Appeal of Daughter's Petition to Intervene to Enforce Parents' Property Settlement Agreement An Improper Interlocutory Appeal

In the case of Hickman v. Broaddus, the Virginia Court of Appeals, in a unpublished opinion, dismissed the appeal of a daughter from a decision of the trial court denying her petition to intervene to enforce a property settlement agreement between her parents.  Daugther attempted to intervene in an action between the parents wherein each claimed the other had not complied with the terms of the property settlement agreement.  She attempted to intervene by claiming she was a third party beneficiary of her parents' property settlement agreement which contained provisions required the parents to establish a limited liability company to take ownership of certain real estate and preserve the real estate for the daugther and their other adult children. The underlying litigation between the parents had not been resolved at the time of the appeal.  Therefore, the daugther's attempt to appeal was an impermissible interlocutory appeal and the Virginia Court of Appeals lacked jurisdiction to entertain it.