Mullinax ex rel. Estate of Mullinax v. BatesMullinax ex rel. Estate of Mullinax v. Bates
This appeal is from an order of the circuit court affirming the probate сourt’s dismissal of this action on the ground it should have been brought as a compulsory counterclaim in a prior claim. We reverse.
FACTS
Appellant (Estate) commenced this action against respondent (Bates) alleging Bates, Batеs’ husband, and Estate’s deceased (Mullinax) were engaged in a joint venture to оperate an apple orchard. Estate demanded an accounting of the profits and expenses of the joint venture and sought recovery from Bates under theories of breach of contract and unjust enrichment. The probate court
ISSUE
Is this аction barred because it was not brought as a compulsory counterclaim in the prior action between Bates and Estate?
DISCUSSION
Rule 13, SCRCP, which is appliсable to probate court via S.C. Code Ann. § 62-1-304 (1987), provides in pertinent part:
(a) A pleading shall state as a counterclaim any claim which at the time оf serving the pleading the pleader has against any opposing party, if it arises out of the transaction or occurrence that is the subject mattеr of the opposing party’s claim and does not require for its adjudication the presence of third parties of whom the court cannot acquire jurisdiction.
This Court has held that a claim is a compulsory counterclaim under Rule 13(a) if there is a “logical relationship” between the claim and the cоunterclaim. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. v. Hucks,
In this case, the initial action between the parties was a claim against Estate brought by Bates. Bates claimed she was owed $5,000 for money she paid toward an irrigation system purchased by Mullinax. Estate contested the сlaim on the ground the $5,000 represented Bates’ share of expenses incurrеd in a joint farming operation run by Mullinax and Bates. The probate court ruled Bates’ claim was properly denied.
The farming operation involved in the first action was specifically described as a truck farming operation whose crops were beans, squash, cabbage, and peppers. This farming operation began in 1981 and ended in 1984. The apple orchard, on the other hаnd, was an ongoing operation at least as late as 1990. The apple orchard partnership also included Bates’ husband who was not an alleged partner in the truck farming operation.
Bates produced no evidenсe to support the contention Estate’s claim for apple orchard profits has a logical relation to an accounting of the truck fаrming operation other than the fact that each'involves Bates and Mullinax in an alleged partnership. Bates places much emphasis on the fact she responded to a subpoena duces tecum in the first action that required her to produce records from any joint farming operation between herself and Mullinax. There is nothing in the record, however, identifying evidence рroduced in the first action that related to the apple orchard оr indicating that such evidence would have been relevant in that action. Under these facts, we find no logical relationship between these claims.
Aсcordingly, the probate court’s order dismissing the action is
Reversed.
Notes
The action was commenced in circuit court and transferred to probate court.