Watts v. Watts
Watts v. Watts
Opinion
William Timothy Watts appeals the trial court's summary judgment in favor of Libby Watts. We reverse.
In February 1995, Tim and Libby incorporated CON-E-CO, Inc. Tim testified in his deposition that they incorporated CON-E-CO so that they could dissolve Concrete Equipment Company and "get away from product liability problems." In 1998, Tim and Libby dissolved Concrete Equipment Company; its assets were distributed to Tim and Libby.
Tim and Libby began having marital problems around 2000. On September 26, 2001, Libby filed for a divorce. On February 19, 2002, Holt, Libby's mother, sued Tim seeking repayment of the $150,000. On March 12, 2003, Tim filed a third-party complaint against Libby claiming that, in the event he was held responsible for re-payment of the $150,000, Libby should also be held legally responsible for its repayment.
Tim and Libby's divorce became final on April 25, 2003. The judgment of divorce states, in pertinent part:
"CON-E-CO, INC. [Tim] shall own all capital goods, goodwill, assets and accounts receivable of the business known as CON-E-CO, Inc. [Tim] shall be responsible for all accounts payable and liabilities of the business, including tax liabilities, and shall hold [Libby] harmless from same."
On March 15, 2005, Libby moved for a summary judgment on Tim's third-party complaint against her in the action Holt brought against Tim. Libby argued that the $150,000 was a liability of CON-E-CO and that the divorce judgment established that the liabilities of CON-E-CO were solely Tim's responsibility. On June 1, 2005, the trial court entered a summary judgment for Libby and certified that judgment as final pursuant to Rule 54(b), Ala. R. Civ. P. Tim appeals.
Libby argues that she was entitled to a summary judgment because, she argues, the $150,000 debt to Holt was a liability of CON-E-CO, and the divorce judgment establishes that the liabilities of CON-E-CO are solely Tim's responsibility.1 Libby, as the summary-judgment movant, had the initial burden of showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact as to whether she could be found liable for repayment of the $150,000 her mother, Holt, alleges is owed to her by Tim. Libby presented to the trial court a copy of the divorce judgment assigning the indebtedness of CON-E-CO to Tim. Libby contends in her summary-judgment motion that her mother lent her and Tim $150,000 "for the purchase of a concrete business" and that "the divorce [judgment] clearly awarded the business and the indebtedness to Tim." She argues that because the S150,000 from her mother was a loan for the purchase of a business and because the divorce judgment awarded Tim the business and its liabilities, she cannot be held liable to pay any portion of that loan. The only evidence she offers in support of her contention is the passage from the divorce judgment awarding the assets and liabilities of CON-E-CO to Tim. In her summary-judgment motion, Libby alleges in a conclusory fashion that "[t]he divorce [judgment] clearly awarded the business and the indebtedness [of CON-E-CO] to Tim Watts" and that, "Libby Watts, by virtue of the Final [Judgment] of Divorce has no obligation for this debt." These allegations do not establish a prima facie showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact as to whether the $150,000 was a loan to Concrete Equipment Company, Inc., and hence to CON-E-CO, and constitutes a liability of CON-E-CO that was assigned to Tim in the final divorce judgment, and not, instead, a loan to Tim and Libby individually.2
In reviewing the trial court's disposition of a summary-judgment motion, "we must view all the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmovant and we must entertain all reasonable inferences from the evidence in favor of the nonmovant." First Fin. Ins. Co. v. Tillery,
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
NABERS, C.J., and HARWOOD, STUART, and BOLIN, JJ., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- William Timothy Watts v. Libby Watts.
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published