Greene v. Thompson

• Court: Supreme Court of Alabama
• Writing for the Court: HOUSTON; HORNSBY
• Citation: 554 So.2d 376
• Parties: Russell Y. GREENE, Individually and as Co-Executor of the Estate of Luella M. Congdon, Deceased, et al. v. Dona THOMPSON. Layton E. "Bud" CONGDON, et al. v. Dona THOMPSON. 88-164, 88-613 and 88-189.
• Decision Date: 28 July 1989

Page 376

554 So.2d 376 Russell Y. GREENE, Individually and as Co-Executor of the Estate of Luella M. Congdon, Deceased, et al.
v.
Dona THOMPSON.
Layton E. "Bud" CONGDON, et al.
v.
Dona THOMPSON. 88-164, 88-613 and 88-189. Supreme Court of Alabama. July 28, 1989.

Page 377

Charles C. King, Huntsville, for appellants in Nos. 88-164 and 88-613.

Dan Moran, Huntsville, for appellants in No. 88-189.

L. Thomas Ryan, Jr. of Hamilton & Ryan, Huntsville, for appellee.

HOUSTON, Justice.

This is an appeal from partial summary judgments, made final pursuant to Rule 54(b), A.R.Civ.P., as to Counts I and II, granted in favor of Dona Thompson, plaintiff, against the Estate of Luella M. Congdon, and Russell Y. Greene, Layton E. "Bud" Congdon, and Stephen C. Greene, individually and as co-executors of the estate of Luella M. Congdon, deceased (all referred to hereinafter as "Estate"). Post-judgment motions were denied. This appeal followed.

In Count I, Ms. Thompson requested the court to determine the title to certain real property situated in Madison County, Alabama ("the property"). The trial court's partial summary judgment "divested [the Estate] of any and all right, title and interest" in and to the property; "invested [Ms. Thompson] with the full legal title in and to [the property]"; ordered the Estate to "immediately surrender the property to [Ms. Thompson]"; and ordered that the partial summary judgment and a description of the property "be recorded in the Office of the Judge of Probate of Madison County, Alabama."

In Count II, Ms. Thompson sought possession of the property, alleging that she held legal title to the property. The trial court's judgment ejected the Estate from the property. It provided that Ms. Thompson's title was "superior to any right, title or interest that is claimed or could presently be claimed by the [Estate] in and to [the property]"; that the Estate was "divested of any and all right, title or interest possessed, claimed or which could presently be claimed by the [Estate] in and to [the property]"; and that Ms. Thompson was "invested with any and all right, title or interest possessed, claimed or which could presently be claimed by the [Estate] in and to [the property]."

The issues before us are whether the trial court erred in granting partial summary judgment in favor of Ms. Thompson and in ruling on the post-judgment motions without giving the parties an opportunity to be heard.

The facts and circumstances of this suit are complicated and lengthy. Basically, Ms. Thompson claims title to the real property in question by virtue of a mechanic's lien that was reduced to a judgment and by virtue of a sheriff's sale in which she purchased all the right, title, and interest of Bud and Barbara Jean Congdon in and to the property. The Estate claims title to the property by virtue of a declaratory judgment that established a constructive trust as to the property in the amount of $300,000 and by virtue of a clerk/register's sale

Page 378

in which it purportedly purchased all the right, title, and interest of Bud and Barbara Jean Congdon in and to the property.

Ms. Thompson owns and operates an interior decorating company. Between August 1984 and July 22, 1985, Bud and Barbara Jean Congdon contracted with Ms. Thompson to supply work, labor, supplies, and materials for the property. When Ms. Thompson was not paid upon completion of the work, she sent letters by certified mail, return receipt requested, and by regular mail to Bud and Barbara Jean Congdon and their children, notifying them that Ms. Thompson claimed a mechanic's lien for a specified amount for the work, labor, building materials, and supplies that she had expended upon and incorporated into the property.

Subsequently, on August 13, 1985, Ms. Thompson filed her mechanic's lien statement in the probate office of Madison County, the county in which the property is situated, and filed suit in the Madison Circuit Court, seeking a judgment fixing and establishing a mechanic's lien on the property for the amount of the debt. She also sought a personal judgment for damages for the unpaid balance of the debt against Bud and Barbara Jean Congdon. In the meantime, Barbara Jean Congdon filed a divorce action against Bud Congdon. Russell Y. Greene and Stephen C. Greene, as co-executors of Luella M. Congdon's estate, filed a motion to intervene in the divorce action and a complaint for declaratory judgment, seeking to impose a constructive trust on the property in favor of the Estate in the amount of $300,000. Ms. Thompson was not made a party to that divorce proceeding. The trial court entered the declaratory judgment in favor of the Estate and entered a consent divorce judgment ordering the property sold. The Estate filed a certified copy of the declaratory judgment with the Madison County judge of probate on June 6, 1986. ¹

Both the consent divorce judgment and the declaratory judgment establishing the constructive trust provided for the same priority and disbursement of the proceeds of the sale of the property:

"To the expenses of sale, then to the satisfaction of existing labor and materialmen liens filed of record in the Probate Office within the statutory period, then to the payment of the equitable lien in favor of the Estate of Luella M. Congdon, deceased, together with any accrued interest at the statutory rate for judgments and then any balance thereof shall be divided equally between [Bud Congdon and Barbara Jean Congdon]." (Emphasis added.)

On November 25, 1986, the trial court granted Ms. Thompson a summary judgment in her action to enforce a mechanic's lien for a specified amount on the property. Subsequently, the trial court extended its summary judgment by entering a personal judgment against Bud and Barbara Jean Congdon for the amount of the mechanic's lien. On January 30, 1987, Ms. Thompson filed a certificate of judgment with the probate judge of Madison County and subsequently filed an execution against the property and a notice of levy. Thereafter, the sheriff of Madison County held a sale, at which Ms. Thompson purchased the property.

The Estate contends that the trial court erred in entering partial summary judgment on both Counts I and II, because, it says, Ms. Thompson based her motions only on...