Court Opinion

ID: 9679688
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 07:02:24.184713+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:18.084443
License: Public Domain

McDONALD, Judge,
dissenting.
I dissent from the decision of the majority which affirms the dismissal of Ms. Murphy’s contract claim against the appellee, Claude Bowen. This case was disposed of on a motion for summary judgment and should be affirmed only if Ms. Murphy “could not prevail under any circumstances.” Paintsville Hosp. Co. v. Rose, Ky., 683 S.W.2d 255 (1985). Pearl barely got both feet in the courtroom before being ushered out. The majority faults Pearl for not presenting evidence as the “weaker of the two cohabitants” or evidence that she had fallen prey to Claude, but it is my understanding of Kentucky law that one’s complete case need not be tried on summary judgment motion. Admittedly, the parties did not have an express agreement. However, that alone should not entitle Bowen to a judgment as a matter of law. The majority ignores the law relating to implied contracts and the considerable evidence in this record of the existence of such an agreement. This case is very similar to one from Oregon in which the Supreme Court of that state held that, if possible, division of property accumulated by unmarried cohabitants “must be begun by inquiring into the intent of the parties.” Beal v. Beal, 282 Or. 115, 577 P.2d 507 (1978). Evidence in the instant case that the parties intended to share the property accumulated during their relationship includes the fact that they maintained a stable relationship for 11 years, shared the expenses of maintaining a household and raising livestock, and pooled their skills and efforts to improve each other’s land. This evidence is very similar to that in Beal wherein the Court noted as follows:
Inferences can be drawn from factual settings in which the parties lived. Cohabitation itself can be relevant evidence of an agreement to share incomes during *152continued cohabitation. Additionally, joint acts of a financial nature can give rise to an inference that the parties intended to share equally. Such acts might include a joint checking account, a joint savings account, or joint purchases.
This rational approach is updated and mainstreamed by Hudson v. DeLonjay, 732 S.W.2d 922 (Mo.App.1987).
Pearl is not seeking maintenance or support. Nor is she asking for reimbursement for services rendered during the relationship. She merely wants a determination of her share of both the personal property and the equity in Claude’s realty acquired during the relationship. The fact that Pearl and Claude were not married should not allow him to be unjustly enriched and retain the property merely because he has title to or possession of it. Pearl simply desires the opportunity to present her case to a trier of fact to assess whether she should have returned to her what may be hers. See Crutchfield, Nonmarital Relationships and Their Impact on the Institution of Marriage and the Traditional Family Structure, 19 J.Fam.L. 247, 258-259 (1981).
This is not the first time our courts have been asked to resolve property disputes between unmarried cohabitants. Although Akers v. Stamper, supra, was rendered some years before the practice of nonmari-tal cohabitation became “commonplace and more frequently tolerated by the prevailing moral precepts of society,” Lydic v. Lydic, Ky.App., 664 S.W.2d 941, 943 (1984) (Miller, J., dissenting), it nevertheless provides ample precedent for analyzing the problems arising upon the breakdown of such nontraditional familial relationships under the laws pertaining to partnerships, joint ventures and contracts. The majority, however, has simply chosen to depreciate the significance of the Akers case and would deny relief to all but the most sophisticated unmarried cohabitants. Only those farsighted enough to enter into an express contract for the disposition of property with his or her spouse-equivalent will have, according to the majority’s treatment of the issue, the opportunity to obtain a share of the fruits of their joint labor. I believe the real import of Akers is the court's recognition that enforcing agreements between unmarried cohabitants, be they express or implied, is not contrary to the public policy of the Commonwealth.
Application of equitable principles under these conditions will not destroy or desecrate the institution of marriage but, I believe, will enhance it by removing some of the financial advantages of the illicit cohabitation state. As it is, the decision of the majority with all its judicial piety will permit the weaker of the two cohabitants to fall prey to the devious and unscrupulous one.
Ms. Murphy, in my opinion, has put enough evidence in the record to overcome the summary judgment hurdle and should be allowed to further develop all her claims.