Simmons v. Waddell

• Decision Date: 16 June 2015
• Docket Number: No. COA14–1214.,COA14–1214.
• Citation: 241 N.C.App. 512,775 S.E.2d 661
• Court: North Carolina Court of Appeals
• Parties: Donna SIMMONS, Plaintiff, v. Kathleen M. WADDELL, Defendant.

241 N.C.App. 512

775 S.E.2d 661

Donna SIMMONS, Plaintiff,

v.Kathleen M. WADDELL, Defendant.

No. COA14–1214.

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

June 16, 2015.

Law Office of Marsh Smith, P.A., by Marsh Smith, Southern Pines, for plaintiff-appellee.

Manning, Fulton & Skinner, P.A., Raleigh, by Michael S. Harrell, for defendant-appellant.

INMAN, Judge.

Kathleen M. Waddell ("defendant") appeals from judgment quieting title in favor of Donna Simmons ("plaintiff"), defendant's neighbor, to a thirty-foot-wide strip of land known as the Driveway Corridor, located adjacent to their respective properties. In this case, the parties argue that rights to the Driveway Corridor were at varying times implied by necessity, created by deed, completely forgotten, and seemingly reclaimed. The issues on appeal pertain to the legal significance of the many conveyances of land comprising the Driveway Corridor and its surrounding parcels. Solving the legal puzzle also requires this Court to consider whether and in what manner the Driveway Corridor was bequeathed in a will executed by one of its series of owners.

After careful review, we affirm the trial court's order quieting title in favor of plaintiff.

Factual and Procedural Background

More than a half century ago, defendant's and plaintiff's properties were part of a single parcel consisting of 47.25 acres owned by Helen K. Butler and Lurline Willis ("Butler and Willis") as tenants in common. In the late 1950s, Butler and Willis conveyed one tract within the parcel to James and Margaret Douglas and conveyed an adjacent tract to Jesse and Newell Pritchett ("the Pritchetts"). Each of these tracts abutted the public road. (Due to the difficulty in visualizing the complete title histories relevant to this case, we have included our own rudimentary visual aids to assist the reader.)¹

In 1962 and 1963, Butler and Willis conveyed two additional adjacent parcels of land—separated from the public road by the Pritchett and Douglas tracts—to Ralph and Natalie Dodge ("the Dodge tract").

At that time, the Dodge tract was "landlocked," meaning that it had no access to the public road.²

Also in 1963, Butler and Willis conveyed a parcel of land sharing a common border with both the Pritchett and Dodge tracts to Lawrence and Carolyn McCrimmon ("the McCrimmon tract").³ Included in the deed was a 30–foot roadway easement, hereinafter referred to as the Driveway Corridor, paralleling the Pritchett common line and connecting the Dodge tract to the public road. The deed specified that this easement was intended to be used for the joint benefit of the McCrimmons and the Dodges. This is the first documented appearance of the Driveway Corridor in a deed. Thus, as a result of the deed, the McCrimmons held title to the tract in fee simple, subject to the easement over the Driveway Corridor benefitting the Dodges.

In 1966, the McCrimmons conveyed the entirety of their land to C.J. Simons ("Simons"), including the easement over the Driveway Corridor.⁴

The 1969 deed.

In 1969, the executor of Simons's estate conveyed Simons's tract to the Dodges. Included in this deed, registered in book 318 page 59 of the Moore County registry ("the 1969 deed"), was language identical to that used in the prior deeds to create the easement for the Driveway Corridor. As a result, the Dodges owned, in addition to their initially landlocked parcels, the parcel sharing an eastern border with the Pritchett tract. The conveyance thus left the Dodges holding a fee simple interest in the Driveway Corridor.⁵

In 1970, the Dodges conveyed a portion of the former McCrimmon tract to Jack and Nell Stoudenmire. The deed specified that the Stoudenmire tract would only run along the western border of the Driveway Corridor. It is undisputed that the land comprising the Driveway Corridor itself was not conveyed to the Stoudenmires.⁶

In 1983, the Pritchetts conveyed their tract to plaintiff and plaintiffs husband. The language of this deed is not in dispute.

The 1983 Waddell deed.

Also in 1983, the Dodges conveyed their initial parcel to defendant's husband, Roger Waddell ("Dr. Waddell"). This deed was recorded in Book 500, page 542 of the Moore County registry ("the 1983 Waddell deed") and provided that the Dodges "also" conveyed their "interest in a roadway easement 30 feet wide, as spelled out in Deed recorded in Deed Book 318 at page 39 in the Moore County Registry [the 1969 deed]."⁷

For more than twenty years after the 1983 conveyance, defendant used the Driveway Corridor, running alongside plaintiffs property, for ingress and egress to her home. Dr. Waddell testified in deposition that he always considered the Driveway Corridor to be a "common easement" rather than an extension of their property. Defendant and her husband divorced in 2004, and as part of an equitable distribution settlement, defendant was left with title to the Waddell tract.

