Baldwin v. Estate of Winters

• Decision Date: 15 November 2006
• Docket Number: No. 4D06-509.,4D06-509.
• Citation: 944 So.2d 437
• Parties: Allan BALDWIN, Appellant, v. ESTATE OF Jeannette Epler WINTERS, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

944 So.2d 437

Allan BALDWIN, Appellant, v. ESTATE OF Jeannette Epler WINTERS, Appellee.

No. 4D06-509.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

November 15, 2006.

Rehearing Denied January 10, 2007.

Kathleen B. Johnson, Boca Raton, for appellant.

Amy J. Fanzlaw of Osborne & Osborne, P.A., Boca Raton, for appellee.

MAY, J.

A purported beneficiary of an estate appeals an order that dismissed with prejudice a petition for disbursement of funds from the estate. We agree with the probate court that the May 22, 1999 letter did not constitute a sufficient writing to bequeath monies. However, because the purported beneficiary raised a potentially credible issue that the writing constituted a codicil in his timely motion for rehearing, we reverse and remand.

The testator executed a Revocable Trust Agreement and a Last Will and Testament. Within the terms of her Will, she included a paragraph indicating that she "may leave a written statement or list disposing of certain items of . . . tangible personal property not otherwise disposed of . . . ." She subsequently prepared a written ten-page statement disposing of certain items of her personal tangible property. Allan Baldwin was not an included beneficiary under this writing.

On February 9, 1998, the testator executed a First Codicil to Last Will and Testament, directing how she wanted to be remembered and interred. On April 24, 1999, she prepared two handwritten documents. The first was a handwritten note on plain white paper stating that she would like one of the personal representatives "to give Allan a new car from" her estate. The document contained the signature of a single witness. The second writing was prepared on a small piece of white paper with blue lines. It directed one of the personal representatives "to give Allan a new car from [her] estate . . . ." This document was not witnessed.

On May 22, 1999, two copies of a typewritten letter were prepared on the testator's personal stationery. They directed the same personal representative "to give to Allan Baldwin a new car of his choice from [her] estate." Each copy was signed by the testator, witnessed, and notarized. The testator died on December 25, 2003.

When the personal representatives petitioned for administration of the estate, they filed the May 22, 1999 letter along with the Will, Codicil, and separate writing detailing her gifts. The court appointed the designated personal representatives and entered an order admitting the Will and Codicil to probate but not the letter. A Final Accounting of Personal Representatives and a Petition for Discharge were filed in July 2005.

On July 26, 2005, the purported beneficiary filed one of the testator's handwritten notes from April 1999 instructing one of the personal representatives to give him a new car from the estate and a copy of the subsequently typewritten May 22, 1999 letter. The purported beneficiary then filed a Petition for Compulsory Distribution, claiming to be a beneficiary of the estate. He alleged entitlement to an automobile of his choice, a $50,000 Mercedes Benz to replace his existing car. He requested distribution of $50,000 to purchase the car.

At the hearing on the purported beneficiary's petition, his counsel argued only that the writing of May 22, 1999 was a memorandum sufficient to devise an unspecified sum of money, pursuant to section 732.515, Florida Statutes (1997). The probate court denied the petition with prejudice. In its order, the court noted that the beneficiary was proceeding under section 732.515, and concluded that "the statute does not direct the...