Sharp v. Sharp

• Decision Date: 24 February 1989
• Citation: 540 So.2d 1373
• Parties: Janell SHARP v. Ethel Pearl SHARP. 87-882.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Page 1373

540 So.2d 1373

Janell SHARP v. Ethel Pearl SHARP.

87-882.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

Feb. 24, 1989.

William R. Justice of Conwill & Justice, Columbiana, for appellant.

Wanda D. Devereaux of Devereaux & Hiebel, Montgomery, for appellee.

ADAMS, Justice.

The plaintiff, Janell Sharp, appeals from a declaratory judgment for the defendant, Ethel Sharp. The circuit court held that Ethel's mobile home was not a "fixture" and, therefore, that Janell, who owned the real property upon which it sat, had no interest in the mobile home. We affirm.

The facts are these:

Marvin Sharp transferred the title to certain real property to his wife, Janell. Janell granted Marvin's father and stepmother, Fred and Ethel, a life estate in the real property. In 1986, Fred and Ethel purchased a mobile home for $16,740.00. They had it installed on the property subject to the life estate. Marvin and his employees and contractors performed most of the installation. ¹

A year later, Ethel wanted to remove the mobile home from the land and sell it. Janell objected, maintaining that the mobile home had become a fixture and was, therefore, an inseverable part of the real property. Janell sued Ethel, seeking a declaratory judgment concerning any rights and interests that she might have in the mobile home. Ethel counterclaimed and filed a third-party complaint alleging fraud, negligence, and conversion against Marvin and his construction company, M & D Construction, Inc.

After an ore tenus hearing, the trial court determined that the mobile home was not a part of the real property and, therefore, that Ethel could remove it. The court also dismissed Ethel's counterclaim and the third-party complaint. Janell appeals.

Our attention goes to whether the trial court erred in holding that the mobile home was not a fixture.

We first note that absent a showing that the trial court's findings were palpably wrong, or manifestly unjust, its decision will go undisturbed on appeal. Clardy v. Capital City Asphalt Co., 477 So.2d 350 (Ala.1985). A fixture is "an article which was once a chattel, but which, by being physically annexed or affixed to the realty, has become accessory to it and part and parcel of it." Farmers & Merchants Bank v. Sawyer, 26 Ala.App. 520, 522, 163 So. 657, 658 (1935). A determination of whether an article is a chattel or a fixture is a mixed question of law and of fact. Milford v. Tennessee River Pulp & Paper Co., 355 So.2d 687 (Ala.1978). The parties direct our attention to Milford, where this Court listed the prevailing criteria for determining whether an item has become a fixture. Those criteria are:

" '(1) Actual annexation to the realty or to something appurtenant thereto; (2) Appropriateness to the use or purpose of that part of the realty with which it is connected; (3) The intention of the party making the annexation of making permanent attachment to the freehold. This intention of the party making the annexation is inferred; (a) From the nature of the articles annexed; (b) The relation of the party making the annexation; (c) The structure and mode of annexation; (d) The purposes and uses for which the annexation has been made.' "

Milford, 355 So.2d at 690, quoting from Langston v. State, 96 Ala. 44, 46, 11 So. 334, 335 (1891).

We agree with both parties' concession that our holding turns on whether the evidence supports the trial court's conclusion that Ethel did not intend to enhance the value of Janell's real property by annexing the mobile home to it. In answering this question, we recognize the presumption that items placed on land by a life tenant are intended to remain personal property. That presumption, however, is rebuttable. 36A C.J.S. Fixtures § 31 (1961). Janell devotes a substantial part of her argument to an attempt to rebut that presumption. She argues that the mobile home's structure and mode of attachment to its foundation evidence an intention to permanently attach...