Double AA Corp. v. Newland & Co.
Montana Supreme Court
273 Mont. 486 (1995)
- Written by Josh Lee, JD
Facts
Raymond George died in 1974 and left his ranch in a testamentary trust (defendant) for his family. In 1980, after the oldest child died, Shirley Bragg (defendant) became the trustee. The ranch had been in the family for over 100 years. Bragg was incorrectly told by a financial advisor that significant taxes would be due if the trust did not sell the ranch before Olga George, Raymond’s wife, died. The financial advisor was not qualified to provide tax advice, worked on commission, and was encouraging Shirley to invest the proceeds with his company. Bragg received confirmation of the erroneous advice from an accounting firm. Based on this advice, Shirley agreed to sell the property to Double AA Corp. (plaintiff) and received judicial approval to do so. Double AA knew that Shirley had received incorrect tax advice but did not tell her. However, Shirley later learned that the previous tax advice was wrong and that the sale would trigger a tax liability of $400,000. Shirley requested to rescind the transaction, but Double AA refused. Double AA then filed a lawsuit seeking specific performance of the contract. The trial court declined to order specific performance, and Double AA appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Trieweiler, J.)
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