It is usually a good idea to reduce contractual matters and other arrangements to writing, even if family members are involved. The plaintiffs in this case are a married couple with a five year old child. The defendant is the uncle of the wife of the married couple. The defendant had a practice of allowing his grandchildren to use his horses as 4-H projects free of charge. In the summer of 1999, the plaintiffs visited the defendant’s farm and the child rode one of the defendant’s horses. The horse was gentle and had been used in 4-H projects in the past. Several months later the plaintiffs again visited the farm and the defendant told the plaintiffs that the horse could be used as a 4-H project. The defendant refused payment for the horse, stating that the arrangement was between himself and the child. The plaintiffs took the horse to their own acreage. In 2002, the defendant notified the plaintiffs that he was going to pick up the horse because the child was no longer using the horse very much. The plaintiffs refused to return the horse and advised the defendant not to enter their property. However, the defendant subsequently picked up his horse and returned it to his farm. The plaintiffs sued for conversion and trespass, and the trial court ruled for the defendant.
On appeal, the court affirmed. The court noted that the plaintiffs failed to establish that the horse had been gifted to the child because they could not show that the defendant had a clear intention to pass all right, title and dominion over the horse to the child. Instead, the court held that the evidence demonstrated the defendant’s intent that the horse be used in 4-H projects. Thus, the defendant did not convert the plaintiffs’ property. The court also affirmed the trial court’s award of one dollar of damages related to the defendant’s intentional trespass. Additional compensatory damages were denied on the basis that the defendant did not act with malice and did not damage the plaintiffs’ property when retrieving his horse.Stoecker v. Stephens, No. 05-0572, 2006 Iowa App. LEXIS 51 (Iowa Ct. App. Jan. 19, 2006).