Sleepy Sister Wins on Appeal
June 5, 2013After their fathers’ death, Brenda Levitz and Thomas Sutton sued each other over the distribution of his estate. They settled this dispute during a mediation, but 4 months later Levitz moved to set aside the settlement. Levitz argued that sleep deprivation combined with medications and fibromyalgia made it so that she didn’t have the requisite capacity to enter into the settlement during the mediation. Sutton moved to compel a medical evaluation of his sister, and amended his petition to include a claim for breach of the settlement agreement, seeking, among other things, specific performance. After a bench trial, the trial judge found that Levitz had had the requisite capacity the day she signed the settlement agreement and granted Sutton’s motion to for specific performance. Levitz moved for a new trial, which the court denied.
On appeal, the Court found that the trial judge could not grant specific performance as a remedy because specific performance is a remedy for a breach of contract claim only. In granting this remedy, the trial court only decided whether a binding contract existed between the brother and sister, it did not address whether Levitz had breached the agreement. Because a breach of contract claim requires proof of a valid contract, performance or tendered performance, breach and damages, “a determination that an agreement is enforceable . . . does not equate to a determination that a party is entitled to specific performance.” The Court of Appeals therefore reversed the trial court’s judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings.
