Opinion
No. 2-273 / 01-1060
Filed August 28, 2002
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Fayette County, James L. Beeghly, Judge.
Roger Pagel appeals the district court's granting of Diane Pagel's petition for specific performance.
AFFIRMED.
Christopher O'Donohoe, New Hampton, for appellant.
John W. Holmes of Holmes Holmes, Waterloo, for appellee.
Considered by Sackett, C.J., and Zimmer and Vaitheswaran, JJ.
This is an appeal from the district court's ruling granting Diane Pagel's petition for specific performance. The court ordered Roger Pagel to execute and deliver a deed to real estate awarded to his former spouse pursuant to the terms of their dissolution decree. Roger appeals.
I. Background Facts and Proceedings .
In June of 1999, Roger and Diane Pagel's marriage was dissolved. The parties entered into a written stipulation of settlement which the district court approved and incorporated into its decree. Among other things, the stipulation divided three parcels of real estate owned by the parties and known as the home farm, Meyer farm, and Tisue farm. The home farm contained 120 acres and the Meyer farm contained eighty acres. Pursuant to the parties' settlement, Diane received eighty acres of the home farm and the 2.7 acre building site on the Meyer parcel in addition to land to its south. Roger received forty acres of the home farm, the Tisue acreage, and the balance of the Meyer farm. Paragraph two of the parties' stipulation is pertinent to this appeal. It provides:
The Respondent [Roger] is awarded the work ground on the Meyer Farm; and the Petitioner [Diane] is awarded the 2.7 acre building site on the Meyer Farm and the land lying south of such building site, containing approximately two more acres of pasture. It is the intent of the parties to award the Petitioner the building site and any land south of the building site and north of the home farm so that the boundaries are contiguous. The Respondent shall quit claim the building site and pasture to the Petitioner free and clear of all liens and encumbrances. The parties shall split the cost of a survey to determine the legal description for this parcel off the Meyer Farm. The parties shall use their best efforts to obtain the survey and Respondent shall deliver a deed based on the survey within two weeks after the survey is completed. (emphasis added).
The parcel of land in dispute in this appeal is referred to in paragraph two of the parties' stipulation as "the land lying south of such building site, containing approximately two more acres of pasture." The parcel is further described as "any land south of the building site and north of the home farm so that the boundaries are contiguous."
As contemplated by the parties' stipulation, the parcel of land at issue was surveyed after their marriage was dissolved. Diane used the legal description derived from the survey to prepare a quitclaim deed for Roger to execute. Roger refused to sign the deed and Diane filed a suit for specific performance.
Diane's petition for specific performance was submitted for adjudication without oral testimony to Judge James Beeghly. Judge Beeghly had previously approved the parties' stipulation and entered their dissolution decree. The record submitted to the district court to resolve the petition for specific performance consisted of the pleadings, exhibits offered by Diane, and a brief stipulation. The court subsequently granted Diane's petition for specific performance and ordered Roger to execute and deliver a deed to Diane using the legal description from the survey. Roger appeals. He contends the survey relied on by the court awarded Diane too much land.
II. Scope of Review .
An action for specific performance is an equitable action. Our review of equitable actions is de novo. Iowa R. App. P. 6.4; Breitbach v. Christenson, 541 N.W.2d 840, 843 (Iowa 1995). We examine the entire record and determine anew all issues presented to the district court. Iowa R. App. P. 6.4. While we give weight to the district court's fact-findings, we are not bound by them. Iowa R. App. P. 6.14(6)(g); Bauman v. Nutter, 328 N.W.2d 354, 356 (Iowa Ct.App. 1982).
III. Discussion .
Roger contends the parcel of land he must convey to Diane as a result of her action for specific performance is larger than intended by the parties' dissolution decree. He asserts the language of the parties' stipulation and decree limits the size of the parcel of land located south of the building site awarded to Diane to two acres. The trial court reached a different conclusion and so do we.
When we interpret a decree, the determinative factor is the intent of the trial court as gathered from the decree and other proper evidence. In re Marriage of Knott, 331 N.W.2d 135, 137 (Iowa 1983). In this case, the parties' stipulation specifically recognized that a survey would be necessary to arrive at the correct legal description for the parcel of land to be deeded to Diane by Roger. Until a survey was completed, there was no way the parties, or the court, could know precisely how much land would be included in the conveyance to Diane. Pursuant to the terms of the stipulation, Roger's counsel arranged for TeKippe Engineering to survey the land now in dispute. Paul Herold, a professional land surveyor, conducted the survey. Mr. Herold initially surveyed the building site only, without the benefit of the stipulation language and in the presence of Roger only. At Roger's behest, he surveyed the building site to include two acres, rather than 2.7 acres. After Diane provided a copy of the stipulation to Mr. Herold, the land between the building site and the home farm was also surveyed. Diane did not insist on having a survey performed on the building site a second time even though the initial survey included only two acres instead of 2.7. A completed survey of the building site and land south to the home farm, revealed the parcel included a total of 6.586 acres — two acres for the building site and 4.586 acres for the adjacent south property. The quitclaim deed that Roger rejected was based on this survey, which was filed for record with the Fayette County Recorder on August 13, 1999. The trial court concluded the legal description and boundaries of the property awarded to Diane in the dissolution are correctly identified in that survey. Upon de novo review of the record, we agree.
The parties' stipulation and decree indicate it was the intent of the parties to "award the Petitioner the building site and any land south of the building site and north of the home farm so that the boundaries are contiguous." This description was sufficient to allow TeKippe Engineering to ascertain the boundaries and prepare the survey filed. The survey and accompanying legal description rejected by Roger set the boundaries of the disputed land contiguous with the home farm and building site. Roger claims it was his understanding Diane was to receive exactly two acres of the Meyer farm work ground in addition to the Meyer farm building site. We conclude his subjective understanding is inconsistent with the language of the parties' stipulation, Diane's understanding of that language, the surveyor's understanding of that language, and the understanding of the court. In reaching this conclusion, we note again that the judge who granted Diane's petition for specific performance also entered the dissolution decree incorporating the parties' stipulation.
We find that clear, satisfactory, and convincing evidence exists to support the district court's order of specific performance.
AFFIRMED.