Case Title: Barnes v. Gideon

Citation: 224 Kan. 6, 578 P.2d 685

Docket Number: 48,402

State: kansas

Court: Kansas Supreme Court

Date: 1978-05-06T00:00:00Z

Document:
224 Kan. 6 (1978)
578 P.2d 685
LINDA BARNES, Appellant,
v.
CLARENCE GIDEON, Appellee.
No. 48,402

Supreme Court of Kansas.
Opinion filed May 6, 1978.
Dennis Taylor, of Topeka, argued the cause, and James P. Nordstrom, of Fisher, Patterson, Sayler & Smith, of Topeka, was with him on the brief for appellant.
Charles Rooney, Sr., of Rooney, Rooney & Christey, of Topeka, and James M. Macnish, Jr., of Rost, Rost & Macnish, was with him on the brief for appellee.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
HOLMES, J.:
This is an appeal by plaintiff-appellant from an order of the district court granting summary judgment on the grounds plaintiff's action was not timely filed. The Court of Appeals in a two-to-one decision affirmed the trial court and we granted review of the decision of the Court of Appeals. (1 Kan. App.2d 517, 571 P.2d 42, decided August 5, 1977.)
The essential facts are not in dispute.
Plaintiff filed an action for an accounting and recovery of damages alleging defendant breached his fiduciary duties when he served as guardian (conservator) of plaintiff's estate.
Defendant was appointed guardian by the Shawnee County Probate Court in 1961. He served until discharged in 1967 when a successor was appointed. Plaintiff became eighteen years of age on January 16, 1974. Suit was filed March 1, 1976. Beginning January 14, 1975, the defendant personally or through his attorney executed a series of seven documents, each entitled "Waiver of Statute of Limitations." The last of these documents executed January 30, 1976, provides:
"Waiver of Statute of Limitations
"DATED this 30th day of January, 1976.
The six prior documents contained similar language, although not identical. The next to last was executed November 12, 1975, and extended the waiver "until February 15, 1976, and no longer."
Absent the agreement of the parties, our statute of limitations, in effect at the time, allowed plaintiff one year from January 16, 1974, the date plaintiff attained her majority, to file her action. (K.S.A. 60-515[a].)
Plaintiff's petition was filed in the district court March 1, 1976. The documents executed by defendant were attached to the petition and are relied upon by plaintiff to support her contention that the petition was timely filed. Defendant relies upon the same documents to support his contention the petition was filed too late. Summary judgment was sustained for the defendant on the grounds that the words "until March 1, 1976, and no longer" were words of limitation or exclusion and filing of the petition on March 1, 1976, was barred by the statute of limitations. The trial court's action was affirmed by the Court of Appeals. It should be noted that 1976 was a leap year and March 1 fell on Monday. Therefore, under the decision of the trial court, as affirmed by the Court of Appeals, the last possible time for filing the petition would have been Friday, February 27, 1976.
The sole question before the court is whether the words "until March 1, 1976, and no longer" are words of inclusion or words of exclusion in this case. The trial court stated the issue as:
The trial court in its letter of decision found:
Appellant states her points on appeal as:
1. Where potential litigants entered into an agreement waiving the defense of the Statute of Limitations, "until March 1, 1976, and no longer", the intent of the parties was manifest that the waiver be effective on March 1, 1976, but not beyond March 1, 1976.
2. Where potential litigants entered into an agreement waiving the defense of a Statute of Limitations under Chapter 60, until an expressly stated date, K.S.A. 60-206(a) was applicable to the agreement, and where the date of termination of the agreement was a Sunday, filing of a petition on Monday was proper.
Defendant contends the intent of the parties and the words used in the various documents were words of limitation and that the right to file the action expired on February 29, not March 1. Defendant also contends that K.S.A. 60-206(a) does not apply in this case, arguing the statute does not apply to contracts or agreements but only to matters of court procedure.
We agree with both of appellant's contentions and hold plaintiff's petition was timely filed.
