Anderson v. Anderson
| Decision Date | 13 April 1972 |
| Docket Number | No. 42200,42200 |
| Citation | 495 P.2d 1037,80 Wn.2d 496 |
| Parties | Richard B. ANDERSON, as Executor of the Estate of Patriae Anderson, Deceased, Appellant, v. Mary ANDERSON, Respondent. |
| Court | Washington Supreme Court |
Savage & Nuxoll, Wesley A. Nuxoll, Colfax, for appellant.
Aitken, Schauble & Shoemaker, Hugh J. Aitken, Pullman, for respondent.
This is an appeal by the plaintiff (appellant), Richard B. Anderson, as executor of the estate of Patriae Anderson, deceased, from a summary judgment in favor of the defendant (respondent), Mary Anderson, holding that certain joint bank accounts with right of survivorship in the name of the surviving spouse passed to the defendant by operation of the law, and were not includable under a formula in the will of the decedent for proportionate sharing of taxes, attorney's fees, costs and debts of the estate.
The facts in this case are not in dispute. Patriae Anderson died testate on August 8, 1966. His will, which was admitted to probate, contained the following provision:
EIGHTH: I direct that each beneficiary shall bear and pay his or her proportionate share of inheritance tax, estate tax, attorney's fees, court costs, and debts of my estate as the value of The property he or she receives hereunder bears to the value of the entire property of my estate. Such value shall be the same as determined for settlement of inheritance tax and estate tax.
(Italics ours.)
At the time the will was executed, November 13, 1963, Patriae Anderson had only separate bank accounts which did not include the name of the defendant, his wife. On October 14, 1964, Patriae Anderson executed a codicil to his will which provided, in part:
FIRST: I will and bequeath to my wife, MARY ANDERSON, all money on deposit, either checking and/or savings account, or both, in my name, in my name and that of my wife, or in the name of my wife, with the Colfax Branch, Seattle-First National Bank, Colfax, Washington, and I also will and bequeath to her the sum of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) of my money on deposit, either as checking and/or savings account, or both, with the State National Bank, Garfield, Washington.
The codicil specifically ratified the will and was made a part thereof by reference. All of the bank accounts were still the individual and separate accounts of the decedent when he executed the codicil. Thereafter, on September 1, 1965, an individual account in the State National Bank of Garfield was transferred to a joint account with right of survivorship in the defendant, in which account $3,471.18 remained on the date of death. On February 17, 1966, another account was changed from an individual account to a joint account with right of survivorship in the defendant. This account was also in the State National Bank of Garfield and a balance of $9,107.64 remained on the date of death.
On March 23, 1966, a second codicil was made in which the testator provided, Inter alia:
FIRST: I will and bequeath any and all joint savings and/or checking accounts, and all savings and/or checking account in the name of my wife only, at the Colfax Branch, Seattle-First National Bank, and at the State National Bank, Garfield, Washington, and at Palouse Branch, Old National Bank of Washington, to my wife, MARY ANDERSON, as her sole and separate property.
The second codicil also confirmed the provisions of the will. On August 8, 1966, another individual account at the State National Bank of Garfield was changed to a joint account with right of survivorship in the surviving spouse. The balance of this account on the date of death was $16,978.51.
In the probate proceedings, the executor determined that the three joint bank accounts which admittedly passed to the surviving spouse as a joint tenant with right of survivorship should be included for valuation purposes in determining the proportionate share each beneficiary is to pay of taxes, attorney's fees, costs and debts of the estate according to the formula set forth in the will. The defendant's proportionate share was accordingly set at $4,609.03. The defendant has paid inheritance and estate taxes in the sum of $1,661.96 on the value of the property she received under the will and the joint accounts, but she has refused to pay a proportionate share of the taxes, attorney's fees, costs and debts under the executor's interpretation of the formula which includes the value of the joint accounts. This action was initiated by the executor for the balance of $2,947.07.
The trial court concluded that the joint accounts with right of survivorship passed to the defendant by operation of law and not under the will; that paragraph eight of the will does not extend to property not passing under the will, and that there is no obligation on the part of the defendant to pay a part of the taxes, attorney's fees, costs and debts of the estate measured by the value of the joint accounts with right of survivorship. Summary judgment in favor of the defendant was entered accordingly, from which the plaintiff appeals.
The single issue presented on this appeal is whether it was the testator's intent, in drafting the pertinent clauses in his will and codicils to make all assets passing by reason of his death subject to the payment of their proportionate share of the taxes, attorney's fees, costs and debts of the estate, or whether the application of the formula in the will is limited to those assets which passed solely under the will.
The plaintiff agrees that the bank accounts in question passed to the defendant as a joint tenant with right of survivorship under the laws of joint tenancy as set forth in RCW 30.20.015 and RCW 64.28.010. He contends, however,...
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Baarslag v. Hawkins, 2321--I
...a will we must ascertain and give effect to the intent of the testator to the extent that it is possible to do so. Anderson v. Anderson, 80 Wash.2d 496, 495 P.2d 1037 (1972); In re Estate of Vance, 11 Wash.App. 375, 522 P.2d 1172 (1974); In re Estate of Patton, 6 Wash.App. 464, 494 P.2d 238......
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Table of Cases
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