Beach v. Beach
Supreme Court of Colorado
74 P.3d 1 (2003)
Facts
Karen K. Beach (defendant) owned a home in Colorado. When her father’s health began failing, Beach offered her father and mother the option to build an addition to her home for them to occupy. Her parents agreed and paid to build the addition. They also agreed that upon their deaths, Beach would acquire the addition. After Beach’s father passed away, her relationship with her mother worsened. Eventually, her mother sued to partition the mother’s interest in the addition from Beach’s interest. The trial court found that the mother had a limited life estate and that Beach held the remainder interest. In denying the partition request, the court determined that a partition would violate the terms of the agreement between Beach and her parents, and therefore held that the mother impliedly waived her partition rights. The court of appeals reversed. It first found that the mother had the right to compel partition under Colorado statute. It then held that the mother did not impliedly waive her partition rights because partition would not violate the terms of the agreement, since Beach would retain her right to the monetary value of her remainder interest in the addition.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Mullarkey, J.)
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