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Georgia Farm Bureaus Mut. Ins. Co. v. Franks

Although the plaintiff's domestic partner was on the warranty deed as co-owner of the property and the plaintiff was the sole named insured, the plaintiff shared an undivided ownership of the property and his insurance recovery was not limited to 50 percent of the policy limits after a fire destroyed the property.

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Thomas Franks filed this action in the Superior Court of Floyd County, seeking benefits under his homeowner’s policy from Georgia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company “GFB”. The trial court denied the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment. Pursuant to a granted application for interlocutory review, GFB appeals, contending that the trial court erred in concluding that questions of material fact remain. For the reasons explained below, we affirm.

To prevail on a motion for summary judgment, “the moving party must demonstrate that there is no genuine issue of material fact, so that the party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Citations and punctuation omitted. Cowart v. Widener, 287 Ga. 622, 623 1 a 697 SE2d 779 2010.1 In moving for summary judgment, “a defendant who will not bear the burden of proof at trial need not affirmatively disprove the nonmoving party’s case, but may point out by reference to the evidence in the record that there is an absence of evidence to support any essential element of the nonmoving party’s case.” Citation and punctuation omitted. Id. The court must view the evidence, and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom, in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Id. at 624 1 a. “Summary judgments enjoy no presumption of correctness on appeal.” Citations and punctuation omitted. Id. Rather, the appellate court is to determine whether there exists a genuine issue of material fact by conducting a de novo review of the evidence. Benton v. Benton, 280 Ga. 468, 470 629 SE2d 204 2006.

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