Stone v. Gulf American Fire and Cas. Co.
| Decision Date | 05 July 1989 |
| Citation | 554 So.2d 346 |
| Parties | Catherine Yvonne STONE v. GULF AMERICAN FIRE AND CASUALTY CO., et al. 87-269. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
David Cromwell Johnson and Thomas W. Bowron II, Birmingham, for appellant Catherine Yvonne Stone.
James E. Williams of Melton & Espy, Montgomery, for appellees Gulf American Fire & Cas. Co. and American States Ins. Co.
James F. Hampton of McLain & Hampton, Montgomery, for appellee Irene Smith.
Robert C. Black of Hill, Hill, Carter, Franco, Cole & Black, Montgomery, for appellee Jones, Murray and Stewart, P.C.
This appeal involves the estate of the late Hiriam "Hank" Williams and concerns the rights of Catherine Yvonne Stone, an illegitimate child who, in 1985, was declared by the trial court in this proceeding to be the natural child of Hank Williams, and the major questions presented are whether two final judgments entered in 1967 and 1968, which determined that Stone had no rights to share in the estate, can be reopened because of an alleged "legal fraud."
Stone appeals from a summary judgment against her third-party complaint, in which she asked that the two former judgments be set aside, which judgments had been entered in favor of third-party defendants Irene Smith; Jones, Murray and Stewart, P.C.; Gulf American Fire and Casualty Company; American States Insurance Company (as successor in interest of Gulf American); and several fictitiously named parties. 1
This case began as an action for declaratory judgment filed by Randall Hank Williams (hereinafter "Williams, Jr."), along with Roy Acuff and Wesley Rose, the trustees in liquidation of Fred Rose Music, Inc., and of Milene Music, Inc., seeking a declaration that Stone was barred from establishing that she is the natural child of Hank Williams and from asserting any claim or entitlement to his estate or to any interest or royalties flowing therefrom. 2 Stone filed a counterclaim on these issues, and, in addition, the third-party complaint that now constitutes the basis of this appeal.
In her third-party complaint, Stone alleged an intentional, willful, fraudulent, and conspiratorial concealment from the court of her identity and potential claim to the estate of Hank Williams. 3 She requested that the estate be reopened and that she receive her proportionate share of the estate, 4 that she be awarded punitive damages and that the sureties for the estate, Gulf American and American States, compensate her for damages not recovered against the other third-party defendants or real parties in interest.
In the proceedings below, the trial court entered summary judgment in favor of Williams, Jr., Acuff, and Rose on all issues contained in their original complaint and in Stone's counterclaim, with the exception of the issue of Stone's paternity, which it reserved for trial, and the trial court entered summary judgment in favor of all third-party defendants, including those fictitiously named, on Stone's third-party complaint, in which she asked, among other things, that the estate be reopened because of legal fraud. After a trial on the issue of paternity, the court found that Catherine Yvonne Stone is the natural child of Hank Williams. No appeal was taken from this judgment of paternity, and this finding is undisputed on appeal. 5
An understanding of the unique facts underlying this action is requisite to an understanding of this case, and it is because of these unique facts that we fashion the relief we do in this case. The trial judge entered a lengthy order in which he detailed the facts. We could include those findings, which we find to be supported by the record, in this opinion, but we think that a summary of those facts will be sufficient.
On October 15, 1952, Hank Williams entered into an agreement with Bobbie W. Jett relative to the custody and support of an unborn child carried by Jett. The agreement was prepared by and executed in the presence of Robert B. Stewart, an attorney in the general practice of law in Montgomery, Alabama, who was one of the third-party defendants. The agreement provided, in part, as follows:
(Emphasis added).
On January 1, 1953, Hank Williams died intestate. Five days later, Bobbie Jett gave birth to a baby girl; she named the child Antha Bell Jett. By agreement, the child was left with Hank Williams's mother, Mrs. Lillian Williams Stone, and Jett left the state. Mrs. Stone immediately instituted adoption proceedings, and a final decree of adoption was entered on December 23, 1954. The child's name was changed to Catherine Yvonne Stone.
Shortly thereafter, on February 26, 1955, Lillian Stone died. Other family members were either unable or unwilling to care for the child, and, thus, at the age of two, she became a ward of the State. The child remained in foster homes until she was eventually adopted on April 23, 1959, at the age of six, by a Mobile couple, George and Mary Deupree. Her name was then changed to Cathy Louise Deupree.
In that year, an action was brought on behalf of Williams, Jr., to obtain court approval of a contract between Fred Rose Music, Inc., and Williams, Jr., concerning his interest in the copyright renewals of his father. The matter of the Stone child was not raised in that proceeding, even though the record now before us shows that the parties to that contract knew of the agreement executed by Hank Williams and also that the State of Alabama, by and through its Department of Pensions and Security, knew of her parentage. Then, in 1967, Audrey Williams, 6 the mother of Williams, Jr., filed a petition in Montgomery Circuit Court for final settlement of the estate. She also instituted related proceedings in 1968, concerning the guardianship estate of Williams, Jr. At the time of the 1967 and 1968 proceedings, Irene Smith, the sister of Hank Williams, was the administratrix of the estate. It was in Smith's answer to Audrey Williams's petition that the court was advised, apparently for the first time, of the existence of the agreement and of the potential claim of the Stone child. In both the 1967 and the 1968 proceedings, the court appointed Drayton Hamilton, a Montgomery attorney, to serve as the child's guardian ad litem. Hamilton had previously served as her guardian ad litem in 1963 in proceedings relating to the estate of Lillian Stone; however, the record shows that in 1963, Hamilton knew only that Stone was an adopted child of Lillian Stone and was not...
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