Redland v. Redland, S–14–0159.

• Decision Date: 26 February 2015
• Docket Number: No. S–14–0159.,S–14–0159.
• Citation: 346 P.3d 857,2015 WY 31
• Parties: Robert REDLAND, Individually, Robert Redland, as Trustee of the Robert and Irene Redland Family Trust, Dated August 10, 1989, Lisa Kimsey and Mike Kimsey, Appellants (Defendants), v. Rolly REDLAND, Kendrick Redland, Roalene McCarthy and Teresa Shelton, Individually and as Beneficiaries of the Robert and Irene Redland Family Trust, Dated August 10, 1989, Appellees (Plaintiffs).
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

346 P.3d 857

2015 WY 31

Robert REDLAND, Individually, Robert Redland, as Trustee of the Robert and Irene Redland Family Trust, Dated August 10, 1989, Lisa Kimsey and Mike Kimsey, Appellants (Defendants)

v.Rolly REDLAND, Kendrick Redland, Roalene McCarthy and Teresa Shelton, Individually and as Beneficiaries of the Robert and Irene Redland Family Trust, Dated August 10, 1989, Appellees (Plaintiffs).

No. S–14–0159.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

Feb. 26, 2015.

Representing Appellants: Scott W. Meier, Lucas Buckley and J. Zachary Courson of Hathaway & Kunz, P.C., Cheyenne, Wyoming. Argument by Mr. Meier.

Representing Appellees Rolly Redland, Kendrick Redland and Teresa Shelton: S. Joseph Darrah of Darrah Law Office, P.C., Powell, Wyoming.

Representing Appellee Roalene McCarthy: C.M. Aron of Aron & Hennig, LLP, Laramie, Wyoming.

Before BURKE, C.J., and HILL, KITE, DAVIS, and FOX, JJ.

Opinion

KITE, Justice.

[¶ 1] This is the second appeal stemming from the Redland family's dispute over ranch property that some of the Redland children claim their father, Robert Redland, agreed to place in a family trust.¹ In the first appeal, Redland v. Redland, 2012 WY 148, 288 P.3d 1173 (Wyo.2012) ( Redland I ), this Court held that questions of fact precluded the district court's entry of summary judgment on the issues of whether the Redland Children's claims against Robert Redland were barred by the statute of frauds and the statute of limitations, and we remanded for a trial on those issues.

[¶ 2] Following a bench trial on remand, the district court found that the claims were not barred, and it ordered that all of the disputed property, with the exception of the property on which Robert Redland resides (“the Manderson Place”), be immediately transferred to the family trust. With respect to the Manderson Place, the district court ordered that the property be transferred to the trust upon Robert Redland's death. We affirm the district court's order, with the exception of its disposition of the Manderson Place. With respect to the latter property, we remand for entry of an order directing that the Manderson Place be immediately transferred to the family trust subject to Robert Redland's life estate in the property.

ISSUES

[¶ 3] Robert Redland states the issues on appeal as follows:

I. The District Court erred, as a matter of law, in holding that an enforceable agreement existed that required placing the disputed property in the Family Trust.

II. The District Court erred, as a matter of law, in determining that the Statute of Limitations did not bar [the Redland Children's] claims for the placement of property in the Family Trust.

FACTS

[¶ 4] The disputed Redland property is located in three areas of the Big Horn Basin in Wyoming. Because the property at issue in the present appeal is the same property we discussed in Redland I, we will use the Redland I nomenclature to reference the property in this appeal:

Manderson Place

The Manderson Place is located in Big Horn County. The parties variously refer to the deeded portion of this property as the Manderson Farm, the Manderson Place or the Home Place. Associated with this property is State of Wyoming Lease No. 3–8179. Also associated with the property is Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Lower Nowood Allotment No. 00144. For ease of reference, throughout this opinion, we will refer to the deeded property as the “Manderson Place,” and to State Lease No. 3–8179 by number or as the “State Farm at Manderson.”

Original Mountain Land & Additional Mountain Land

The Original Mountain Land is located in Washakie and Johnson Counties. Associated with the deeded property is State of Wyoming Lease No. 3–8195, BLM Box Canyon Allotment No. 02008, and BLM Cedar Ridge Allotment No. 00145. For ease of reference, when we refer to State Lease No. 3–8195 separately, we will refer to it by number or as the “Mountain Land State Lease.”

The Additional Mountain Land is located in the area of the Original Mountain Land and is deeded land that was owned by Eric Redland, Robert Redland's brother, until Eric's death in 1992.

Woody Place

Woody Place is also located in Washakie County, south of the Mountain Land. Associated with this property is State of Wyoming Lease No. 3–8248, BLM West Allotment No. 00147, and BLM East Allotment No. 00146. For ease of reference, we will refer to State Lease No. 3–8248 by number or as the “State Lease at Woody Place.”

