Ark Land v. Harper

599 S.E. 2d 754 (W.Va. 2004)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

This is a dispute involving 75 acres of land. The Caudill family has owned the land for nearly 100 years. The property consists of a farmhouse, constructed around 1920, several small barns, and a garden. In 2001 P acquired a 67.5% undivided interest in the land by purchasing the property interests of several Caudill family members. P attempted to purchase the remaining property interests but the rest of the heirs refused to sell. P wanted to extract coal by surface mining. P filed a complaint seeking to have the land partitioned and sold. The circuit court appointed three commissioners, pursuant to W. Va. Code § 37-4-3 (1957) (to conduct an evidentiary hearing. The commissioners filed a report on August 19, 2002, wherein they concluded that the property could not be conveniently partitioned in kind. The circuit court held a de novo review that involved testimony from lay and expert witnesses. Ds presented expert testimony by Gary F. Acord, a mining engineer. He testified that the property could be partitioned in kind because the lands surrounding the family home did not have coal deposits and could therefore be partitioned from the remaining lands. P presented expert testimony which indicated that such a partition would entail several million dollars in additional costs in order to mine for coal. The court entered an order directing the partition and sale of the property. Ds appealed.