To determine the intent of the parties from the various "waiver of statute of limitation" documents, we must first look to the actual instruments. If it was the intent of the parties to set a specific date prior to which the action had to be filed then, presumably, under defendant's theory the document should have read until February 28, 1976, and no longer. The final waiver was signed by knowledgeable legal counsel for both parties who undoubtedly knew that if March 1, 1976, was to be excluded the action would have to be filed no later than February 27, 1976. There would have been no way for plaintiff to file her action on the 28th or 29th as those days fell on Saturday and Sunday. Setting a specific date of March 1, knowing that February 28th *9 and 29th were not available for plaintiff to perform the necessary act, indicates both parties intended March 1 to be the final date on which the action could be filed. Further, in referring to the instruments, it is to be noted that the parties apparently interpreted the final date to be inclusive and not exclusive. The next to last waiver extended the time for filing "until February 15, 1976, and no longer," yet in the final document wherein the consideration is recited the parties refer to the previous waiver as having been effective "prior to and including February 15, 1976." The parties by clear language in the instrument in question indicated their intent to be that the final date was included, not excluded. Such an intent is consistent with the action of the parties in setting March 1, a Monday, as the final filing date, knowing the previous two days were unavailable for plaintiff to perform the necessary act.
K.S.A. 60-206(a) provides:
Appellee contends that the statute has no application to this case as the dealings between the parties were contractual and did not pertain to "any period of time prescribed or allowed by this chapter, by the local rules of any district court, by order of the court, or by any applicable statute." Again we must look to the documents executed by the parties. Statutes of limitation are purely creations of the legislature and absent any such statute the plaintiff in this action could file her action at any time, subject only to the common law doctrines of laches, estoppel, etc. The subject matter of the documents in question was based solely on the statute of limitations and therefore K.S.A. 60-206(a) must be *10 considered. As stated by Judge Swinehart in his dissenting opinion:
It appears clear that the parties considered they were dealing with a statutory period and if so the time under appellee's theory expired on Sunday. Being originally a matter controlled by an "applicable statute," we are of the opinion that filing the action on Monday was timely under K.S.A. 60-206(a).
The majority of the Court of Appeals viewed the documents of the parties as private contracts which were not controlled by K.S.A. 60-206(a) and K.S.A. 60-515(a). Their determination of the matter was based upon an interpretation of whether the word "until" as used in the documents in this case constituted a word of inclusion or one of exclusion. The majority contended that the case law of Kansas is well settled in a consistent series of decisions holding "until" to be a word of exclusion. The cases cited include Croco v. Hille, 66 Kan. 512, 72 Pac. 208 (1903); State v. Bradbury, 67 Kan. 808, 74 Pac. 231 (1903); State v. Dyck, 68 Kan. 558, 75 Pac. 488 (1904); Maynes v. Gray, 69 Kan. 49, 76 Pac. 443 (1904); State v. Burton, 70 Kan. 199, 78 Pac. 413 (1904); State v. Horine, 70 Kan. 256, 78 Pac. 411 (1904); Buck's Stove and Range Company v. Davidson, 70 Kan. 885, 79 Pac. 119 (1905); Lightner v. Insurance Co., 97 Kan. 97, 154 Pac. 227 (1916); and Dobson v. Wilson & Co., Inc., 152 Kan. 820, 107 P.2d 676 (1940).
In its discussion of Croco, the Court of Appeals states:
The Court of Appeals determined this case was controlled by the Croco rule. A careful reading of the cases cited would indicate this Court has not been entirely consistent and has chosen, on occasion, to find an intent or other distinction to reach a contrary result from Croco. See State v. Bradbury, supra, and Dobson v. Wilson & Co., Inc., supra.
An examination of cases from other jurisdictions reflects a hopeless split of authority, absent statutory definition or requirement, on the meaning of the word "until" when used in contractual documents and court proceedings. Whatever may have been the law of this state prior to this time, we now hold that "until," and words of similar import, whether used in a contractual sense or in court proceedings, is inclusive of the date mentioned and not exclusive unless it is the clear intent of the parties to make it exclusive.
The decision of the Court of Appeals, affirming the judgment of the district court, is reversed and the case is remanded to the district court for further proceedings on the merits.