Lee Jolley and Marijane Jolley v. J. R‪.‬

I. The pleadings of the parties to this action were superseded by a Pre-Trial Conference Order. The agreed facts included that Marijane Jolley, one of the plaintiffs, and J. R. Clay, the defendant, are the sole surviving children of Dahlia Clay, who at the time of her death owned the 20 acre parcel which was the subject of this law suit, and that J. R. Clay was the personal representative of Dahlia Clay's estate.[Footnote 1] Plaintiffs' contentions were that they had entered into an oral contract with Dahlia Clay for the purchase of the 20 acre parcel for $10,000, and that they had paid thereon $5,500 and tendered to J. R. the $4,500 balance. Plaintiffs further contended that they had taken possession of the parcel pursuant to the oral agreement and made substantial improvements. J. R.'s contention, as pertinent to this appeal, was that the oral contract was invalid, not having been reduced to writing pursuant to the requirements of Idaho Code § 9-503. Placed in issue, as recited in the pre-trial order, was the existence of the claimed oral contract, the partial payment of the purchase price, the taking of possession and the making of permanent and valuable improvements. The question placed before the trial court was whether equity and Justice required the conveyance of the property to plaintiffs upon their paying the balance of $4,500, and whether the failure to reduce the contract to writing was a bar to plaintiffs' action.