Rush, C.J.
Sibling squabbles are commonplace and can be mild. But when disagreements arise over property after parents’ deaths, rifts may become serious, with lengthy litigation separating family members. That is the case for stepsiblings Brenda Sue Gittings and William Deal.
Under the original terms of mirrored trusts that Brenda’s father and William’s mother created, once both parents died, the two stepsiblings were to share land, mineral interests, and other assets placed in the trusts. But after Brenda’s father died, property transfers and amended trust terms left William with all the land and mineral interests upon his mother’s death.
More than a decade later, the land started generating significant income through oil and gas leases, and Brenda claimed a share of the property and profits. William sought court approval of the property transfers that led to his receipt of the profitable land, and Brenda (with her son Marc) responded with numerous allegations challenging those property transfers and seeking affirmative relief.
After examining the trust agreements and the trustees’ actions, we reach three holdings. First, Brenda and Marc’s assertions are subject to statutes of limitations to the extent those assertions seek affirmative relief—but not to the extent they diminish or defeat William’s request for declaratory relief. Second, fraudulent concealment did not toll the limitation periods on the Gittingses’ claims seeking affirmative relief. And third, William is not entitled to court approval of the property transfers, as the transfers were improper.
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We first confront a threshold issue: whether the Gittingses’ responses to William’s petition are subject to statutory time limits. After observing that the Gittingses’ responses bear characteristics of both actions and defenses, we conclude that their responses are subject to statutory time limits to the extent they pursue affirmative relief, but not to the extent they seek to defeat or diminish William’s claim to declaratory relief.
We next address whether fraudulent concealment tolled the limitation periods for the Gittingses’ claims seeking affirmative relief. We conclude that because the asserted causes of action were not concealed, fraudulent concealment did not toll the limitation periods to make the claims timely.
What remains, then, are the Gittingses’ attempts to diminish or defeat William’s claim for court approval of the property transfers. After evaluating the propriety of the transfers that led to William’s receipt of the property, we determine that William is not entitled to the declaratory relief he seeks.
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Conclusion
Although the Gittingses’ claims are subject to statutes of limitations to the extent they seek affirmative relief, the statutes do not prevent the Gittingses’ claims from diminishing or defeating William’s request for court approval of the property transfers. And because the transfers were improper, William is not entitled to court approval of them.
We therefore affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand to the trial court for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
David, Massa, Slaughter, and Goff, JJ., concur.