Smith v. Smith

• Decision Date: 13 December 2013
• Docket Number: 2120498.
• Citation: 143 So.3d 805
• Parties: Steven Jeffery SMITH and Cyndi Irene Cooke v. Elizabeth SMITH. Elizabeth Smith v. Steven Jeffery Smith and Cyndi Irene Cooke.
• Court: Alabama Court of Civil Appeals

143 So.3d 805

Steven Jeffery SMITH and Cyndi Irene Cooke

v.Elizabeth SMITH.

Elizabeth Smith

v.Steven Jeffery Smith and Cyndi Irene Cooke.

2120498.

Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama.

Dec. 13, 2013.

William R. Stokes, Jr., of Stokes & Stokes, P.C., Brewton, for appellants/cross-appellees Steven Jeffery Smith and Cyndi Irene Cooke.

Clinton H. Hyde, Evergreen, for appellee/cross-appellant Elizabeth Smith.

THOMAS, Judge.

Steven Jeffery Smith and Cyndi Irene Cooke appeal from the portions of a judgment entered by the Conecuh Circuit Court (“the trial court”) in favor of Elizabeth Smith. Elizabeth cross-appeals from the trial court's judgment.

I. Facts and Procedural History

The parties are the heirs of Billy Ernest Smith. Elizabeth married Billy on November 6, 1996; there were no children born of the marriage. Steven and Cyndi are Billy's adult children from a previous marriage. The record shows that Billy and Elizabeth met while horseback riding and that Billy made a living training horses for other people. Billy and Elizabeth lived on property owned by Billy. Also located on Billy's property was a barn and adjoining horse pens and pastureland on which Billy and Elizabeth kept their own horses.

Billy died in April 2009. His will (“the will”), among other things, named Steven as the executor of his estate (“the estate”). In paragraph two of the will, Billy devised “my dwelling house and the one acre of land on which same is situated to [Elizabeth], for and during the term of her natural life or until she remarries and/or moves away from said property.” Paragraph three of the will bequeathed to Elizabeth “her pick of all my horses, together with the tack for same,” and “our family car and all cash and bank accounts owned by me.” Finally, paragraph four of the will provided that Steven and Cyndi would receive the “rest and residue of my property, real, personal, and mixed.”

On May 25, 2010, Elizabeth filed a complaint in the trial court against Steven as the executor of the estate and against Steven and Cyndi individually. In her complaint, Elizabeth asserted, among other things, that Steven had prevented her from using the barn and horse pens. Elizabeth requested, in pertinent part, that the trial court enter a declaratory judgment interpreting the provisions of the will and determining the ownership of certain personal property; that the trial court issue a restraining order against Steven enjoining him from harassing her and from removing any assets of the estate; and that the trial court award her a resulting trust in 55 acres of real property (“the 55 acres”) that Billy had purchased during the marriage. The trial court entered a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) on May 27, 2010, enjoining Steven from any contact with Elizabeth and from removing any assets or moneys of the estate.

On June 10, 2010, Steven and Cyndi filed a motion to dismiss, in which they argued that the probate of the will was still pending in the Conecuh Probate Court (“the probate court”) and, therefore, that the trial court lacked jurisdiction over the administration of the estate. The trial court held a hearing that same day, after which it entered an order granting a preliminary injunction enjoining all parties from having contact with one another and ordering Elizabeth to file a motion to remove the probate of the estate from the probate court to the trial court. Steven and Cyndi filed an answer to the complaint on June 15, 2010. Elizabeth filed a motion to consolidate the estate-administration action that had been removed to the trial court with the action she had filed in the trial court; the trial court granted the motion for consolidation on June 24, 2010.

On January 12, 2011, Steven and Cyndi filed a counterclaim alleging actual and constructive conversion in which they asserted that Elizabeth had continued to use real and personal property that was not awarded to her in the will, such as the barn, the horse pens, Billy's Dodge truck (“the Dodge truck”), and a four-horse trailer. After a continuance, a trial was held on July 16, 2012, at which the trial court heard evidence ore tenus. The trial court entered a judgment on October 4, 2012. The trial court's judgment, in pertinent part, incorporated the parties' agreement that Elizabeth would pick three of Billy's horses as her own, concluded that the one acre devised to Elizabeth as a life estate included the barn and the horse pens, and awarded Elizabeth use of the Dodge truck and the horse trailer and “saddles and all items usually described as ‘tack’ by [Billy] and/or the parties.” The trial court also granted Elizabeth's claims for a family allowance, a homestead allowance, and exempt property pursuant to §§ 43–8–110 through 43–8–112, Ala.Code 1975. However, the trial court's judgment denied Elizabeth's request for a resulting trust in the 55 acres and awarded the 55 acres to Steven and Cyndi pursuant to the residuary clause in the will. The trial court also denied Steven and Cyndi's counterclaims.

