Cripe v. Atlantic First Nat. Bank of Daytona Beach

• Decision Date: 09 September 1982
• Docket Number: No. 59952,59952
• Citation: 422 So.2d 820
• Parties: Joe H. CRIPE and Sereata L. Cripe, Petitioners, v. ATLANTIC FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF DAYTONA BEACH, etc., Respondent.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

Page 820

422 So.2d 820

Joe H. CRIPE and Sereata L. Cripe, Petitioners, v. ATLANTIC FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF DAYTONA BEACH, etc., Respondent.

No. 59952.

Supreme Court of Florida.

Sept. 9, 1982.

Rehearing Denied Nov. 2, 1982.

Isham W. Adams and Garrett L. Briggs of Adams & Briggs, Daytona Beach, for petitioners.

Harold C. Hubka of Black, Crotty, Sims & Hubka, Daytona Beach, for respondent.

BOYD, Justice.

This cause is before the Court on petition for review of a decision of a district court of appeal, Atlantic First National Bank v. Cripe, 389 So.2d 224 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980). Part of the decision of the district court of appeal had the effect of improperly disregarding the trial court's findings of fact, and therefore it conflicts with decisions of this Court holding that an appellate court may not re-weigh evidence and substitute its judgment for that of the trier of fact. Marshall v. Johnson, 392 So.2d 249 (Fla.1980); Delgado v. Strong, 360 So.2d 73 (Fla.1978); Shaw v. Shaw, 334 So.2d 13 (Fla.1976); Westerman v. Shell's City, Inc., 265 So.2d 43 (Fla.1972). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla.Const.

Atlantic First National Bank of Daytona Beach, as personal representative of the estate of Carrie B. Hare, brought this action to recover funds that had been held in joint bank accounts in the names of Carrie B. Hare and Joe Cripe. Mr. Cripe obtained the funds as survivor pursuant to section 659.291, Florida Statutes (1979), ¹ after Mrs Hare's death. When Mrs. Hare died in 1976 at the age of ninety, there was a checking account containing $12,700, a separate account containing $10,900, and a certificate of deposit in the amount of $32,000, all joint accounts in the names of Carrie B. Hare and Joe Cripe. The bank brought this action to recover the funds on the ground that Mr. Cripe had obtained them by undue influence. The case was tried by the court.

The evidence showed that Carrie Hare owned several apartment buildings in Daytona Beach, with a total of forty-nine units. Among her tenants were Joe and Sereata Cripe who, beginning in 1949, spent seven and a half months each year in Daytona Beach. They spent the remainder of each year at their home in Michigan.

In 1966, Mrs. Hare asked Joe Cripe to help her manage her apartment rental business. The evidence indicated that Mrs. Hare and the Cripes made an arrangement whereby they would handle the financial management of her properties and see to her personal care. The rental income was to be placed in joint accounts so that Joe Cripe could sign checks both for business expenses and for the expenses of Mrs. Hare's personal support and care. In return for these services, the Cripes were to occupy their apartment and use utilities free of charge (they kept it year-round now rather than having to move out each year when they returned to Michigan) and, upon Mrs. Hare's death, Joe Cripe would be entitled to the remaining balances in the accounts derived from the business property income. At the time of her death in 1976, these account balances totalled over $23,000.

In 1969, part of Mrs. Hare's property was condemned by the state for the widening of an adjacent highway. The state paid compensation in the approximate amount of $31,000. On the suggestion of Joe Cripe, Mrs. Hare agreed to deposit the condemnation proceeds in the joint names of herself and Mr. Cripe.

The trial court, after hearing the evidence, held for the defendants (the Cripes). The court, however, made no findings of fact or conclusions of law when it rendered judgment. On appeal, the district court reversed, concluding that the evidence had established facts giving rise to a presumption of undue influence, that the burden was thus shifted to the defendants to rebut the presumption and justify Mrs. Hare's gift to them, and that they had failed to rebut the presumption.

The district court found an unexplained disparity between the value of the services the Cripes provided to Mrs. Hare and the value of what they received from her. The court noted that from 1967 onward, the Cripes had a year-round rent-free apartment, and utilities free of charge, even though they were still only present to provide management and personal services for seven and a half months per year. The relationship of personal trust and dependence that arose, the court reasoned, called for the application of fiduciary principles. Under such principles, the court said, there is a presumption of undue influence when the stronger party gains a financial benefit from the weaker, and burden is on the stronger party to rebut the presumption.

In the case of In re Estate of Carpenter, 253 So.2d 697 (Fla.1971), cited by the district court, it was held that when a person who is a primary beneficiary of a will had a confidential relationship with the testator and there was active procurement of the bequest, a presumption of undue influence arises. While the burden of showing undue influence remains with the contesting party, the presumption, if unrebutted, is sufficient to sustain the burden. The burden of going forward with evidence is shifted by the presumption. Once the defendant comes forward with evidence in response to the presumption, the presumption ceases to exist, but the evidence giving rise to the presumption may still be considered even though contrary evidence has been presented. The trier of fact determines the question of undue influence, the standard of proof required of the moving party being the preponderance (greater weight) of the evidence. Id. at 701-04. The rule of Carpenter is properly applied to inter vivos transfers. Williamson v. Kirby, 379 So.2d 693 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980); Bryant v. Bryant, 379 So.2d 382 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979); Majorana v. Constantine, 318 So.2d 185 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975); Pate v. Mellen, 275 So.2d 562 (Fla. 1st DCA 1973).

We believe that the agreement between Mrs. Hare and the Cripes, pertaining to the management of her properties and the supervision of her personal care, in exchange for the remaining balances in the accounts maintained for meeting her business and personal expenses, must be considered separately from the transaction by which Mr. Cripe obtained permission to deposit the condemnation proceeds into a joint account. On appeal, the district court should have applied the Carpenter test to the two transactions separately.

The evidence showed that the Cripes began to manage Mrs. Hare's apartment business and to supervise her personal care in 1966. There was no evidence to establish that at the time this arrangement began by agreement of the parties, there was a confidential relationship between them. While the weakness or dependence of one party to an agreement is relevant to the question of undue influence once a confidential relationship exists, it does not in itself establish a confidential relationship. See Wilkins v. Wilkins, 141 Fla. 188, 192 So. 791 (1939). Therefore, with regard to the agreement for management services and personal care in exchange for an apartment and the remaining...