On 15 December 2011, plaintiff filed a complaint in Moore County District Court. Plaintiff initially sought injunctive relief to prevent defendant from blocking her access to the Driveway Corridor and a declaratory judgment that she has a prescriptive easement over the land from repeated use.

While preparing for trial, plaintiffs attorney contacted the personal representative of Natalie Dodge's estate, Rodney Guthrie ("Mr. Guthrie"). Plaintiff explained to Mr. Guthrie that he believed Mrs. Dodge had died seized of the Driveway Corridor, and he asked Mr. Guthrie reopen the estate, which had previously been settled shortly after her death in 1995. At the time Mrs. Dodge's will was probated, Mr. Guthrie had no knowledge that she owned any real property.

Based on this information, Mr. Guthrie petitioned the Clerk of Court to reopen the estate on 5 December 2012. On that same day, Mr. Guthrie obtained an order from the Moore County Clerk of Superior Court, by signature of an assistant clerk, reopening Mrs. Dodge's estate. He then conveyed the land comprising the Driveway Corridor to plaintiff for $1,500.00, the proceeds of which he split evenly between Bible Alive Ministries, Inc. and Carolina Bible College of Fayetteville, Inc. ("the Dodge estate beneficiaries"), in accordance with Mrs. Dodge's will.

On 10 December 2012, the day that trial was set to begin, plaintiff moved for a continuance so that she could amend her complaint to include a claim of quiet title based on the recent conveyance from Mrs. Dodge's estate. The parties entered into a stipulated order continuing the trial date and agreeing to sever their claims and first, proceed to trial solely on the issue of quieting title. The parties also stipulated that, regardless of the outcome, defendant would continue to have an easement over the Driveway Corridor to access the public road.

The non-jury trial commenced during the civil term of 24 February 2014 and was completed over a series of dates concluding on 20 March 2014. After considering witness testimony and other evidence, as well as the arguments by counsel and legal authorities submitted, the trial court on 2 May 2014 entered its order quieting title to the Driveway Corridor in favor of plaintiff.

At trial, plaintiff argued that: (1) the 1983 Waddell deed between the Dodges and Dr. Waddell only conveyed an easement in the Driveway Corridor, not ownership of the tract in fee simple; (2) because the Dodges previously owned the property as tenants by the entirety, Mrs. Dodge obtained full ownership of the Driveway Corridor upon her husband's death in 1984; (3) Mr. Guthrie obtained title to the Driveway Corridor by operation of Mrs. Dodge's will when she died in 1995; and (4) plaintiff holds title in the Driveway Corridor by virtue of the conveyance from Mr. Guthrie in 2012.

Defendant contended at trial that when the Dodges transferred their initial tract to her husband with the 1983 Waddell deed, they also conveyed the Driveway Corridor in fee simple. Therefore, defendant contended, because she had filed her interest in the land in 2004 as part of the equitable distribution settlement, her interest in the Driveway Corridor was superior to plaintiffs interest and rendered the conveyance from the Dodge estate to plaintiff a nullity. In the alternative, defendant argued that she obtained title to the Driveway Corridor via a quitclaim deed from the Dodge estate beneficiaries in 2011.

The trial court rejected defendant's arguments and quieted title in favor of plaintiff. In its ultimate findings, the trial court determined that the 1983 Waddell deed conveyed only an easement in the Driveway Corridor from the Dodges to Dr. Waddell, Mrs. Dodge retained ownership of the Driveway Corridor after her husband's death, and the conveyance of the Driveway Corridor from Mr. Guthrie to plaintiff was legally effective to pass title. Based on these findings, the trial court concluded that plaintiff met her burden of establishing a superior claim in the Driveway Corridor to defendant's and quieted title in her favor. Defendant filed timely notice of appeal.

Standard of Review

We review a judgment entered after a non-jury trial to determine "whether there is competent evidence to support the trial court's findings of fact and whether the findings support the conclusions of law and ensuing judgment." Cartin v. Harrison, 151 N.C.App. 697, 699, 567 S.E.2d 174, 176 (2002) (internal quotation marks omitted). "Our review of the trial court's conclusions of law is de novo. " Johnson v. Bd. of Trs. Of Durham Tech. Cmt. College, 157 N.C.App. 38, 47, 577 S.E.2d 670, 675 (2003). As explained in more detail below, the interpretation of documents, including deeds and wills, is generally an issue of law unless a document is ambiguous on its face and, as such, is also reviewable de novo.

I. Legal Effect of the 1983 Waddell Deed

Defendant first argues that the trial court erred by concluding that the conveyance in the 1983 Waddell deed transferred to Dr. Waddell only an easement over the Driveway Corridor rather than title in fee simple.⁸...