Steven and Cyndi filed a motion to alter, amend, or vacate or for a new trial on October 25, 2012. On October 26, 2012, Elizabeth filed a motion for enforcement and to show cause, in which she alleged that Steven and Cyndi had failed to comply with the trial court's judgment. Steven and Cyndi filed a motion to stay the execution of the judgment pending the resolution of their postjudgment motion on November 13, 2012; the trial court denied the motion to stay on the same day. Elizabeth filed a motion for contempt on November 28, 2012; she filed an amended motion for contempt on February 1, 2013. On February 15, 2013, Steven and Cyndi filed a motion for approval of a supersedeas bond. The trial court entered two orders on February 21, 2013; one granted Steven and Cyndi's motion for a supersedeas bond and the other dismissed Elizabeth's motion for contempt for failure to comply with Rule 70A(c)(1) and (2), Ala. R. Civ. P. Steven and Cyndi filed a notice of appeal with our supreme court on March 4, 2013.¹ Elizabeth filed a notice of cross-appeal with our supreme court on March 19, 2013. The appeal and the cross-appeal were transferred to this court pursuant to § 12–2–7(6), Ala.Code 1975.

II. Standard of Review

“When the resolution of an appeal turns on the construction of a will, we apply a de novo standard of review. See Harrison v. Morrow, 977 So.2d 457, 459 (Ala.2007).

“ ‘The law in Alabama regarding the interpretation of wills is well settled:

“ ‘ “ ‘[T]he intention of the [testator] is the law of the will, which the court should consider as a whole, giving effect to each provision where it is possible to do so; it is the court's duty to carry out the [testator]'s intention where that intent can be ascertained. To determine the intent of a testator or testatrix, the court must look to the four corners of the instrument, and if the language is unambiguous and clearly expresses the testator's or testatrix's intent, then that language must govern. Galin v. Johnson, 457 So.2d 359 (Ala.1984). Where a will contains ambiguous or doubtful expressions, it is the duty of the court to determine what the testator or testatrix intended. Brittain v. Ingram, 282 Ala. 158, 209 So.2d 653 (1968).’ ”

“ ‘Barnett v. Estate of Anderson, 966 So.2d 915, 918 (Ala.2007). “A document is unambiguous if only one reasonable meaning emerges.” Kershaw v. Kershaw, 848 So.2d [942] at 951 [ (Ala.2002) ].’

“Scholl v. Stacy, 981 So.2d 1116, 1120 (Ala.2007).”

McKnight v. Way, 58 So.3d 810, 815 (Ala.Civ.App.2010).

III. Issues

In their brief on appeal, Steven and Cyndi argue that the trial court disregarded the plain language of the will by awarding Elizabeth a life estate in the property underlying the horse pens; that the trial court erred by drawing the boundaries of the one acre devised to Elizabeth as a life estate to include the barn; that the trial court misconstrued Billy's intent by awarding Elizabeth the tractor and its implements, the Dodge truck and the horse trailer, and Billy's tools of his trade; and that the trial court erred by awarding Elizabeth all the remaining personal property to satisfy her family allowance and personal exemptions. In her cross-appeal, Elizabeth argues that the trial court erred by failing to impose a resulting trust on the 55 acres.

IV. The House and the One Acre

Taking the issues out of turn, we first address whether the trial court erred by construing the boundaries of the one acre that Billy left to Elizabeth along with the house to include the barn. The second paragraph of the will states:

“I will and devise my dwelling house and the one acre of land on which same is situated to my beloved wife, Elizabeth Ann Smith, for and during the term of her natural life or until she remarries and/or moves away from said property.”

According to Steven and Cyndi, the absence of any reference to the barn in the above paragraph indicates that Billy did not intend for the one acre to include the barn. They correctly cite the legal principle that

“[n]o presumptions or rules of construction can serve to rewrite a will at variance with its clear and unambiguous terms, whatever extraneous fact may have led the testator to make the will he did make. The sanctity of wills, safeguarded by law, would be weakened, if not destroyed, by thus disregarding the plain terms of the will. City Bank & Trust Co. v. McCaa et al., 213 Ala. 579, 105 So. 669 [ (1925) ]; Meglemry et al. v. Meglemry, 222 Ala. 229, 131 So. 906 [ (1931) ]; Spencer v. Title Guarantee Loan & Trust Co. et al., 222 Ala. 485, 132 So. 730; 69 C.J. § 1110, § 1148, Notes 98 and 99 [ (1931) ].”

Baker v. Hendricks, 240 Ala. 630, 632, 200 So. 615, 617 (1941).

We agree that it is not within the purview of a court to rewrite unambiguous terms of a will. However, in the present case, the language of the above paragraph from the will simply states “one acre of land.” Given that the will did not include a metes and bounds, or any other,...