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Date: 07-02-2024
Case Style:
Deborah Pagoria v. Jerrold Pagoria
Case Number: 22SL-Pro01594
Judge: Mery E. Ott
Court: Circuit Court, St. Louis County, Missouri
Plaintiff's Attorney:
Defendant's Attorney:
Description:
St. Louis, Missouri divorce lawyers represented the parties in a marriage dissolution case.
Appellant and Decedent were divorced in August 2013, approximately ten years before Decedent's death. As part of the Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage, both parties entered into a Property Settlement and Separation Agreement (the "Agreement"), which was incorporated into the Judgment of Dissolution and approved by the court. Pursuant to the Agreement, each party was to execute and file a beneficiary deed for his or her respective residential real property in favor of the other. Specifically, Section 3 provides that:
The parties agree to each execute and file for record a beneficiary deed upon their respective residential real properties presently in their sole and individual respective names, whereby upon the death of one of the parties, the survivor of them shall become the owner of the other's real property.
Neither party ever did so.
Despite both parties having breached Section 3 of the Agreement, Appellant filed a claim against the Estate asking the probate court to enforce the Agreement and transfer to her the real estate which was the Decedent's home and is now part of the Estate. On January 12, 2023, the probate court held a hearing on Appellant's claim and thereafter entered judgment in favor of the Estate and against Appellant.[1] This appeal follows.
Standard of Review
"A court-tried probate case is reviewed under the standard of Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30 (Mo. banc 1976). Under that standard, the probate court judgment will be sustained '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.'" In re Estate of Schooler, 204 S.W.3d 338, 342 (Mo. App. W.D. 2006) (quoting Murphy, 536 S.W.2d at 32). "Substantial evidence is evidence that, if believed, has some probative force on each fact that is necessary to sustain the circuit court's judgment." Ivie v. Smith, 439 S.W.3d 189, 199
3
(Mo. banc 2014). "The against-the-weight-of-the-evidence standard serves only as a check on a circuit court's potential abuse of power in weighing the evidence, and an appellate court will reverse only in rare cases, when it has a firm belief that the decree or judgment is wrong." Id. at 206. In determining whether the judgment is supported by substantial competent evidence, "we view the evidence and reasonable inferences from the evidence in the light most favorable to the judgment, disregard all evidence and inferences contrary to the judgment, and defer to the trial court's credibility determinations." Estate of Briggs, 449 S.W.3d 421, 425 (Mo. App. S.D. 2014). "A claim that the trial court erroneously declared or applied the law is reviewed de novo." Id.
Pagoria v. Pagoria, ED111518 (Mo. App. Jul 02, 2024)
Outcome: Affirmed
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: