In 2025, a Kentucky appeals court stopped one brother from forcing the sale of a 135-acre farm his brother had run for 20 years

A family farm in Marion County, Kentucky, has remained under the ownership of the brother who operated it after the Kentucky Court of Appeals overturned a lower court’s decision for its sale. In an opinion rendered on 5 December 2025, the appeals court ordered the circuit court to place a constructive trust on the property in favour of David Douglas Peterson and his wife and required them to pay Joseph Robert Peterson and his wife $50,000.The dispute centred on a 135.458-acre property on Miller Pike that Eugene and Barbara Peterson purchased in 1968. Their five children received equal legal interests in the land in 2012, but the parents intended the arrangement to protect the farm from being sold, divided, or encumbered.How the family arranged ownership of the farmAccording to the court opinion, after finishing secondary school, Doug remained on the property and worked alongside his father until Eugene retired in 2005. He then assumed responsibility for the farming operation and paid the property’s expenses, including taxes and insurance. His four siblings, on the other hand, left to pursue their education, careers, and personal endeavours and did not contribute financially.As Eugene’s health deteriorated, the parents faced medical expenses and the costs of long-term care, so in 2012, they transferred the farm into their children’s names, with each one entitled to a one-fifth interest. The court record also shows the purpose was to protect the land from potential financial claims and preserve it as a single family property. When Eugene died in July 2015, Barbara expressed her wish for Doug to receive the farm because he lived there and managed its agricultural operations. This decision was approved by the siblings, Gene, Mark, and Debbie, but not by JoeyBefore she died in 2021, Barbara added a codicil in 2016, which directed the children to transfer their interests to Doug in exchange for $50,000 each. Doug had paid the specified amount to his three supporting siblings, who signed deeds, but Joey refused it and filed suit in 2022. In May 2024, the Marion Circuit Court ruled for Joey and referred the farm to a master commissioner for sale.Why the appeals court rejected the saleThe appeals court found that the circuit court had failed to account for Joey’s own testimony concerning the conditions attached to the 2012 transfer. The evidence supported an agreement made when the property was transferred and not a later arrangement created solely by Barbara’s 2016 codicil.The judges relied on Kentucky precedents concerning constructive trusts, including Becker v. Neurath and Shortridge v. Shortridge. These decisions supported the use of equitable remedies where property was transferred within a confidential relationship, and the recipient failed to honour conditions associated with the conveyance. The majority held that the family relationship, along with the absence of payment for the original interests, and the parents’ stated intentions supported imposing a trust.The court also considered Doug’s long-standing role in running the farm, managing the agricultural business for at least 20 years without substantial assistance from his siblings. The majority concluded that allowing Joey alone to compel a sale would conflict with the arrangement under which the children received their interests.The decision reverses the circuit court’s judgment and sends the matter back for implementation of the constructive trust. Under the order, Doug and his wife are to receive full ownership of the 135.458-acre property, subject to the required $50,000 payment to Joey and his wife. The ruling preserves the farm as a single property rather than allowing its sale and the distribution of its proceeds.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.