Estate of Hastings v. Planters and Stockmen Bank

• Decision Date: 03 October 1988
• Docket Number: No. 88-97,88-97
• Citation: 757 S.W.2d 546,296 Ark. 409
• Parties: The ESTATE OF Virgie HASTINGS, Appellant, v. PLANTERS AND STOCKMEN BANK, Appellee.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Page 546

757 S.W.2d 546

296 Ark. 409

The ESTATE OF Virgie HASTINGS, Appellant, v. PLANTERS AND STOCKMEN BANK, Appellee.

No. 88-97.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

Oct. 3, 1988.

Dan Stripling, Clinton, for appellant.

Murray L. Grider, Pocahontas, for appellee.

GLAZE, Justice.

Appellee, Planters and Stockmen Bank, obtained a summary judgment based upon a number of promissory notes, all of which were executed by Richard and Laveda Hastings, and at least two or three of which were signed either by Dorothy Hastings or Virgie Hastings, the appellant. Appellant had assigned, as security for most or all of the aforementioned indebtedness, all of her interest in a note in the amount of $256,000.00 due her from Louis Ahrent. After the Hastingses defaulted on their notes, appellee filed this suit, seeking judgment against Richard, Laveda and Dorothy Hastings in the sum of $117,555.20, judgment against Richard and Laveda Hastings in the amount of $208,088.13 and judgment against Richard, Laveda and appellant in the amount of $142,626.29. Appellant, by her guardian, answered denying she owed any indebtedness to appellee and claiming her signatures on the note(s) and on the assignment of the Ahrent note given appellee were secured by fraud and undue influence at a time when she lacked the mental capacity to transact business.

The appellee moved for summary judgment and the trial court, after considering affidavits and requests for admissions, which drew no response, granted appellee's motion and awarded judgments against Richard, Laveda and Dorothy Hastings. ¹ As to appellant, the court's judgment merely provided that, after crediting the amount of the Ahrent note against appellant's indebtedness, appellant was no longer indebted to the appellee.

Approximately sixteen months later, appellant, by her guardian and new counsel, amended her counterclaim and initiated discovery in order to defend against appellee's complaint against her. Appellee objected to appellant's actions as being untimely and argued the trial court's earlier summary judgment had disposed of all issues raised in the litigation. Appellant responded that the court's judgment was not final, in that it did not dispose of the issues raised between the appellant and appellee or conclude their litigation. The trial court rejected the appellant's arguments, and entered an order denying appellant's request for discovery. Appellant then brought this appeal, and the sole issue here is whether the trial court's summary judgment was a final order that concluded the litigation between the appellant and appellee.

In support of her contention that the lower court's summary judgment was not final, appellant argues that no judgment amount was ever obtained against her and that her allegations of fraud and mental incompetency were never addressed. Instead, the appellee obtained a summary judgment that awarded judgments against the other parties, but as to appellant merely provided that the appellant, after crediting her indebtedness to appellee by the amount of the Ahrent note, was not indebted to appellee.

Appellee argues that the summary judgment was sufficiently final as to the appellant since it ordered that "all of the security interests set forth in [its] complaint" are vested in the appellee. Appellee argues further that the appellant never responded to its motion for summary judgment and made no appearance on the motion, and that she should therefore be precluded from questioning the summary judgment sixteen months after it was entered. ² Because we conclude the summary judgment was not a final order, we find appellee's argument unpersuasive.

In most cases, the question of what constitutes a final order arises in the context of Ark.R.App.P. 2, which usually involves the issue concerning whether an order is appealable. To be final and appealable, we have said that a trial court's order, decree or judgment must dismiss the parties from the court, discharge them from the action, or conclude their rights to the subject matter in controversy. Mueller v. Killam, 295 Ark. 270, 748 S.W.2d 141 (1988).

In an earlier case, this court, in discussing the formal requirements of a judgment, had an opportunity to decide the required finality that a judgment must impart to the parties. See Thomas v. McElroy, 243 Ark. 465, 420 S.W.2d 530 (1967). There, McElroy brought suit against Thomas and another defendant for past due rent. After hearing testimony offered by the parties, the court entered an order labeled "Decree," which reflected the following: (1) a contract relationship existed under which Thomas owed $40.00 per month during the...