Givens v. Bly

• Docket Number: 22-CV-04060
• Decision Date: 20 December 2023
• Citation: 2023 Vt Super 122001
• Parties: Stephanie Givens v. Wallace Bly
• Court: Superior Court of Vermont

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2023 Vt Super 122001

Stephanie Givens
v.
Wallace Bly

No. 22-CV-04060

Superior Court of Vermont, Civil Division, Windham Unit

December 20, 2023

Title: Motion for Summary Judgment Partial (Motion: 2)

Filer: Joseph C. Galanes

Filed Date: October 18, 2023

ENTRY REGARDING MOTION

David Barra Superior Court Judge

This is an action for ejectment pursuant to 12 V.S.A. § 4761 brought by Plaintiff Stephanie Givens against Defendant Wallace A. Bly. Before the court is Plaintiff's motion under V.R.C.P. 56(a) for partial summary judgment on three of Defendant's affirmative defenses: (#9) Defendant has a deeded right to live in his mobile home on the Property; (#10) Defendant has a deeded life tenancy to live in his mobile home on the Property; and (#11) Defendant has a deeded life estate to live in his mobile home on the Property. Plaintiff contends that Defendant does not have a deeded interest in the subject property. Defendant opposes the motion, arguing that he had acquired a deeded right to a part of Plaintiff's property for the remainder of his life. For the reasons that follow, Plaintiff's motion is GRANTED.

I. Procedural Background

On November 17, 2022, Plaintiff filed a complaint for ejectment pursuant to 12 V.S.A. §4761 as Executor of the estate of Beverly J. Coleman. Complaint dated October 5, 2022. On October 18, 2023, Plaintiff filed a motion pursuant to V.R.C.P. 25 to substitute parties based on a Final Decree of Distribution in the matter of Estate of: Beverly Coleman, issued on July 19, 2023, in 22-PR-05616, decreeing the subject property to Stephanie Givens in fee simple. Motion to Substitute dated October 18, 2023. This court granted the motion on December 1, 2023, substituting Stephanie Givens as Plaintiff. Entry Regarding Motion dated December 1, 2023. On October 18, 2023, Plaintiff also filed a motion for partial summary judgment. Motion for Partial Summary Judgment dated October 18, 2023. Plaintiff moves for a partial summary judgment with respect to Defendant's affirmative defenses #9 through #11, asserting that the undisputed facts demonstrate that "Defendant did not receive a deeded interest, life tenancy or life estate in the property located at 2944 Fort Bridgeman Road ...." Id. at 8. The motion is supported by a statement of undisputed facts and a number of exhibits. On November 11, 2023, Defendant filed an opposition to Plaintiff's motion. Opposition dated November 17, 2023. The opposition asserts that "Defendant's right to maintain his mobile home on the property originates from his father, Wallace E. Bly, who orally granted Defendant the right in 1985 ." Id. at 2. The opposition continues, arguing that "[t]his granted Defendant a tenancy at will under 27 V.S.A § 302,

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which was later reduced to writing in the Executor's Deed in 1992." Id. Additionally, or alternatively, the opposition asserts that a March 11, 2022 Document from the Colemans, constitutes an inter vivos gift, which grants Defendant a life tenancy in the subject property. Id. Defendant also supplies a statement of disputed facts. On November 27, 2023, Plaintiff filed a reply to Defendant's Opposition. Plaintiff's Reply dated November 27, 2023.

The court is now asked to answer (1) whether the 1992 Executor's Deed granted Defendant any interest in the subject property; and/or, (2) whether the March 11,2022 Document by the Colemans did the same.

II. Analysis

A. Summary Judgment Standard

Summary judgment is appropriate when the moving party "shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." V.R.C.P. 56(a); Kelly v. University of Vermont Medical Center, 2022 VT 26, ¶ 15, 216 Vt. 445. A fact is material only if it might affect the outcome of the case. O'Brien v. Synnott, 2013 VT 33, ¶ 9, 193 Vt. 546. In assessing whether a genuine dispute as to any material fact exists, the courts construe "the facts presented in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party," Vanderbloom v. State, Agency of Transp., 2015 VT 103, ¶ 5, 200 Vt. 150, such that "the nonmoving party receives the benefit of all reasonable doubts and inferences." Pettersen v. Monaghan Safar Ducham PLLC, 2021 VT 16, ¶ 9, 214 Vt. 269. The courts, therefore, "accept as true the allegations made in opposition to the motion for summary judgment, so long as they are supported by affidavits or other evidentiary material." Robertson v. Mylan Laboratories, Inc., 2004 VT 15, ¶ 15, 176 Vt. 356.

