Opinion ID: 3181497
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Gravisons’ Claim for Deed Reformation

Text: [¶26] The trial court found that, “irrespective of the intention” of CMLT, the Gravisons had “failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the [deed from Farber’s estate to CMLT] was affected by a mutual mistake.” The Gravisons challenge this finding, asserting that Farber’s will unambiguously instructed the personal representatives of his estate to convey all of lot 63 to CMLT, that Coon intended to effect Farber’s testamentary plan to include the beach in the conveyance to CMLT, and that the deed to CMLT mistakenly excluded the beach. The Gravisons argue that the court erred by excluding some portions of Coon’s 13 testimony regarding Farber’s testamentary intent, and by assigning more weight to Bolan’s testimony that Farber intended to leave her the beach than to Coon’s testimony that he mistakenly excluded the beach from the conveyance. We discern no reversible error in the court’s evidentiary decisions pertaining to the Gravisons’ claim for deed reformation and conclude that the court was not compelled by the evidence to grant that claim.
[¶27] Before trial, the Gravisons argued that the court should admit evidence extrinsic to CMLT’s deed in order to determine Farber’s testamentary intent. After the court entered an order that agreed with that contention, the Gravisons submitted significant evidence extrinsic to the deed, including Farber’s will and Coon’s deposition testimony regarding Farber’s testamentary plan. Bolan also presented her own testimony that Farber told her that he intended to leave her the intertidal area. The court considered this testimony in reaching its decision with regard to the Gravisons’ claim that the deed should be reformed, and the Gravisons now argue that the trial court erred by admitting any evidence of Farber’s intent extrinsic to his unambiguous will. [¶28] The Gravisons did not object to the admission of Bolan’s testimony at trial. Because they object to that evidence for the first time on appeal, we apply the obvious error standard of review, considering whether the admission of Bolan’s 14 testimony constituted “a seriously prejudicial error tending to produce a manifest injustice.” See Kondaur Capital Corp. v. Hankins, 2011 ME 82, ¶ 15, 25 A.3d 960 (quotation marks omitted). [¶29] In determining whether the deed of distribution to CMLT failed to convey the property intended, the court did not err, let alone obviously err, by considering evidence extrinsic to Farber’s will. “It has long been the law in Maine that in an equitable action to reform a deed parol testimony is admissible to prove mutual mistake.” Sargent v. Coolidge, 433 A.2d 738, 740 n.3 (Me. 1981) (emphasis omitted). In this action to reform the deed to CMLT, the court was neither confined to the language of the deed nor the language of Farber’s will. The will, like the testimony of Bolan and Coon, was admitted for the purpose of showing the intent of the parties who executed the deed. It was the deed, not the will, that conveyed property to CMLT without the adjacent beach, and it was the deed that was the subject of the reformation action.
[¶30] “Reformation is an equitable remedy by which an instrument may be corrected when a mistake is discovered so as to reflect the real intention of the parties.” Jordan v. Shea, 2002 ME 36, ¶ 18, 791 A.2d 116. To secure reformation based upon mistake, a party must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the parties to the deed labored under a mutual mistake of fact regarding a term of the 15 written instrument, such as the location or description of the property. Baillargeon v. Estate of Daigle, 2010 ME 127, ¶ 16, 8 A.3d 709; Gunzinger v. C & G Estates, Inc., 610 A.2d 735, 737 (Me. 1992). [¶31] Whether the parties to a deed were mistaken is a question of fact, reviewed only for clear error. Jordan, 2002 ME 36, ¶ 20, 791 A.2d 116. “In an appeal from a trial court’s factual finding when the burden of proof is clear and convincing evidence, we look to whether the factfinder reasonably could have been persuaded that the required factual finding was or was not proved to be highly probable.” Baillargeon, 2010 ME 127, ¶ 16, 8 A.3d 709 (quotation marks omitted). When the appellant had the burden of proof at trial, we will overturn a finding that the appellant failed to prove facts that would support the elements of his or her claim only if the appellant can “demonstrate that a contrary finding is compelled by the evidence.” St. Louis v. Wilkinson Law Offices, P.C., 2012 ME 116, ¶ 16, 55 A.3d 443. [¶32] Here, the court appropriately allowed the parties to present evidence extrinsic to both the will and the deed in order to have a sufficient basis upon which to determine whether the deed should be reformed. The court also committed no error in determining that some portions of Coon’s deposition testimony were inadmissible and refusing to consider those portions in its decision. 16 [¶33] Coon’s testimony could have supported a finding that he mistakenly omitted the beach from the deed’s property description and consequently failed to carry out Farber’s intent to include the intertidal area in the conveyance to CMLT. However, the court determined that Coon’s execution of a deed that clearly omitted the beach, given his experience and assistance by local counsel, undercut the value of his testimony that he failed to carry out Farber’s intent. The court also gave “material weight” to Bolan’s testimony that Farber told her that he would leave CMLT the upland portion of lot 63 and leave her the beach. [¶34] The strength of the Gravisons’ reformation claim depends upon the credibility of Coon and Bolan as witnesses. “That credibility was for the trial court to assess,” and “[w]e defer to the court’s assessment of that credibility.” Bartlett v. Lindahl, 560 A.2d 563, 565 (Me. 1989). On the conflicting evidence in this record, the trial court was not compelled to find to a high degree of probability that there was a mutual mistake in the deed from Farber’s estate to CMLT. See Estate of Fournier, 2009 ME 17, ¶ 14, 966 A.2d 885 (“That there is contrary evidence that would support a different result is not, without more, a basis for vacating the trial court’s factual findings.”). Although that deed effectively orphans the beach in front of the Gravisons’ property, we discern no reversible error in the trial court’s determination that the Gravisons failed to carry the burden of proof on their reformation claim. 17