## Facts

- Paul and Shelley Higgins sold a residence to Jack Everitt; a decorative antique wood cook stove stood inside the home during marketing and contracting.
- The stove was nonoperational, not connected to a chimney, and not otherwise attached to the house; the chimney flue behind it had been blocked with concrete.
- The home had an independent gas heating system, and the stove could be removed by simply lifting it.
- After closing and during move-out, the Higginses removed the stove and kept it.
- Everitt demanded return, claiming the stove was a fixture conveyed with the real property; the Higginses refused.
- Everitt sued for return of the stove or, alternatively, damages.
- After a bench trial, a magistrate court found the stove was personal property, not a fixture; the district court affirmed on intermediate appeal.

## Issues

1. Whether the antique wood stove was a fixture that passed with the sale of the residence or personal property the sellers could remove after closing.
2. Whether substantial, competent evidence supported the magistrate court’s factual findings on annexation and intent under Idaho’s fixture test.

## Decision

- The Idaho Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s appellate decision, leaving intact the magistrate court’s judgment for the Higginses.
- The court held the stove was not a fixture and remained the sellers’ personal property.
- The court declined to reweigh evidence where the magistrate’s findings were supported by substantial, competent evidence.

## Legal Principles

- Fixture classification in Idaho generally considers: (1) annexation to the realty, (2) adaptation to the use of the realty, and (3) the objective intention that the item become a permanent part of the property.
- Physical nonattachment and ease of removal weigh against fixture status under the annexation factor.
- An item that is decorative and not functionally integrated into the premises is less likely to be treated as adapted to the realty’s use.
- Intention is evaluated by objective manifestations (how the item is installed, used, and treated), not by unexpressed assumptions.
- Appellate review gives deference to trial court fact findings when supported by substantial, competent evidence.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed judgment for the sellers because the free-standing, nonoperational antique stove lacked meaningful attachment or functional integration with the home, and the evidence supported the trial court’s objective finding that it was intended to remain personal property rather than a fixture conveyed with the real estate.


Everitt v. Higgins, 838 P.2d 311 (Idaho Ct. App. 1992)