Redland I, ¶¶ 9–12, 288 P.3d at 1178–79.²

[¶ 5] As in Redland I, we believe it is helpful to an understanding of the parties' dispute to begin with a history of the parties, their property acquisitions, and their ranching operations. Again, these facts remain unchanged since our decision in Redland I:

Richard and Nellie Redland were the parents of Robert Redland and the grandparents of Robert and Irene Redland's five children: Rolly Redland, Kendrick Redland, Roalene Redland McCarthy, Teresa Redland Shelton, and Lisa Redland Kimsey. Throughout their lifetimes, Richard and Nellie Redland accumulated ranching and farming property in the Big Horn Basin, including deeded land and federal and state leases, which they hoped would be held and operated by future Redland generations. All of the property that is in dispute in this action is property originally acquired by Richard and Nellie Redland.

Robert and Irene Redland were married in 1951, and began living on Manderson Place in 1953. Sometime between 1959 and 1962, they purchased the Manderson Place from Richard and Nellie Redland. Robert and Irene raised their five children on the Manderson Place, and during those years they ran sheep on the Original Mountain Land and grew crops on BLM land near Manderson.

In 1971, Robert and Irene Redland purchased Woody Place from Richard and Nellie Redland. The purchase included the deeded land and an assignment of the State Lease at Woody Place. The State Lease at Woody Place is important to the Woody Place operations because the leased land is adjacent to the deeded property and holds all of the operation's water.

When Robert and Irene Redland purchased Woody Place in 1971, Rolly Redland, Robert's oldest son, was attending community college in Riverton, Wyoming. Robert called on Rolly to work the new property and to manage the cows Robert then owned. Woody Place required substantial work, including clean-up, fencing, and irrigation work, and after making some initial improvements to the property, Rolly stayed on and has since 1971 lived and ranched at Woody Place.

Kendrick Redland began his fulltime career as a rancher in 1973. Kendrick lived on Manderson Place, and he conducted his operations primarily on Manderson Place and the Original Mountain Land. While the two Redland sons lived on separate properties, they often operated together and with their father. This included running their cattle together and supplying veterinary care, breeding and feed for the cattle.

Robert Redland's father, Richard Redland, passed away in 1971. In his will, he left to his wife, Nellie Redland, a life estate in all of his properties. To his sons, Robert and Eric Redland, he left a divided option to purchase the Original Mountain Land for $27.50 per acre, which option could not be exercised until the death of Nellie Redland. * * *

In March of 1983, Robert Redland paid Eric Redland $100,000 for his one-third option in the Original Mountain Land. As of 1983, then, Robert owned the entire option to purchase the Original Mountain Land as set forth in Richard Redland's will.

By 1989, the operations of Robert Redland and his two sons, Rolly and Kendrick Redland, had grown, with each individually continuing to increase the number of livestock they were running. Also in 1989, Nellie Redland passed away, and Robert was able to exercise the option to purchase the Original Mountain Land as described in Richard Redland, Sr.'s will. Before exercising the option, however, Robert took two steps. First, on August 8, 1989, Robert assigned part of his purchase option to his wife, Irene, and then they both made partial assignments of their interests in the purchase option to their five children, with the end result being that Robert, Irene and their five children each owned a one-seventh interest in the option to purchase the Original Mountain Land. Robert's next step was to create a family trust.

On August 10, 1989, Robert and Irene Redland executed a Trust Agreement with their five children, which created the Robert and Irene Redland Family Trust (“Redland Family Trust”). Robert, Irene and the five children were beneficial owners under the trust, and Robert and Irene were the trustees. The Trust Agreement established the trust for the purpose of holding and managing property. It provided as follows concerning property acquired by the trust:

The parties hereto declare that all property now held or hereafter acquired by the trustees or their successors, as trustees, and all income and profits therefrom, shall be by the trustees managed, administered, received, collected, disposed of, and distributed for the benefit of such persons as may from time to time be owners of beneficial interests in this trust estate, in the manner herein provided and subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this instrument and any amendments hereto.

Redland I, ¶¶ 13–21, 288 P.3d at 1179–1180.

[¶ 6] The creation of the Redland Family Trust is at the root of the Redland family's property dispute. The Redland Children contend they made capital and other contributions to the Trust with the understanding that certain properties historically operated on and held by members of the Redland family, including deeded properties, state leases, and federal leases, would be held by the Trust. In February 2007, however, the Redland Children learned, from a notice in the Basin Republican Rustler, that property they understood to belong to the Redland Family Trust had been transferred from Robert and Irene Redland (through their individual revocable trusts) to Lisa Kimsey, the Redland...