To survive a motion for summary judgment, the nonmoving party "may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials in its pleadings, but... must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." White v. Quechee Lakes Landowners' Ass'n, Inc., 170 Vt. 25, 28 (1999) (internal quotations omitted). If the nonmoving party fails to establish an essential element of its case on which it has the burden of proof at trial, the moving party is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law. State v. G.S. Blodgett Co., 163 Vt. 175, 180 (1995).

B. Undisputed Facts

Applying the standards set forth above and viewing all evidence in the light most favorable to Defendant, the following narrative emerges. The case concerns a property located at 2944 Fort Bridgeman Road in Vernon, Vermont. The property consists of two parcels. Parcel One contains a mobile home. Parcel Two contains a dwelling house. Beverly J. Coleman and Richard F. Coleman purchased the subject property from the estate of Wallace E. Bly and received the property by Executor's Deed dated January 23, 1992. Defendant Wallace A. Bly is the owner of the mobile home located on Parcel One of the subject property. Richard F. Coleman passed away on April 4, 2022. Beverly J. Coleman passed away on August 5, 2022. On September 30, 2022, Plaintiff Stephanie Givens was appointed Executor of the estate of Beverly J. Coleman.

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Defendant asserts that his father, Wallace E. Bly, orally gifted him the right to put a mobile home on the property in 1985. He has resided in his mobile home on the subject property since 1985 without payment of rent or other financial obligations beyond paying his own utilities. On April 13, 2022, Stephanie Givens, acting under the authority of a power of attorney from Beverly J. Coleman advised Defendant in a written "Notice of Termination" that his occupancy of the property at 2944 Fort Bridgeman Road was "ending as of October 1,2022."^[1]Defendant disputes this assertion, alleging that "at the time the Notice of Termination was delivered, [he] had life tenancy, life estate, lifetime gift, or irrevocable license as granted by Wallace E. Bly during his life, Beverly Coleman and Richard Coleman, and the Estate of Wallace E. Bly." Defendant's Disputed Facts dated November 27, 2023, at ¶ 10. As a result, Defendant claims, the notice could not have been valid. Id.

At some point after the April 13, 2022 Notice, Defendant presented Plaintiff with a document dated March 11, 2022, purporting to give Defendant permission to remain on the subject property. The March 11, 2022 Document reads

I Beverly Coleman are of sound mind and I have given my Brother "Skip" Wallace Bly permission to live in his [m]obile [h]ome on my land, until he dies

Defendant did not provide any consideration in exchange for permission to remain on the property. Likewise, he has not incurred any expenses in reliance on the March 11, 2022 Document. Defendant has paid personal property taxes based on the mobile home. On or about May 2, 2022, Beverly Coleman drafted a document stating that the "permission" granted in the March 11, 2022 Document was given mistakenly. The May 2, 2022 Document states

I Beverly J. Coleman wrote a note saying my Brother Skip Bly could keep living on the land in his [m]obil[e] [h]ome until I die. Not him for God sakes he might live until he's 90. It is not up to my daughter to have to put up with him and his son Wallace who doe[]sn[']t even work. We and Steph gave him until Oct[ober] 2022 to have his belongings removed[,] the equipment, cars, and trucks, and the mobil[e] home to move.

* Both Skip and his son Wallace [] Bly need to be off the property by October] 1, 2022 * * Skip is (Wallace A. Bly)

(emphasis in original). Defendant has refused to remove his mobile home from the subject property. On July 19, 2023, the Windham County Probate Division issued a Final Decree of Distribution in the matter of Estate of: Beverly Coleman (Docket No. 22-PR-05616), decreeing the subject property to Stephanie Givens in fee simple.

Defendant's grounds for claiming a deeded interest in the property at 2944 Fort Bridgeman Road are (1) the Executor's Deed of January 1, 1992, which Defendant contends, granted and reserved a life tenancy, and/or life estate to him; and (2) the March 11, 2022

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Document by Beverly and Richard Coleman, which Defendant contends, granted him a life estate, and/or life tenancy in the subject property.

C. Discussion

As mentioned above, Defendant has pleaded three separate affirmative defenses: (#9) Defendant has a deeded right to live in his mobile home on the Property; (#10) Defendant has a deeded life tenancy to live in his mobile home on the Property; and (#11) Defendant has a deeded life estate to live in his mobile home on the Property. Each of these defenses, essentially, asserts that Defendant acquired a deeded right to live on the subject property for the remainder of his life. Defendant specifies that

[his] right to

...