Passehl Estate v. Passehl

Doris Passehl's estate (plaintiff) and her son Jerry and his wife Volnetta (defendants) settled litigation with a written agreement selling the Passehls a five-acre tract matching an existing fence line for $50,000, with a $20,000 down payment forfeitable only if the estate provided marketable title and the Passehls then failed to perform; the sale never closed because a survey showed the fence did not match zoning boundaries, and the estate refused to return the down payment, claiming a later oral agreement required the Passehls to remove junk cars as a closing precondition. The trial court upheld the forfeiture based on the alleged oral contingency, the court of appeals affirmed, and the Passehls sought further review.