Opinion ID: 3161633
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Properties at Issue

Text: 1. Wheel Inn Restaurant, Inc. (Gerald’s Business) ¶5. When August Sr. died, he left Scafidi’s Wheel-Inn Restaurant to his wife. When Audrey died, she left forty-five-percent of the shares to Jo Ann, forty-five-percent of the shares to Gerald, and ten percent of the shares to her grandchildren (August Jr.’s children, who are the nieces and nephews of Jo Ann and Gerald). The Restaurant owned the 0.92-acre 1 This is not to suggest that Gerald and Jo Ann had zero contact. For example, evidently at the request of Gerald, Gerald and Jo Ann executed a note in the amount of $250,000 on September 19, 2003. The note was reduced to $150,000 by the sale of the land jointly owned by the siblings with the balance paid by Gerald. 3 parcel of land on which it was located and was solely operated by Gerald. Gerald did not consult Jo Ann in the decisions he made regarding the Restaurant undertaking. The Restaurant building had not been rented out since early 2006, when its last tenant vacated. Since then, it has been in a general state of disrepair. In the four to five years before trial, and without Jo Ann’s consent or participation, Gerald used funds from the Campground corporation and another rental account, both controlled by Gerald, to pay for repairs, furnishings, and fixtures to reopen the Restaurant on a partial basis.2 ¶6. Co-located with the Restaurant, but separate from the Restaurant operation, was a rented-out space known as the Latino Shop. Before his death, August Sr. built this tiny space adjacent to the Restaurant for Jo Ann’s beauty salon. The parents set out in their wills that Jo Ann could lease this space for one dollar a year. After a series of ventures, Jo Ann rented this space for a business referred to as the Latino Shop.3 2. Wheel Inn Park & Campgrounds, Inc. (Gerald’s Business) ¶7. The Campground is located on the largest parcel of land (approximately 9.3 acres), situated behind the Restaurant property, and it also was controlled exclusively by Gerald. Jo Ann and Gerald each received a fifty-percent ownership interest in the Campground 2 There was also an order entered by the chancellor in 2009 for the parties to operate in the status quo in the normal course of business until further order of the court. 3 After the beauty shop, Jo Ann opened a business in the rental space, known as Heaven, to generate income. Jo Ann supplemented the Heaven business with funds from the Trailer Park corporation. Heaven went out of business shortly before Hurricane Katrina hit. After Heaven closed, Jo Ann planned on using that rental space for her daughter’s business, a 1950s Diner, but that business fell through. After Heaven closed, the Latino Shop moved in. Jo Ann placed money from the Latino Shop into the Trailer Park corporation. 4 corporation. The Campground does not own the parcel on which it is situated. Jo Ann and Gerald each own an undivided one-half interest in the Campground property as tenants in common, as conveyed to them by their mother. Like the Restaurant, Gerald operated and controlled the Campground without consulting Jo Ann. The Campground operation consisted of a seventy-five-pad RV park, a swimming pool, five rental cabins, and several tent sites. Out of the three family businesses, the Campground was the most profitable. Using Campground monies, Gerald paid off his personal credit card, paid for utility and phone bills, and bought a truck. Gerald lived on the second floor of a two-story building located on the Campground property. The first floor included a laundry facility, a small convenience store, restrooms and showers, and ice and propane sales. ¶8. Gerald also used the Campground property for the rental of heavy equipment owned by him or his friends. Gerald used this same equipment to maintain and repair the Campground, the Restaurant, and, to some degree, the Trailer Park properties. Gerald sometimes used income from this offsite work for the benefit of the Campground and the Restaurant. However, Gerald did not pay rent for the equipment operation to the Campground or to Jo Ann, as the one-half owner of the Campground land. ¶9. Finally, Gerald rented out a small building on the property known as the “Lunch Box,” which he used to pay for various expenses of the Campground and Restaurant operations. Rental income from the Lunch Box was deposited into an account at People’s Bank, which Gerald controlled and maintained to the exclusion of Jo Ann. For one year in 2000, Gerald correctly split the rental income with Jo Ann, but then he stopped in 2001. He refused to 5 divide the income from the rental account and concealed all details from Jo Ann and even his accountant. 3. Wheel Inn Trailer Park, Inc. (Jo Ann’s Business) ¶10. Jo Ann operated the Trailer Park, which included the second largest parcel of land (approximately 3.61 acres). Jo Ann did not consult Gerald in running the business. Jo Ann and Gerald each owned a forty-percent interest in the Trailer Park, and their nieces and nephews owned the remaining twenty-percent. The Trailer Park rented out spaces for mobile homes, usually on a long-term basis. Jo Ann drew income from the Trailer Park and also used funds from the Trailer Park to operate her side businesses on the Restaurant property. Jo Ann also used funds from the Trailer Park to repair the roof on her house and to pay for her health insurance and a car.