Appellants maintain that they signed no documents, and no release or other agreement was presented to them. Appellants then retained new counsel and directed new counsel to advise the court and counsel for Respondents that they did not agree to the terms which Respondents claimed were reached and that they would not proceed to enter into any proposed written settlement agreement. Respondents filed a Motion to Compel Enforcement of Compromise Agreement and Decree Quieting Title. The court held a hearing on Respondents' motion, and entered its Judgment sustaining the motion. In its Judgment, the court ordered that Respondents were vested with the disputed property, and all pending claims were dismissed with prejudice.
Appellants appeal the judgment.
The appellate court will sustain the decree or judgment of the trial court unless there is no substantial evidence to support it, unless it is against the weight of the evidence, unless it erroneously declares the law, or unless it erroneously applies the law. The issue in this case is whether the parties' oral agreement involves the actual transfer of land, or a mere boundary dispute. If it involves the transfer of land, the Statute of Frauds prohibits the enforcement of the oral agreement. In determining whether the Statute of Frauds is applicable to a compromise settlement, courts are concerned with the intended effect of the compromise, and not with the question of whether the parties' antecedent claims are based on matters governed by the Statute of Frauds. This transaction is governed by the terms of the Statute of Frauds.