Opinion ID: 1619783
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Did the statute of limitations run against Moses and the Estate of Kemp?

Text: ¶ 31. The contract detailed how the Bailey family would retain and pay for the professional services of Kemp and Moses in their quest to sell property. Because Moses and Kemp wish to now gain the benefit of the remainder contract, the Baileys urge that we apply Section 15-1-49 of the Mississippi Code, which applies to contracts for professional services, and requires that actions based upon them commence within three years after the accrual of the cause of action. Miss.Code Ann. § 15-1-49 (Rev.2003); In re Estate of Stewart, 732 So.2d 255, 258 (Miss.1999). ¶ 32. In short, the Baileys contend that by filing for declaratory judgment in 1998, Moses and the Estate of Kemp simply waited too long to assert their rights to the Florida property under the contract. The family offers that the last service rendered under the contract by Kemp and Moses was in 1987, and so any lawsuit would have had to be filed by 1990. The chancellor rejected this argument without elaboration. [9] ¶ 33. The very first sentence of the contract makes clear it is for professional services which were not solely legal services, but also a myriad of other services and counsel in other areas. However, the argument of the Baileys assumes that the contract has been wholly performed, and that Moses and the Estate of Kemp are only now seeking payment for their services. This is not quite the case. Instead, those parties are looking for the contract to be enforced as written; they seek to hold the Baileys to the letter of the contract, which would provide them with a one-third share in the proceeds of the sale of the Florida property. In exchange for services, which were numbered as thirteen separate items in the contract, Moses and Kemp were to receive proceeds from the sale of the property. As specifically outlined in the MOU: [10] The broad outline of the arrangement which we have discussed is that we would take the total gross sales price of all properties, deduct the cash expenses, in terms of debts owed to the banks or any other parties, deduct the mortgages, deduct the amount guaranteed to Janet [Bailey Lapp], deduct out of pocket expenses and split the remaining equities one-third to Brian and Lynn [Bailey], one-third to Andy [Moses] and one-third to myself. All of these conditions occurred save one: the Florida property was never sold. Because a component of the contract remains to be fulfilled, the statute of limitations has not begun to run. In contracts, [t]he general rule is that the statute of limitations begins to run as soon as there is a cause of action. Old Ladies Home Ass'n v. Hall, 212 Miss. 67, 80, 52 So.2d 650, 655 (1951). Had Bailey sold the property years ago and refused Moses and Kemp their one-third shares, we would have a different issue. Because Bailey has not yet sold the property, the statute of limitations has not run. See Old Ladies Home, supra (limitations period does not begin to run upon nonperformance of contractual duty until the cause of action accrues).