Altieri v. Estate of Snyder, 1-90-0256

• Decision Date: 04 December 1992
• Docket Number: No. 1-90-0256,1-90-0256
• Citation: 198 Ill.Dec. 870,262 Ill.App.3d 427,633 N.E.2d 711
• Parties: , 198 Ill.Dec. 870 Richard ALTIERI, Petitioner-Appellant, v. ESTATE OF Helen M. SNYDER, a Disabled Person, Respondent-Appellee.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 711

633 N.E.2d 711

262 Ill.App.3d 427, 198 Ill.Dec. 870

Richard ALTIERI, Petitioner-Appellant, v. ESTATE OF Helen M. SNYDER, a Disabled Person, Respondent-Appellee.

No. 1-90-0256.

Appellate Court of Illinois First District, Fifth Division.

Dec. 4, 1992.

Rehearing Denied Jan. 6, 1993.

Jean A. Adams, Dolton, for respondent-appellee.

Richard Altieri, pro se.

Justice GORDON delivered the opinion of the court.

Petitioner, Richard Altieri, administrator of the estate of Helen Snyder, deceased, appeals from the trial court's order overruling objections he filed in the estate of Helen Snyder, a disabled person, and approving the final account in the disabled person's estate. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the trial court.

Helen Snyder was married to Jacob Snyder, who died in 1970. Shortly after her husband's death, Helen Snyder asked her son Jack Snyder and his wife Anne to move into the Snyder residence, which they did. Helen, with the assistance of her attorney, placed the property in joint tenancy with her son.

By 1978, Helen Snyder had become senile. In November, 1978, Jack Snyder filed a petition seeking to have his mother declared incompetent and for the appointment of a guardian. On January 29, 1979, letters of office were issued to Jack Snyder appointing him plenary guardian of his mother's estate. Helen Snyder died one month later, on February 24, 1979.

At the time of her death, Helen Snyder owned, among other things, three bank accounts at Amity Federal Savings and Loan, Evergreen Plaza Bank, and Home Federal Saving, and a certificate of deposit (CD) at Talman Federal Savings and Loan Association in joint tenancy with her daughter-in-law, Anne Snyder. The total value of these accounts and CD was approximately $21,000. These accounts had been established at various times in 1971 through 1976, following death of Jacob Snyder. After his appointment as guardian but prior to Helen Snyder's death, Jack Snyder without order of court withdrew funds from the Amity and Talman accounts, and deposited the money in a guardian's account.

Helen Snyder also owned several United States Series H Savings bonds, which were held in the name of "Helen Snyder or Jack Snyder." The bonds had an aggregate face value of $42,500. In March, 1979, after the death of Helen, Jack Snyder caused the bonds to be reissued in the name of "Jack Snyder or Anne Snyder."

It is the propriety of the guardian's actions with respect to these bank accounts, the certificate of deposit and bonds which is at issue in this appeal.

Following his appointment as guardian, Jack Snyder retained legal counsel who, at the time, was suffering from brain cancer and was frequently confused and forgetful. While represented by this counsel, Jack Snyder filed an inventory and two accounts. The first account was filed on June 6, 1979, and was entitled "First and Final Account" (First Account). He filed the second account, entitled "Amended and Corrected Final Account" (Amended Account) on April 3, 1980.

The inventory listed, among other things, that the bank accounts and bonds were the assets of Helen Snyder, with no indication that they were held in joint tenancy. The First Account was consistent with the inventory in regard to the Amity Federal and Evergreen Plaza accounts as well as the Talman Federal CD. As to the Home Federal Savings bank account, however, the First Account showed that this item was held by Helen Snyder in joint tenancy with Anne Snyder, and that the joint tenancy was terminated by Helen Snyder's death. As a result, the Home Federal account was not listed as an asset of the disabled person's estate. The bonds were listed as held in joint tenancy with Jack Snyder, and were not included in the assets of the disabled person's estate.

Petitioner, on behalf of Bertha Van Cleave, the residuary legatee under Helen Snyder's will, was given leave to intervene in the guardianship proceeding, and to file objections to the First Account. In answering these objections, Jack Snyder stated, in regard to the Home Federal Account and the bonds:

"at the time the said Inventory was filed on behalf of Jack Snyder, he was unable to determine whether this property was a sole asset of the decedent or in joint tenancy with others. Subsequently to the filing of the Inventory, it was determined that certain assets were in joint tenancy."

