Eustice v. Jewison

• Decision Date: 09 October 1987
• Docket Number: No. C1-86-1185,C1-86-1185
• Citation: 413 N.W.2d 114
• Parties: Esther D. EUSTICE, as trustee for the next of kin of Donald D. Eustice, Decedent, Respondent, v. Evelyn JEWISON, Defendant, David Jewison, et al., petitioners, Appellants.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

Page 114

413 N.W.2d 114

Esther D. EUSTICE, as trustee for the next of kin of Donald D. Eustice, Decedent, Respondent, v. Evelyn JEWISON, Defendant David Jewison, et al., petitioners, Appellants.

No. C1-86-1185.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Oct. 9, 1987.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Owner's absence from homestead for more than 6 months due to involuntary commitment does not constitute abandonment.

2. Upon death of owner, title to homestead vests in wife and children free and clear of prior judgment, but subject to state medical claims.

Robert M. Greising, Waterville, for appellants.

Kay Nord Hunt, Minneapolis, William Hoversten, Waseca, for Esther and Donald Eustice.

Heard, considered and decided by the court en banc.

YETKA, Justice.

This appeal comes from a declaratory judgment establishing that a wrongful death judgment in favor of respondent, Esther Eustice, attached to decedent Kenneth Jewison's homestead prior to and superior to the interests of appellants, Jewison's surviving children and heirs (hereinafter children). The Waseca County District Court determined that Jewison's homestead exemption continued until his death due to his involuntary commitment. The court also determined that Jewison's surviving spouse abandoned her homestead rights prior to his death. As a result, the court concluded that the wrongful death judgment against Jewison attached prior to and superior to the interests of the children and ordered an execution sale of the property.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the district court. Eustice v. Jewison, 399 N.W.2d 566 (Minn.App.1987). This court granted the children's petition for further review. We reverse the court of appeals and remand.

The parties stipulated to the relevant facts, and the district court adopted those facts as its findings.

On September 4, 1976, respondent's decedent, Donald D. Eustice, was shot and killed by appellant's decedent, Kenneth J. Jewison, when Eustice was serving a commitment order at Jewison's Waseca County home. On September 8, 1976, the Waseca County Grand Jury returned an indictment of murder in the first degree against Jewison.

By joint order of the Waseca County District and Probate Courts, Jewison was found to be a danger to himself and the public and was committed to St. Peter State Hospital, St. Peter, Minnesota, on October 19, 1976.

Dennis Jewison, who had been appointed as special conservator of Kenneth on September 7, 1976, was also appointed guardian of Kenneth's estate on October 26, 1976, by the Waseca County Probate Court.

On September 12, 1979, the district court dismissed the murder charges against Kenneth Jewison. Jewison remained under the 1976 commitment order.

The Commissioner of Public Welfare ordered Jewison's release from St. Peter on December 30, 1981, conditioned on his residence in a nursing home approved by the County Welfare Department. Jewison was officially discharged from St. Peter on January 29, 1982, but remained hospitalized there until August 12, 1983, when he moved to the Faribault Manor Nursing Home, Faribault, Minnesota, an approved facility. Jewison remained there until his death on June 8, 1984. He continued to be committed under the order of October 19, 1976, until his death and was never discharged by the Waseca County Probate Court.

At the time of his commitment, Jewison owned two tracts of land. He moved to tract 1 (the homestead) in 1939 when his father purchased the land. In 1961, he purchased tract 1 from his father's estate. He lived on the property with his family and remained after his first wife died and his children left home. In October 1973, he married Evelyn Seifert (hereinafter Evelyn Jewison), the defendant below. The Jewisons entered a pre-marital agreement in which Evelyn agreed to make no claim to any of Kenneth's real or personal property. In Kenneth's will, executed in January 1974, Kenneth gave Evelyn a life estate in the homestead on tract 1, with the remainder to his children. Kenneth remained sole owner of the land, and the Jewisons lived there together until Kenneth's arrest on September 4, 1976.

Kenneth was never free to return to the land after his arrest because of the commitment order, but at all times referred to the property as his homestead. Evelyn left the property at the time of Kenneth's arrest and never returned. The estate guardian rented the residence from time to time since 1976. Neither Evelyn Jewison, Kenneth Jewison nor the guardian ever filed a notice claiming the residence as the Jewisons' homestead pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 510.07 (1984).

