Date: 10-08-2014

Case Style: The William W. Zeigler Trust v. Cofran Sunday Sunshine Cannon

Case Number: 3D12-2605

Judge: Shepperd

Court: Florida Court of Appeal, Third District on appeal from the Circuit Court, Monroe County

Plaintiff's Attorney: Horan, Wallace & Higgins and David Horan (Key West), for
appellants.

Defendant's Attorney: Stones & Cardenas and Adele Stones (Key West), for appellees.

Description: This is an appeal from a final judgment construing a Deed Granting
Easement over property in Monroe County. The parties stipulated that their crossmotions
for summary judgment “involve exclusively questions of law, [that] no
genuine issue of material fact is involved, and that the issue before the court is the
construction of the . . . Deed Granting Easement.” The trial court ruled in favor of
appellees. However, the parties overlooked the dispositive question: Did a valid
easement exist in the first place? See Winthrop v. Wadsworth, 42 So. 2d 541,
543-44 (Fla. 1949); One Harbor Fin. Ltd. Co. v. Hymes Props., LLC, 884 So. 2d
1039, 1044 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004); Hensel v. Aurilio, 417 So. 2d 1035, 1037 (Fla.
4th DCA 1982); see also 2 William Blackstone, Commentaries *46-47; 20 Fla. Jur.
2d Easements § 1 (2014)

Outcome: Accordingly, the judgment below is reversed and the cause remanded for
further proceedings as may be required to determine the issue.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

Comments: