Williams v. Paxton
| Decision Date | 13 May 1976 |
| Docket Number | No. 11602,11602 |
| Citation | 559 P.2d 1123,98 Idaho 155 |
| Parties | Mary O. WILLIAMS, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Harry PAXTON and Paul W. Bright, Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | Idaho Supreme Court |
Samuel Kaufman, Jr., Anderson, Kaufman, Anderson & Ringert, Boise, for plaintiff-respondent.
The pivotal question in this appeal is whether a judgment creditor who obtained judgment jointly against a married woman and her husband, based upon obligations under a contract which both she and her husband signed for the purchase of community property, may satisfy the judgment by execution upon the married woman's separate property.
The plaintiff respondent Mary O. Williams initiated this action against the defendant appellant Harry Paxton to prevent him from executing upon her residence to satisfy a joint judgment he had obtained against her and her husband Robert G. Williams. The plaintiff had owned the home before her marriage to Robert G. Williams on June 17, 1966, and at the time of their marriage it was her sole and separate property. According to the finding of the trial court, the home remained Mary Williams' separate property throughout her marriage to Robert Williams. Upon their divorce on June 14, 1971, it remained her separate property.
During the Williamses' marriage they acquired two thirds of the outstanding shares of stock in Boise Floor Covering, Inc., and they desired to acquire the remaining one third of the outstanding shares, all of which were owned by defendant Harry Paxton. On April 11, 1968, the Williamses both signed a contract in which they agreed to purchase Paxton's outstanding shares. The trial court found that the Williamses acquired Paxton's stock as community property. Shortly after signing the contract with Paxton, the business failed and the Williamses were unable to make payments under the contract. On December 20, 1968, Paxton sued Robert and Mary Williams under the contract and attached Mary Williams' home. On August 28, 1969, he obtained judgment against both Robert and Mary Williams. On June 3, 1971, Paxton obtained an execution directing the sheriff to seize Mary Williams' home and notice it for sale to satisfy the judgment against her.
In late July or early August of 1971, Mary Williams became aware that Paxton had published notice that the sheriff would execute upon and sell her home to satisfy the judgment against her. On August 16, 1971, she initiated this action against Paxton, alleging that Paxton's judgment against her was for a community indebtedness and that her home was her separate property, asserting that he had no right to satisfy the judgment for a community indebtedness by execution upon her separate property, and praying that he be enjoined from executing upon her separate property and that she be awarded attorney fees for the prosecution of the action. The parties stipulated that the home would not be sold while Mary Williams' action was pending. The action was tried before the district court sitting without a jury. The district court entered judgment on Mary Williams' behalf, enjoining Paxton from satisfying his judgment against her by execution upon her separate property and awarding Mary Williams' attorney fees for the prosecution of her action. Paxton has appealed. We
reverse. THE JUDGMENT OF THE TRIAL COURT AND RESOLUTION OF THE COLLATERAL ISSUES
Both at trial and upon appeal Paxton has argued (1) that he was entitled to execute upon Mary Williams' residence to satisfy his judgment against her because the residence was community property, not her separate property, at the time they entered into the contract; (2) but even if it The trial court also concluded that because Mary Williams' residence was attached on December 20, 1968, and that because under I.C. § 8-539 the attachment lien had expired two years later on December 20, 1970, the attempt to sell the property under a levy of execution issued on June 3, 1971, was wrongful because it took place under an expired attachment. We agree with Paxton's assignment of error that the trial court's conclusion of law was incorrect. Although Paxton had no right to execute upon the property under the expired attachment, he had a right to execute upon the property for the enforcement of his judgment. I.C. § 11-104 provides that, 'When the judgment is for money . . . the same may be enforced by a writ of execution; . . .' I.C. § 11-101 provides that, 'The party in whose favor judgment is given may, at any time within five years after the entry thereof, have a writ of execution issued for its enforcement, . . .' Therefore, regardless of the time the original writ of attachment expired, on June 3, 1971, which was less than five years after Paxton had obtained judgment against the Williamses, he was entitled to a writ of execution to satisfy his judgment. Therefore, the trial court erred in holding that the attempt to levy upon the property was wrongful because Paxton's original writ of attachment had expired.
were her separate property at that time, Mary Williams had contracted for her own use or benefit or for the use and benefit of her separate estate, and thus Paxton was entitled to satisfy his judgment against her separate estate; and (3) even if the residence were her separate property, Mary Williams had represented to Paxton by her word or conduct that her separate property would serve as security for the purchase of the stock and Mary Williams should be estopped from denying that her separate property is liable for satisfaction of the judgment. The trial court found (1) that the residence had remained Mary Williams' separate property at all times during and after her marriage and had never been transmuted to community property during her marriage, (2) that the contract that she and her husband had entered into with Paxton was for the benefit of the community and not for the benefit of her separate property, and (3) that she had never by her word or conduct led Paxton to believe that her separate estate would serve as security for the community obligation. These findings, none of which were assigned as error and all of which are supported by substantial competent evidence, are binding upon us upon appeal. I.R.C.P. 52(a); Nielson v. Davis, 96 Idaho 314, 528 P.2d 196 (1974). Thus, we reject Paxton's arguments (1) that he was entitled to execute upon the home because it was community property, (2) that he was entitled to execute upon the home because the debt had been contracted for the use or benefit of Mary Williams' separate property, and (3) that because of her words or conduct she should be estopped from denying Paxton access to her separate property for satisfaction of the judgment against her.
Thus, because Paxton's right to obtain a writ of execution to enforce his judgment had not expired, we must reach and decide the central issue presented by this appeal: may a judgment creditor proceed by execution against a woman's separate property to satisfy a joint judgment he has obtained against both her and her husband based upon their obligations under a contract which they both signed for the purchase of community property?
of the wife . . .,' R.S. § 2498, except in cases in which the wife had acquired separate property after marriage in an instrument providing that the rents and profits from that property be applied to her sole and separate use, R.S. § 2497, or in cases in which the wife was living separate from her husband, R.S. § 2502. The revised statutes also provided that, 'The husband has the management and control of the community property . . .,' R.S. § 2505, and that, 'The separate property of the wife is not liable for the debts of her husband, but is liable for her own debts contracted before or after marriage.' R.S. § 2504. Thus, although the statutes gave the wife a right of management or control of her separate property in only the narrowest of instances, they also recognized that the wife had some capacity to contract after marriage because they provided that the separate property of the wife was liable for her own debts contracted 'before or after' marriage.
'The management and disposal of this property being saved to the wife exclusively, she may certainly make any contract with reference to such property, may pledge it for her own or her husband's debts, or may convey it away if she so desires, . . . Any restriction upon her right to contract with reference to this species of property would be a restriction upon that power of management and disposal which the statute has given her.' 4 Idaho at 757, 44 P. at 644 (emphasis added).
The Court also discussed the wife's power to dispose of her earnings and accumulations while living separate and apart from her husband, which were also her separate property.
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