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P and his brother, Don, came into ownership of a property called the Silver Creek Farm. Their mother, Joan, still had a life estate in this property. Don, as attorney-in-fact for Joan, entered into a lease agreement with P, who did business as R & R Farms. The term of the lease was based on the life of Joan, starting with the crop year 2017. The lease terminates on December 31 of the then-current crop year if Joan A. Sullinger passes away prior to July 1st of that year. Or, the lease terminates on December 31 of the following year that Joan passes away after June 30th of the then current crop year. Either party may terminate the lease by written notice delivered on or before November 1 of any year to be effective on December 31 of the following year. P made quarterly rent payments. In 2018, D spent roughly $6,400.00 to plant a cover crop at Silver Creek to 'benefit the soil' for the 2019 season. D testified that the lease required him to take soil samples and that this cost him approximately $3,000.00. In 2018, D made the first three quarterly payments that were due under the 2017 Lease to Joan. Joan died on November 28, 2018, vesting the [Silver Creek] property equally in her two sons, P and Don, as tenants in common. D tendered half of the fourth quarterly payment to Don and tendered the other half to P. Both checks were cashed. P's attorney, Kimberly Savich, sent an email to Don indicating an intention to end the lease with D. Savich also wrote D, contending that the lease automatically terminated when the life estate terminated, as neither Don through the POA, nor Joan Sullinger had the authority to extend the lease out past the life estate. On March 1, 2019, Don sent an email to D inviting D to continue farming the Silver Creek property for the 2019 crop year, and I stated that he intends to honor the lease agreement entered into with Joan. Don also stated that the ability to realize a return on this investment is critical, for both you as a tenant and me as an owner of the property. Without showing a history of profitability on the property, the value of that property is diminished and will impact the final sale value. Don cashed the rental check that Dsent at the end of 2018, claiming that this acknowledged that the lease was valid after the end of the Life Estate. On March 25, 2019, D tendered the first quarterly payment of the year to Don and P by issuing each of them checks for one half of the sum that was due. P did not negotiate his check and did not return it. On April 9, 2019, the sheriff and Savich served D with a notice that directed D to leave the Silver Creek premises within three days. The notice came 'right at planting season.' P filed a complaint that named Don and P as defendants. P requested a declaratory judgment that stated the 2017 Lease was no longer in effect. On April 20, 2019, D sent an email to Savich, stating that he 'intend[ed] to exercise [his] * * * right to farm the Silver Creek property as set forth in the rental agreement.' D did not plant any crops at Silver Creek during the 2019 planting season. On May 10, 2019, Don requested a partition of Silver Creek and raised a claim for unjust enrichment. D requested damages for the expenses that they incurred in preparing Silver Creek for the 2019 planting season and for the lost profits that came from being unable to farm Silver Creek in 2019. Don filed a motion to dismiss P's complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The trial court granted Don's motion to dismiss the claims raised in P's complaint. After reaching an agreement to resolve their disputes, Don and P filed a joint notice of voluntary dismissal with prejudice under which the parties agreed to dismiss the claims against each other. D's counterclaims against P remained for trial. The trial court found that Don affirmed the 2017 Lease in writing through the March 1, 2019 email; that the P accepted the continuation of the lease by continuing to make the quarterly payments that were due; that P 'wrongfully prohibited' D from entering into the Silver Creek premises. The trial court determined that the P had suffered a total of $62,545.91 in damages and that P was entitled to a total of $19,947.00 in rental payments under the lease agreement. The trial court then ordered P to pay D a total of $42,598.91 in damages. P appealed.

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