On January 7, 1980, a judgment in favor of respondent, Esther D. Eustice, as trustee for the next of kin of Donald Eustice, was entered against Kenneth Jewison in Waseca County District Court for $150,000 pursuant to a stipulated settlement between respondent and Jewison's guardian. Various amounts have been collected on the judgment. The amount still outstanding as of December 31, 1984, is $83,333.27 plus continuing interest.

In July 1984, after Jewison's death, respondent commenced this action for declaratory relief seeking an order (1) determining that the 1980 judgment is superior to the interests of Evelyn Jewison, Jewison's children and any other claimant in Jewison's real property and (2) allowing execution sale of the property. On September 7, 1984, judgment was entered for respondent against Evelyn Jewison by default. On April 18, 1986, judgment was entered for respondent against the remaining heirs, appellants herein. Evelyn Jewison has not appealed.

The district court determined that Kenneth Jewison did not lose his homestead exemption because of his involuntary commitment, but that Evelyn Jewison abandoned her homestead rights by leaving the property and failing to file a notice pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 510.07 (1984). The court ordered execution sale of the property. On May 22, 1986, the district court denied the children's motion for a new trial or amended judgment.

The record was supplemented on appeal to include copies of the will and pre-marital agreement. In addition, the parties included a claim for Jewison's state hospital care filed by the State of Minnesota pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 246.53 (1984) in the amount of $109,741.88.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the district court. Eustice v. Jewison, 399 N.W.2d 566 (Minn.App.1987). The court held that the district court properly determined Kenneth Jewison's homestead exemption was not lost due to his involuntary commitment. The court also found no error in the district court's conclusion that a wrongful death judgment on the homestead attached prior to and superior to the children's interests due to Evelyn's abandonment of the homestead.

The children petitioned this court for review of the court of appeals decision, which the court granted.

The issues on appeal are:

I. Did the court of appeals err in determining that Kenneth Jewison did not lose his homestead exemption as a result of his involuntary commitment?

II. Did the court of appeals err in concluding that the judgment lien attached to Jewison's homestead prior to appellant children's interests?

The substance of this case may be reduced to the following:

If Kenneth Jewison did not lose his homestead exemption and it persisted to the date of his death, it appears that his wife and children, by law, would be entitled to the proceeds of any sale of the homestead after payment of the state's claims.

On the other hand, if it is found that Jewison lost his exemption for any reason prior to his death, the Eustice judgment lien would have attached to the real estate and, upon any sale of the said real estate, Eustice would have first claim on the proceeds.

A number of provisions in both our constitution and the statutes of the State of Minnesota are involved in this case. We are setting them out in full herein:

Imprisonment for debt; property exemption. No person shall be imprisoned for debt in this state, but this shall not prevent the legislature from providing for imprisonment, or holding to bail, persons charged with fraud in contracting said debt. A reasonable amount of property shall be exempt from seizure or sale for the payment of any debt or liability. The amount of such exemption shall be determined by law. Provided, however, that all property so exempted shall be liable to seizure and sale for any debts incurred to any person for work done or materials furnished in the construction, repair or improvement of the same, and provided further, that such liability to seizure and sale shall also extend to all real property for any debt to any laborer or servant for labor or service performed.

Minn. Const. art. I, § 12.

If the owner dies leaving a spouse or minor children constituting the owner's family surviving, the homestead exemption shall not be affected by the death. If the owner shall abscond, or otherwise desert the family, the spouse and the minor children comprising the family may retain the homestead, with all the rights of owners therein. They shall not have power to sell or mortgage it, except in cases expressly provided for by law.

Minn. Stat. § 510.06 (1984).

The owner may sell and convey the homestead without subjecting it, or the proceeds of such sale for the period of one year after sale, to any judgment or debt from which it was exempt in his hands. He may remove therefrom without affecting such exemption, if he do [sic] not thereby abandon the same as his place of abode. If he shall cease to occupy such homestead for more than six consecutive months he shall be deemed to have abandoned the same unless, within such period, he shall file with the county recorder of the county in which it is situated a notice, executed, witnessed, and acknowledged as in the case of a deed, describing the premises and claiming the same as his homestead. In no case shall the exemption continue more than five years after such filing, unless during some part of the...