The Kansas Court of Appeals has ruled on a Pottawatomie County court case, with an opinion released Friday. The case involves a property dispute between a father and daughter. The appeals court reversed and remanded the case for further proceedings in Ellen Byers Bouton v. Walter Byers.
The 31 page opinion is based on appeal from Pottawatomie District Court, with Judge Jeffrey Elder presiding. The case revolves around a disputed million-dollar promise between Father and daughter, with Ellen Byers Bouton appealing on grounds the local court precipitately entered summary judgment, improperly cutting short her action for equitable relief on the broken promise. The court of appeals agree.
The opinion looks at Bouton overseeing civil litigation against her brother to recoup losses in the ranch and cattle business with her father, with Bouton even leaving a position as a tenure-track law professor at Washburn University to move to the family ranch in the spring of 2005. A dispute regarding getting water to animals after the water system on the ranch froze in December of 2008 led to the father telling his daughter her services were no longer needed.
Since that time Bouton returned to Washburn in a part-time teaching position without possibility of tenure, and Byers contracted to sell the ranch. Bouton filed the suit against Byers in December of 2011 based on what she would have earned if she had not given up her Washburn position.
The court’s conclusion is a that factfinder could conclude Bouton reasonably relied on Byers’ March 2005 promise. And with the disputed facts and credibility determinations, a trial is required, according to the higher court.
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A Riley County court case involving the Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection act was affirmed by the Kansas Court of Appeals, with an opinion made public Friday. Veronia Fox v. Edward Fox involved a divorce which was filed in a foreign country when the parties had never lived in or owned property in Kansas. Edward was a serviceman for the Army and Veronia was a German citizen.
The divorce was granted in Germany in October of 2009, with Edward Fox not even moving to Fort Riley for a Civil Service position until 2011.
The appeals court declined to extend the meaning of the protection act to include a divorce filed in a foreign country between two parties who never lived in or owned property in Kansas. And the higher court found the district court’s dismissal of this action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction was proper. Judge John Bosch presided locally.
A Riley County court case involving the Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection act was affirmed by the Kansas Court of Appeals, with an opinion made public Friday. Veronia Fox v. Edward Fox involved a divorce which was filed in a foreign country when the parties had never lived in or owned property in Kansas. Edward was a serviceman for the Army and Veronia was a German citizen.
The divorce was granted in Germany in October of 2009, with Edward Fox not even moving to Fort Riley for a Civil Service position until 2011.
The appeals court declined to extend the meaning of the protection act to include a divorce filed in a foreign country between two parties who never lived in or owned property in Kansas. And the higher court found the district court’s dismissal of this action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction was proper. Judge John Bosch presided locally.
