THOMAS D. O'MALLEY, JR., STATE TREASURER AND EX OFFICIO INSURANCE COMMISSIONER OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA AND RECEIVER FOR PAN AMERICAN SURETY COMPANY, APPELLANT,
v.
W. HAYDON BURNS AND MILDRED C. BURNS, APPELLEES
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
A surety company seeks indemnification from principals under an indemnity agreement, but the appellees argue the agreement was conditionally delivered based on the surety's issuance of an acceptable bond. The court upholds the trial court's finding that parol evidence can establish conditional delivery and that the condition—an acceptable bond for the Sapp School project—was not met.
The court affirmed the trial court's directed verdict for appellees, holding that parol evidence is admissible to establish conditional delivery or execution of a writing, and that the indemnity agreement was properly found to be conditionally delivered based on the unsatisfied condition of obtaining an acceptable bond for the Sapp School project.
[1] A written agreement may be conditionally delivered, and the condition may be shown by parol evidence.
[2] Parol evidence is admissible to show that a written agreement was delivered conditionally.
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the trial court was amply justified in finding as it did that the indemnity agreement forming the basis of appellant's claim was conditionally delivered”
Establishes the court's acceptance of the conditional delivery defense based on trial evidence.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePan American Surety Company had furnished surety bonds for appellees' construction firm over time. On October 15, 1960, appellees executed an indemnit…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Appellant seeks reversal of a final judgment entered pursuant to appellees’ motion for a directed verdict in an action seeking indemnification by the appellant surety company.
Appellees were principals in a corporate contracting firm. From time to time surety bonds were required to be furnished by the firm in connection with its bids for work on various construction projects. Apparently, Pan American Surety Company furnished the required bonds upon request therefor by appellees’ construction firm over a period of time prior to the incident or transaction giving rise to appellant’s claim in the instant action.
The indemnity agreement underlying this cause was executed by appellees on October 15, 1960. Appellant contends that by virtue of that indemnity agreement, appellees are liable for losses incurred by the surety on bonds issued prior to the execution of the agreement as well as thereafter. However, one of the appellees testified that they executed the indemnity agreement only on condition that the surety company would issue an acceptable bond on a job to be done on the Sapp School in Deland, Florida. The evidence before the trial court shows that such bond, the issuance and acceptance of which was a condition to execution and delivery of the indemnity agreement, although written by the surety was not acceptable to the general contractor on the Sapp job who refused and returned the same to the surety. The evidence further shows that appellees’ *279company thereafter obtained a bond from another surety company and executed an indemnity agreement to that company with respect to that bond. On this evidence, the trial court was amply justified in find-, ing as it did that the indemnity agreement forming the basis of appellant’s claim was conditionally delivered. That holding is fully in accord with the general rule that a conditional delivery or execution of a writing may be shown by parol. 20 Am. Jur., Evidence, Section 1095. Chappell v. A. C. Hasche Realty, 98 So.2d 808 (Fla.App.1957), and Kitchens v. Kitchens, 142 So.2d 343 (Fla.App.1962). Accordingly, there is no merit to appellant’s contention that the defense of conditional delivery is unavailable to appellees because it rests on parol evidence.
In view of our ruling on this issue alone, it becomes unnecessary to consider the remaining points raised by appellant.
The judgment reviewed herein is therefore affirmed.
JOHNSON and WIGGINTON, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
O'Malley v. Burns, 263 So. 2d 829 (Fla. 1972)…Certiorari denied. 253 So. 2d 278. ROBERTS, C. J., and CARLTON, BOYD and McCAIN, JJ., concur. ERVIN, ADKINS and DEKLE, JJ., dissent.…
Authorities Cited
- City OF Daytona Beach v. Baker, 98 So. 2d 804 (Fla. 1st DCA 1957)
- Thaddeus Myrl Kitchens v. Kitchens, 142 So. 2d 343 (Fla. 2d DCA 1962)