In re Estate of Summerlin

• Decision Date: 19 August 2008
• Docket Number: No. 2007-CA-00055-COA.,2007-CA-00055-COA.
• Citation: 989 So.2d 466
• Parties: In the Matter of the ESTATE OF Grover S. SUMMERLIN, Deceased. Barbara Ann Lynch, Appellant v. Curtis Summerlin, Appellee.
• Court: Mississippi Court of Appeals

989 So.2d 466

In the Matter of the ESTATE OF Grover S. SUMMERLIN, Deceased.

Barbara Ann Lynch, Appellant v. Curtis Summerlin, Appellee.

No. 2007-CA-00055-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

August 19, 2008.

James Mortimer Crews, Canton, attorney for appellant.

Durwood Earnest McGuffee, Madison, attorney for appellee.

Before MYERS, P.J., CHANDLER and BARNES, JJ.

BARNES, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. In August 2003, Grover S. Summerlin executed a quitclaim deed conveying a parcel of land situated in Madison County, Mississippi to his son, Curtis Summerlin, to the exclusion of his daughter, Barbara Ann Lynch. The legal description of the land attached to the quitclaim deed was different from the legal description contained in Grover's original warranty deed. Upon Grover's death, Lynch filed a petition to set aside the conveyance of the land on the grounds that the quitclaim deed was the product of undue influence; she later amended her petition to allege that the conveyance was void due to an inaccurate legal description. In response, Curtis filed a counterclaim seeking reformation of the quitclaim deed. The Chancery Court of Madison County denied Lynch's petition on the ground that there was no confidential relationship between Grover and Curtis and granted Curtis's petition to reform the quitclaim deed.

¶ 2. On appeal, Lynch argues that the chancery court erred in finding that there was no confidential relationship between Grover and Curtis; therefore, no presumption of undue influence arose regarding the execution of the quitclaim deed.¹ Lynch also argues that the chancery court erred in reforming the quitclaim deed based on the finding that the inconsistency between the legal description of the land in the quitclaim deed and the description in the warranty deed was the result of a scrivener's error. Finding no error, we affirm the judgment of the chancery court.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 3. Upon Grover's death, Lynch filed a petition in the Madison County Chancery Court seeking to be appointed as administratrix of the estate. The chancellor granted the petition and ordered letters of administration administered to Lynch upon her entering a bond. Following the issuance of letters of administration, Lynch filed a summary petition to discover assets, alleging that Curtis had concealed and wrongfully withheld certain assets of the estate and seeking an order compelling him to deliver all assets in his possession pending the conclusion of the administration of the estate.

¶ 4. Curtis subsequently filed a petition for probate of Grover's last will and testament and for the issuance of letters testamentary. He also filed a response to Lynch's summary petition to discover assets stating that he had not concealed assets of Grover's estate; rather, no real property of the estate existed as Grover had conveyed to him, via quitclaim deed, all of the land he owned and reserved himself a life estate in such land. In response, Lynch filed a petition to set aside the conveyance of the land on the grounds of lack of testamentary capacity to effect a valid conveyance, lack of consideration, and that the conveyance was the product of undue influence.

¶ 5. The chancery court entered a decree admitting Grover's last will and testament to probate and granting letters testamentary to Curtis as executor. Curtis filed an answer to the petition to set aside the conveyance denying each of the allegations therein. Lynch then filed an amended petition to set aside the conveyance of the real property, alleging that certain conveyances were void due to an inaccurate legal description. The petition alleged that the legal description of the real property purportedly conveyed by the quitclaim deed was the "W 1/2 of NE 1/4 and NW 1/4 of SE 1/4 and NE 1/4 of Section 4, and Lot 9 E.B.L. of Section 5" while the warranty deed reflected that Grover owned certain real property described as the "W 1/2 of NE 1/4 and NW 1/4 of SE 1/4 and NW 1/4 of Section 4, and Lot 9 E.B.L. of Section 5." Curtis filed an answer to the amended petition and a counterclaim seeking reformation of the quitclaim deed based upon a mistake or scrivener's error. Lynch filed an answer, arguing that the counterclaim seeking reformation of the quitclaim deed failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted and that Curtis was entitled to no relief. A trial in this action was then held.

