[¶ 1] William Thompson appeals from a district court judgment entered in the probate of his mother’s estate after the district court found he failed to prove he had an oral contract for deed to buy land from his parents, Ardmore and Elsie Thompson. We hold the district court’s finding there was no oral contract for the sale of the land is not clearly erroneous, and we affirm.
I
[¶ 2] When Ardmore Thompson died in 2000, he and Elsie Thompson were the record title owners of approximately 1,180 acres of farm and ranch land in Adams County, which thereafter remained titled in Elsie Thompson’s name as the surviving joint tenant. Elsie Thompson died in 2004. Her 1983 will, which generally devised her property to her four children, was admitted to probate, and her daughter, Andrea Thompson, was appointed personal representative of her mother’s estate. In 2006, the personal representative petitioned the district court for an order compelling Elsie Thompson’s son, William Thompson, to account for and deliver his mother’s assets to the estate. William Thompson answered, claiming he had entered into an oral contract for deed to buy his parents’ land in 1983; he had substantially complied with the terms of the oral contract for deed; and he was entitled to specific performance of the contract, i.e., a deed for the land from his mother’s estate.
[¶ 3] According to William Thompson, he returned to his parents’ farm from military duty in 1963, and he farmed and ranched with them for several years on a share basis, but he never received any compensation from them because “[t]hey had no money so there was nothing to get.” In 1969, William Thompson bought land from a third party and started his own farming and ranching operation, but he also continued working with his parents on a share basis without ever receiving any compensation from them. William Thompson testified he offered to buy his parents’ land on several occasions, but his father would not agree to sell the land. William Thompson claimed that in 1983, his father eventually offered to sell him the 1,180 acres for $150 per acre for a total price of $177,000, plus 6 percent interest, and he counter-offered for $125 per acre for a total purchase price of $147,500, plus 7 percent interest. William Thompson testified that he and his parents agreed at the kitchen table to his father’s offer, which included the sale of cattle and machinery to William Thompson, and which permitted his parents to retain one-half of the oil leases for the land, to use the machinery, and to live on the homestead. William Thompson claimed the parties’ agreement required him to pay for the land with 40 percent of the yearly proceeds from his cattle sales. Although the parties did not execute a written agreement or deed, William Thompson introduced evidence of his father’s initial offer and the counter-offer written on scraps of paper, which William Thompson discovered after his father’s death.
[¶ 5] William Thompson testified he immediately took over management and operation of the farm and ranch in 1983, obtained crop insurance and liability insurance, and paid about $50,000 in real estate taxes on the land through 2005. In 1984, William Thompson applied to the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service to reconstitute his bases for his farming operation to include the 1,180 acres, and the documentation for the application did not reflect that the 1,180 acres was leased. In financial statements regarding his farming and ranching operation, William Thompson referred to a contract for deed with his parents as a long-term debt. In 1985, Southwest Water Pipeline Authority obtained an easement across part of the land, which was signed as grantors by Ardmore and Elsie Thompson and by William Thompson and his wife and which included a notation that the land was not rented. William Thompson made improvements to the property while he was in possession of the land, including burying electrical lines to the homestead, installing water lines and a well for the homestead, and maintaining fencing. William Thompson testified that after the purchase agreement with his parents, his father quit raising cattle, and in 1986, his father transferred his cattle brand to William Thompson. According to William Thompson, on several occasions he suggested to his father that they execute a written contract for the sale of the land, but his father would “[t]urn around and walk away.”
[¶ 6] Ardmore and Elsie Thompson’s tax returns from 1983 through 2000 did not report a sale of the land to William Thompson or any interest payments received from William Thompson, and the parents depreciated the farm buildings on those returns. The parents’ tax returns also reported farm rental income, and their tax preparer testified he was never informed that any of the land had been sold. Ardmore and Elsie Thompson’s tax returns also reported the livestock sales as ordinary income from the sale of cattle.
[¶ 7] In 1989, Ardmore Thompson executed a will in which he left “[a]ll of my real estate which I may own at the time of my demise” to his four children and to William Thompson’s wife in equal shares. In 1997, Ardmore Thompson executed a quit claim deed, placing the land in joint tenancy with Elsie Thompson. There was evidence that shortly before his death, Ardmore Thompson gave a bill of sale for his livestock to William Thompson, acknowledging the livestock had been paid for in full, and William Thompson made no further payments of cattle proceeds to Elsie Thompson after Ardmore Thompson’s death in 2000.
[¶ 8] After a bench trial, the district court found William Thompson failed to prove by clear and definite proof that he had an oral contract for deed to buy the
II
[¶ 9] William Thompson argues the district court clearly erred in finding he did not have an oral contract with his parents to purchase their land. He claims the court’s finding there was no oral contract was induced by an erroneous view of the law, because the court confused whether a contract had been formed with whether the contract survived the statute of frauds and used criteria for the statute of frauds to decide whether a contract existed. He contends the court looked at each fact separately rather than looking at the composite facts and circumstances.
[¶ 10] The existence of an oral contract is a question of fact.
Kuntz v. Kuntz,
[¶ 11] The requisites for a valid contract are parties capable of contracting, consent, a lawful object, and sufficient consideration. N.D.C.C. § 9-01-02;
Kuntz,
[¶ 12] In some contexts, this Court has recognized that oral contracts must be established by a preponderance of the evidence.
Matter of Estate of Hill,
492
[¶ 13] In Anderson, at 429 (quoting Buettner, at 195) we explained the quantum of proof necessary to successfully assert part performance of an oral contract for the sale of land in the context of a claim for specific performance:
“As evidenced by the test required in this state to successfully assert part performance, the court’s overriding concern is precisely directed toward and concerned with a quantum of proof certain enough to remove doubts as to the parties’ oral agreement:
“ ‘The first requirement of the doctrine that part performance of an oral contract exempts it from the provisions of the statute of frauds is that the contract be proven by evidence that is clear and unequivocal and which leaves no doubt as to the terms, character, and existence of the contract. * * *
“‘A mere preponderance of the evidence is not sufficient. If the evidence leaves it at all doubtful as to whether or not a contract was entered into, the court will not decree specific perform-uncc ⅝‡⅜⅜⅜⅜⅜⅜⅜
“ ‘Another requirement of the doctrine * * * is that the acts relied upon as constituting part performance must unmistakably point to the existence of the claimed agreement. If they point to some other relationship, such as that of landlord and tenant, or may be accounted for on some other hypothesis, they are not sufficient.’ ”
[¶ 14] Here, the district court found the improvements to the property made by William Thompson did not increase the value of the property; the income tax returns filed by Ardmore and Elsie Thompson after 1983 did not report or reflect a sale of the land to William Thompson; and William Thompson’s financial statements conflicted with his claimed payments for the land in several respects. The court found William Thompson’s payments appeared to apply to a “cattle arrangement and/or lease payments for the property” and not to the purchase of the land. The court said Ardmore Thompson’s actions in walking away from William Thompson when asked to execute a written contract
[¶ 15] We do not reweigh the evidence or second guess the district court on its credibility determinations. There is evidence in this record that supports the district court’s findings, and we are not left with a definite and firm conviction the court made a mistake in finding William Thompson failed to prove the existence of an oral contract for the sale of the land. We therefore conclude the district court’s findings are not clearly erroneous.
Ill
[¶ 16] We affirm the district court judgment.