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Property Law Keyed to Singer
Ark Land Co. v. Harper
Citation:
599 S.E.2d 754 (W. Va. 2004)Facts
The Caudill family owned 75 acres of land in Lincoln County, West Virginia for nearly 100 years. While none of the Caudill heirs continued to live on the family’s “home place,” it was still used for weekend retreats. In 2001, Ark Land acquired a 67.5% interest in the property by purchasing the interests from several Caudill family members. Ark Land thereafter attempted to acquire the remaining interests in the property, but the other Caudill heirs refused to sell. Ark Land wanted to purchase the land in order to extract coal by surface mining. At trial, the Caudill heirs’ expert proposed that the land could be partitioned by allotting the house and surrounding land to the Caudill heirs, leaving the remainder for Ark Land.
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