Dixon v. Dixon

• Decision Date: 18 January 2005
• Docket Number: No. 25925.,25925.
• Citation: 362 S.C. 388,608 S.E.2d 849
• Court: South Carolina Supreme Court
• Parties: Mabel DIXON, Appellant, v. Stevan Fay DIXON, Respondent.

362 S.C. 388

608 S.E.2d 849

Mabel DIXON, Appellant, v. Stevan Fay DIXON, Respondent.

No. 25925.

Supreme Court of South Carolina.

Heard June 23, 2004.

Decided January 18, 2005.

Steven C. Kirven, of McNair Law Firm, P.A., of Anderson, for Appellant.

Louisa Rice Lund, of Rice and Lund, of Anderson, for Respondent.

Chief Justice TOAL:

This Court certified this case pursuant to Rule 204(b), SCACR, to review the master-in-equity's decision declaring Stevan Fay Dixon (Son) the titleholder of his mother's home in fee simple absolute. We affirm.

FACTUAL/PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Appellant Mabel Dixon (Mother) is eighty-four-years old and has lived alone in her home in Anderson, South Carolina for the past forty-seven years. She has two children: Stevan (Son), who resides in Anderson, and Nicki, who, at the time of trial, resided in Ohio. Other than a hearing problem,¹ Mother has no health problems. In October 1998, Mother conveyed her property to Son for a stated consideration of "Five ($5.00) Dollars and other love and consideration." At the same time the deed was executed, Mother and Son also signed an agreement (Lifetime Agreement), prepared by Son, whereby he agreed to care for Mother and maintain her residence.² The Lifetime Agreement also provided that if the property were ever sold, the proceeds from the sale would be divided equally between Son and his half-sister, Nicki.

Mother testified that she has not always had a good relationship with Son. Nevertheless, Mother testified that because she felt he "had a change of personality," she decided to give him a limited power of attorney prior to the execution of the deed, in case she had to be hospitalized. Mother and Son also opened a joint checking account with a balance in excess of $14,000 to be used in the event Mother was incapable of paying her bills. Son testified that he never withdrew funds from the account.

At some point, however, Mother decided that "the situation was not working out" and revoked Son's limited power of attorney.³ Apparently Mother believed Son was not helping her as he promised. Mother testified that (1) Son only paid 1/3 of the property taxes on the property and that she had to pay the remaining 2/3 of the amount owed; (2) she had to hire someone to take care of the yard; (3) she paid for the insurance on the property, not Son; and (4) she had to pay someone to cut down two dead trees in the yard after Son refused to cut them down. Son disputes this testimony.

Son testified that in addition to paying the insurance and taxes on the house, he performed various tasks in the home, such as finding someone to fix the toilet. He also testified that he drove Mother to the grocery store and to the doctor's office. Mother claimed that she had to rely on Son for transportation because Son never returned her car after he took it to have the brakes checked. On the contrary, Son testified that Mother thought there was a problem with the brakes, so he drove it to his house in order to test them but did not find anything wrong with them. Son also testified that he does not believe that Mother is capable of driving safely.

Despite their rocky relationship, Mother decided to convey her home to Son. She later claimed that the only reason why she did so is because he convinced her that if she did not take the property out of her name, Medicaid would seize it if she failed to pay her medical expenses. Son claims that his half-sister gave Mother this idea and that he had nothing to do with the decision to take the property out of Mother's name. Son testified that he gave Mother the option to convey the property to him or to his half-sister, but he did not care who received title. Ultimately, Mother chose to give the property to Son.

After preparing the deed,⁴ Son drove Mother to a pawnshop, where Mother signed the deed and the Lifetime Agreement. Mother remembered executing the deed and the Lifetime Agreement and testified that she knew what she was doing when she signed the deed.

Approximately a year-and-a-half later, Son executed and delivered a document to Mother purporting to leave the home to her when he died. Son drafted this document after Mother expressed concerns about Son's wife, rather than Mother's daughter, inheriting an interest in the property.

After a confrontation in 2001, Mother asked Son to leave her home. Later, Mother changed the locks to the house, preventing Son from entering the home. Mother also requested that Son re-convey the title to the property to her. Son refused and Mother filed this action.