The court ordered the First Account stricken, and granted the guardian leave to file an amended account. The Amended Account was consistent with the First Account regarding the ownership of the assets in question here. In objections to the Amended Account, petitioner contended that the inventory established that these assets were the sole assets of Helen Snyder. He urged the court to compel the guardian to file a "true, correct and complete Final Account, listing all of the assets belonging to the Disabled Person as inventoried."

In answer to objections to the Amended Account, the guardian stated that the joint bank accounts "were held jointly as a matter of convenience and are assets of the disabled person."

In June, 1980, prior to any resolution of the objections to the Amended Account, the guardian's original attorney was allowed to withdraw, and was replaced by one of his associates, Howard Bernstein. In November, 1980, this attorney withdrew and was replaced by J. Sterling Mortimer.

The guardian was given leave to file an Amended Inventory in November, 1980. The Amended Inventory listed the bank accounts and the CD at issue here, including, for the first time, the Amity, Evergreen Park and Talman accounts, in the names of Helen M. Snyder and Anne Snyder as joint tenants. Attached as exhibits to the Amended Inventory were copies of the signature cards for the joint accounts and a copy of the certificate of deposit. The bonds at issue were listed as held in the names of "Mrs. Helen M. Snyder or Jack A. Snyder."

Objections were filed to the Amended Inventory. The objector again contended that the bank accounts and bonds were the sole property of Helen Snyder, based upon their being listed as such in the original inventory, and that neither Jack nor Anne Snyder had filed claims or petitions claiming the alleged joint assets. The court approved the Amended Inventory over the objections of the petitioner but without prejudice to his right to contest the ownership of the jointly held property.

On September 6, 1984, Jack Snyder filed his third account, entitled "Final Account." This account was consistent with the Amended Inventory, and did not include the jointly held property. At the same time, Jack Snyder also transferred the funds which he had improperly withdrawn from two jointly held bank accounts in February, 1979 to an escrow account maintained by Mortimer.

Hearings on the objections to the final account were held at various times over a five year period. Among those testifying was the guardian, Jack Snyder. Before cross-examination could be completed, however, he suffered a heart attack and was excused from further testimony. The court thereupon also struck all his previous testimony. The objector then asked for the removal of Jack Snyder as guardian and the appointment of a public guardian in his stead, alleging as his reason the inability of Jack Snyder to offer testimony to prove his final inventory and accounting. The court denied the objector's request.

Anne Snyder testified regarding the bank accounts of which she was a joint tenant. She stated that these accounts were established, with the assistance of Helen Snyder's attorney, following the death of Jacob Snyder. She also testified that Helen Snyder had referred to the money in the joint accounts as "hers and mine," and that Helen Snyder had desired that she (Anne) have the money after Helen's death. She also identified joint signature cards for those accounts.

Upon cross-examination, petitioner asked Anne Snyder whether Mortimer was her attorney. She responded that she and her husband had hired Mortimer for the entire case, including the recovery of the joint accounts. The objector moved to disqualify the guardian's attorney on the grounds of conflict of interest, arguing that Mortimer was not only representing the guardian but was also representing Anne and Jack Snyder individually. Mortimer, however, stated that he represented only the guardian, not Jack or Anne Snyder individually. The court also conducted its own examination of Anne Snyder. The court asked "did you hire Mr. [Mortimer]?" She responded, "No, I did not. As I said before, I thought the proper word was, we. My husband had actually--." Convinced that there was no conflict of interest, the court denied the objector's motion.

Jean Adams, an associate of the guardian's attorney Mortimer, also testified. She stated that in September, 1984, the money which the guardian had earlier withdrawn without court permission from two accounts held jointly by Helen and Anne Snyder, had been deposited in a client escrow account. The court ordered that the funds be returned to the guardian's account pending resolution of the objections filed to the final account.

Margaret Tufo, manager of the Savings Bond Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, testified in answer to subpoena from the guardian. She identified bonds which had been issued in 1970 to "Helen or Jack Snyder." Those bonds were reissued in 1979, upon request of Jack Snyder and presentation of Helen Snyder's death certificate, in the name of Jack or Anne Snyder.

Also called to testify was Howard Bernstein, an associate of the guardian's original attorney. The guardian, however, asserted his attorney-client privilege to prevent Bernstein from testifying to conversations between the guardian and his attorney regarding preparation of the original inventory and the first two accounts filed. The court overruled the objector's argument that the privilege had been waived by the guardian's original indication...