longstanding policy to discourage piecemeal appeals of multi-claim or multi-party litigation. Mangnall v. Adams , 1997 ND 19, ¶ 18, 559 N.W.2d 221 (stating policy of discouraging piecemeal litigation and requiring complete accounting of trustee's responsibilities); Citizens State Bank-Midwest v. Symington , 2010 ND 56, ¶ 9, 780 N.W.2d 676 (providing district courts with five non-exclusive factors for considering whether N.D.R.Civ.P. 54(b) certification is appropriate).

[¶10] "Even if the trial court does make the requisite determination under Rule 54(b), we are not bound by the court's finding that ‘no just reason for delay exists.’ " Pifer , 2012 ND 90, ¶ 9, 816 N.W.2d 88 (quotation omitted). "We will sua sponte review the court's certification to determine if the court has abused its discretion." Id. (quotation omitted).

[¶11] "Under N.D.R.Civ.P. 54(b), the district court is authorized to enter a final judgment adjudicating fewer than all claims of all parties when the court expressly concludes there is no just reason for delay and expressly directs the entry of judgment." Hollingsworth , 2012 ND 16, ¶ 9, 809 N.W.2d 328 (quoting Investors Title , 2010 ND 138, ¶ 24, 785 N.W.2d 863 ). However, we have cautioned against improvident use of the rule:

"Upon requesting Rule 54(b) certification, the burden is upon the proponent to establish prejudice or hardship which will result if certification is denied. The district court must weigh the competing equities involved and take into account judicial administrative interests in making its determination whether or not to certify under the Rule. A N.D.R.Civ.P. 54(b) certification should not be routinely granted and is reserved for cases involving unusual circumstances where failure to allow an immediate appeal would create a demonstrated prejudice or hardship. Upon review, we determine whether the case presents an infrequent harsh case warranting the extraordinary remedy of an otherwise interlocutory appeal."

Capps v. Weflen , 2013 ND 16, ¶ 7, 826 N.W.2d 605 (citations and quotation marks omitted).

B

[¶12] Billie Dixon argues the district court's December 28, 2020 order was not final so that this appeal is premature absent a N.D.R.Civ.P. 54(b) certification. In Matter of Curtiss A. Hogen Trust B , 2018 ND 117, ¶ 1, 911 N.W.2d 305, an interested party in a supervised administration of a trust appealed from the district court's order granting the trustee's petition for approval of a final report and accounting. On the question whether the order was appealable, we stated:

"Under N.D.C.C. § 59-10-01(2), a trust is not subject to continuing judicial supervision unless ordered by the court. Here, the district court granted Steven Hogen's petition for supervised administration of the Trust and ultimately issued an order granting his petition for approval of the trustee's final report and accounting. We need not fully delineate issues about appealability for every conceivable court proceeding involving a trust. Rather, we conclude we now have jurisdiction to review issues in Rodney Hogen's appeal from an order granting approval of the trustee's final report and accounting in the supervised administration of this Trust."

Id. at ¶ 14.

[¶13] The conclusion in Hogen Trust B was based on our cases explaining finality for appeals in the probate of estates. 2018 ND 117, ¶ 13, 911 N.W.2d 305. We noted that orders in unsupervised estates generally were appealable without Rule 54(b) certification if the order or decree was final, even if other claims by or against the estate remained unresolved. Id. That holding was premised on each proceeding in an unsupervised probate being considered independent of other claims involving the same estate . See In re Estate of Hass , 2002 ND 82, ¶ 7, 643 N.W.2d 713. "Thus, in an unsupervised probate, an order settling all claims of one claimant is final, even if there are pending claims by other claimants." In re Estate of Eggl , 2010 ND 104, ¶ 7, 783 N.W.2d 36 (quoting Schmidt v. Schmidt , 540 N.W.2d 605, 607 (N.D. 1995) ). By contrast, "In a supervised administration, an order entered before approval of distribution of the estate and...