The master-in-equity declared Son the owner of the property in fee simple absolute. The master found there was "no evidence that the deed was the result of duress or coercion, or that [Son] exerted undue influence over [Mother] in the execution or procurement of the deed." Further, the master found that Mother "fully appreciated the nature of the conveyance and its legal effect," and she "recalled the location and circumstances of its execution, as well as the names of the witnesses." Therefore, the master determined that Mother failed to establish that the deed should be set aside. Mother appealed the master's decision, and pursuant to Rule 204(b), SCACR, this Court certified the case from the court of appeals.

Mother raises the following issues for review:

I. Did the master err in refusing to set aside the deed for undue influence or failure of consideration?

II. Did the master err in refusing to construe the transactions involved as to creating a life estate in Mother or imposing a trust for the benefit of Mother?

Son raised the following issue for review:

III. Did the master err in not barring Mother's claims under the statute of limitations?

LAW/ANALYSIS

Standard of Review

"An action to rescind a contract lies in equity." Gibbs v. G.K.H., Inc., 311 S.C. 103, 105, 427 S.E.2d 701, 702 (Ct.App.1993). When reviewing an equitable action, this Court may determine the facts in accordance with its own view of the preponderance of the evidence. Thornton v. Thornton, 328 S.C. 96, 111, 492 S.E.2d 86, 94 (1997); Townes Associates, Ltd. v. City of Greenville, 266 S.C. 81, 86, 221 S.E.2d 773, 775 (1976).

I. Setting Aside the Deed

A. Failure of Consideration

Mother argues that the deed conveying the house to Son should be set aside because Son failed to take care of her according to the Lifetime Agreement, which was incorporated into the deed to provide additional consideration. We hold that even if the Lifetime Agreement was properly incorporated into the deed, the deed should not be set aside for failure of consideration.

We first determine whether the Lifetime Agreement was properly incorporated into the deed. As a general rule, when a deed is unambiguous on its face, we look only to the four corners of the document. See Klutts Resort Realty Inc. v. Down'Round Dev. Corp., 268 S.C. 80, 89, 232 S.E.2d 20, 25 (1977)

(holding that a court will not examine extrinsic evidence to interpret a contract absent an ambiguity). If the vital terms of a contract are ambiguous, then, in an effort to determine the intent of the parties, the court may consider probative, extrinsic evidence. South Carolina Dept. of Nat. Resources v. Town of McClellanville, 345 S.C. 617, 623, 550 S.E.2d 299, 303 (2001).

In the present case, the stated consideration is "five dollars and other love and consideration," which we find to be ambiguous. In addition, the Lifetime Agreement is probative of the parties' intent because the Lifetime Agreement and the deed were executed at the same time. This Court has held that when multiple documents are executed contemporaneously in the course of and as a part of the same transaction, the Court may consider and construe the instruments together in order to ascertain the intention of the parties and the terms of the agreement. Cafe Associates, Ltd. v. Gerngross, 305 S.C. 6, 10, 406 S.E.2d 162, 164 (1991); Klutts, 268 S.C. at 89, 232 S.E.2d at 25. Because the Lifetime Agreement and the deed were executed contemporaneously, and the Lifetime Agreement helps to explain the ambiguous phrase in the deed which recites consideration as: "five dollars and other love and consideration," we find that the Lifetime Agreement was incorporated into the deed as consideration for conveyance.

Having determined that the Lifetime Agreement provides additional "other consideration" under the deed, we next decide whether the consideration of the agreement failed warranting this Court setting the deed aside. When deciding whether there has been a failure of consideration, this Court has held that "the slightest consideration is sufficient to support the most onerous obligation...." First National Bank of South Carolina v. Wade, 245 S.C. 426, 431, 141 S.E.2d 102, 104 (1965) (internal quotations and citations omitted). Moreover, absent fraud and deception, the Court will not "deprive [the contract] of validity." Id. See also All v. Prillaman, 200 S.C. 279, 292, 20 S.E.2d 741, 747 (1942) (holding that setting aside a deed is not the proper remedy for failure of consideration absent fraud or deceit).⁵

We find that the consideration did not fail, and that even if it had, the proper remedy would not be to set the deed aside. The agreement provided that Son would "maintain and care for" Mother's property, as well as, "at a time determined by [Mother] ... care for [Mother's] needs as necessary." We find that Son cared for Mother and her property. Although Mother was not satisfied with the amount of care Son provided, we do not find that he failed to act in accordance with the terms of the Lifetime Agreement. Mother does not deny that Son was her main source of transportation. In addition, some time after the parties signed the Lifetime Agreement, Mother changed the locks to her home, preventing Son from caring for her in her home. We have held that a party who prevents a condition of a contract cannot seek relief by relying on the other par...