¶ 6. First to testify at trial was Curtis. He testified that he and his father had a "normal father-son relationship." He stated that Grover's physical health was declining during the last years of his life; although Grover was seeing a physician for Parkinson's disease, he was never officially diagnosed with that disease. Curtis testified that the symptoms of Parkinson's disease exhibited by Grover were a tremor in his left leg and both of his hands. He stated that the symptoms would "come and go" and typically occurred more in the mornings than during the day. According to Curtis, the disease did affect his father's mobility. Curtis stated that his father's primary health condition was congestive heart failure, which also affected his mobility and reduced his independence.

¶ 7. Curtis testified that, in the last few years of his life, Grover spent time in his room at his house and in the yard or on the patio. He stated that Grover had hearing loss. Curtis further stated, however, that although he sometimes had to repeat himself or speak in louder tone of voice than normal, Grover's hearing loss did not affect his ability to carry on a conversation. According to Curtis, Grover was very independent and would still try to drive occasionally during his last years, but he had trouble doing so in a safe manner. He stated that Grover stopped driving altogether two or three weeks prior to his death because he backed into a pine tree. Curtis testified that he called Grover on the phone every week during the last few years of his life, and he drove him to the farm most weekends. He stated that Grover recognized him and was able to feed and dress himself during the last years of his life, and that Grover was never declared mentally incompetent by a physician.

¶ 8. Curtis testified that Grover required medical attention during his last years. According to Curtis, he took Grover to the doctor between twenty and thirty times during the last four to five years of his life, primarily for treatment for cataracts in both of his eyes. However, Lynch and Grover's wife, Alton Summerlin, also drove him to the doctor. Curtis drove his father to the doctor for his cataract surgery and drove him home, but he did not care for him following the surgery. He never assisted his father with his personal business or in managing his money, such as paying bills or writing checks; rather, Grover's wife, Alton, aided him in this regard. Curtis stated that it was his understanding that Alton primarily handled the day-to-day business affairs. Curtis and Grover never shared a joint bank account of any kind, nor did Curtis ever have Grover's power of attorney.

¶ 9. According to Curtis, Grover's land was "his life." Curtis stated that during the last years of his father's life, Curtis took an increasingly active role in helping his father maintain the land, performing tasks such as bush hogging, working on the tractor, and planting trees. Grover designated Curtis's son, Curt, as his attorney-in-fact in dealing with the Department of Agriculture in matters pertaining to the land. Curtis testified that he and Grover were on the farm one day in 2003 when Grover told him that he wanted to see an attorney. Curtis asked Grover if he knew an attorney, to which Grover responded that he knew one named "Christopher," but he did not know where the attorney's office was located. When Grover stated that he did not know any other attorneys, Curtis suggested Steve Ratcliff. Ratcliff had assisted Curtis in three to four real estate transactions in the past and had assisted Curtis's granddaughter in a real estate transaction.²

¶ 10. Curtis called Ratcliff's office, and Ratcliff told Curtis to come to the office. When Curtis and Grover arrived at the office, they went to the conference room with Ratcliff. The subject of a quitclaim deed by which Grover would convey the farm to Curtis was then discussed. According to Curtis, Grover stated that he wanted his son to have the farm. Curtis testified that he asked Grover if he was sure he wanted to do that, at which time Grover "sort of came up out of his chair and said `it is my blank farm and I'll do whatever the blank I want do with it.'" According to Curtis, Ratcliff then asked him to leave the room.

¶ 11. While Curtis sat in the waiting area outside of the conference room, Grover and Ratcliff met privately. Curtis did not know if Ratcliff prepared the quitclaim deed that day, but he stated that nothing was signed during the meeting; rather, he and Grover returned to Ratcliff's office in approximately August 2003 in order to execute the quitclaim deed. Curtis testified that Grover told Ratcliff how to list the names on the quitclaim deed. Attached to the quitclaim deed was a legal description of Grover's property. Curtis stated that he obtained the description from the courthouse by copying it by hand onto a piece of paper from the original and provided it to Ratcliff. Grover did not review the legal description prior to Curtis's giving it to Ratcliff. Curtis acknowledged that the description attached to the quitclaim deed referred to the northeast corner of Section 4 rather than the northwest corner of Section 4, as indicated in the original description.

¶ 12. Curtis stated that he was not present at the time Grover signed the quitclaim deed; rather, he was in the hallway outside of the conference room. Curtis testified that the door to the conference room was partially open so he could see Grover's shoulder, but Grover could not see him. At the same time he executed...