Ramseyer v. Ramseyer

• Decision Date: 21 September 1977
• Docket Number: No. 12122,12122
• Citation: 98 Idaho 554,569 P.2d 358
• Parties: Homer F. RAMSEYER, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. H. Duane RAMSEYER and Mary Etta Ramseyer, husband and wife, Donald D. Ramseyer and Katherine Daly Ramseyer, husband and wife, Antelope Springs Land and Cattle Company, an Idaho corporation, the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, a New York Corporation, and John Doe I through John Doe V, and all persons unknown claiming any right, title, estate, lien or interest in the real property described in the complaint adverse to plaintiff's title, Defendants and Respondents.
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

Page 358

569 P.2d 358

98 Idaho 554

Homer F. RAMSEYER, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. H. Duane RAMSEYER and Mary Etta Ramseyer, husband and wife, Donald D. Ramseyer and Katherine Daly Ramseyer, husband and wife, Antelope Springs Land and Cattle Company, an Idaho corporation, the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, a New York Corporation, and John Doe I through John Doe V, and all persons unknown claiming any right, title, estate, lien or interest in the real property described in the complaint adverse to plaintiff's title, Defendants and Respondents.

No. 12122.

Supreme Court of Idaho.

Sept. 21, 1977.

Lloyd J. Walker, Walker & Kennedy, Twin Falls, for plaintiff and appellant.

Paul M. Beeks, Smith & Beeks, Twin Falls, for defendants and respondents H. Duane Ramseyer and Mary Etta Ramseyer.

Frederick F. Plankey, Plankey, Johnson, Kvanvig & Stoker, Twin Falls, for defendants and respondents Donald D. Ramseyer, Katherine Daly Ramseyer and Antelope Springs Land and Cattle Co.

William J. Langley, Twin Falls, for defendant and respondent the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States.

BISTLINE, Justice.

Plaintiff-appellant Homer F. Ramseyer (hereinafter "Homer") appeals from an order granting defendants-respondents' motions for summary judgment. Homer brought this action to quiet title to, partition and recover mesne profits from certain real property in the possession of his sons, defendants-respondents H. Duane Ramseyer and Donald D. Ramseyer (defendant-respondent Antelope Springs Land and Cattle Company is a corporation owning Donald's interest in the real property), and their wives. The land in question was conveyed by Homer to respondents by warranty deed in 1969. We affirm, though not for the reasons announced by the district court.

The same parties were recently before us in the case of Ramseyer v. Ramseyer, 98 Idaho 47, 558 P.2d 76 (1976) ("Ramseyer I "). The facts common to both cases are as follows: Homer's first wife died sometime in 1957. He married his second wife, Ebony, in December of 1958. Prior to this second marriage, Homer and the sons began their partnership known as Ramseyer Cattle Company. In May of 1969, Ebony filed for a divorce. At Homer's instigation, the partnership was dissolved and the partnership assets divided shortly thereafter on June 12, 1969. At the time of the dissolution, the partnership had three major assets: several hundred head of cattle and two ranches, Antelope Springs Ranch and Grassy Hills Ranch. By the terms of the dissolution, Homer received Grassy Hills Ranch; the sons received the cattle and Antelope Springs Ranch. In March of 1970, Ebony was granted a divorce decree and in November, 1972, a final amended judgment on the property division was entered. Ebony received a cash award representing her half of the community interest in the partnership; Homer received whatever community interests there were in the real property in his control or possession.

In Ramseyer I, Homer brought an action for a judicial dissolution and accounting of the partnership which had existed between him and his two sons. The sons contended that the partnership had been dissolved by mutual agreement of the parties, that all accounts between the partners had been settled in 1969 and that Homer's cause of action was barred by the statute of limitations. This Court agreed with the trial court's evaluation of the evidence:

"The evidence is clear appellant and respondents understood that the exchange of property was final. The details of the exchange and the documentation were arrived at by appellant (Homer) and an attorney of his choosing. Respondents (the sons) testified the exchange was not their idea and they just went along with their father and his attorney." 98 Idaho at 51, 558 P.2d at 80.

We thus affirmed the conclusion of the trial court that "the transactions of June 12, 1969, constituted both a dissolution of the partnership and a winding-up of partnership affairs", and that the relevant statutes of limitations provided "an adequate period of time for an aggrieved partner, acting as a reasonably prudent business person, to discover any cause of action he may have against his partners or the partnership". 98 Idaho at 52-3, 558 P.2d at 81-2. It followed that Homer was barred from bringing his action for judicial dissolution and for an accounting by reason of the applicable statute of limitations.

The dispute in the present case centers around the following language from the warranty deed by which Homer conveyed Antelope Springs Ranch to his sons on June 12, 1969:

"For Good and Valuable Consideration, and in an Exchange of Lands Among Tenants in Common HOMER F. RAMSEYER, also known as H. F. RAMSEYER, a married man dealing with his sole and separate property, Grantor, does hereby grant, bargain, sell and convey. . . .

"TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the said premises, with their appurtenances unto the said GRANTEES and to their heirs and assigns forever." (Emphasis added.)

Homer relies upon this language in claiming an interest in Antelope Springs Ranch. The warranty deed explicitly noted that he was a married man and that he was conveying his separate property. He argues, therefore, that whatever community interest he and Ebony had in Antelope Springs Ranch was excluded from the 1969 conveyance to his sons and that this interest became his separate property by the terms of the property settlement entered in the divorce action. Homer dates the accrual of his cause of action not from the date of the conveyance in 1969 but from February, 1971, when the sons allegedly clouded his interest in Antelope Springs Ranch by mortgaging the property to secure a loan from Equitable Life.

The sons and their wives moved for summary judgment of dismissal on the grounds that Homer's causes of action were barred by the applicable statutes of limitation and by the res judicata effect of the partnership action. Equitable Life moved for summary judgment on the grounds that it relied on record title in the sons in loaning the money secured by the mortgage, contending that Homer was estopped from claiming any interest in the mortgaged property. In a memorandum decision favorable to the sons and to Equitable, the...