Buxton v. Buxton

• Decision Date: 12 April 2001
• Docket Number: No. 60,60
• Citation: 363 Md. 634,770 A.2d 152
• Parties: Robert W. BUXTON, et al., v. Antoinette Bozievich BUXTON, et al.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

770 A.2d 152

363 Md. 634

Robert W. BUXTON, et al., v. Antoinette Bozievich BUXTON, et al.

No. 60, Sept. Term, 2000.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

April 12, 2001.

Joseph P. Suntum and James L. Thompson (Miller, Miller & Canby, on brief), Rockville, for petitioners/cross-respondents.

Stephen E. Moss (Hadrian N. Hatfield and Amy B. Strent of Moss, Strickler & Sachitano, P.A., on brief), Bethesda, for respondents/cross-petitioners.

Argued before BELL, C.J., and ELDRIDGE, RAKER, WILNER, CATHELL, HARRELL, and BATTAGLIA, JJ WILNER, Judge.

Through his appointed guardian, Robert Buxton, a retarded adult, filed this lawsuit in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County against his father, Rex Buxton, and his step-mother, Antoinette Bozievich Buxton, accusing them, as fiduciaries, of the misuse, mismanagement, and misappropriation of his funds and property. Rex Buxton died during the pendency of the action. After a 10-day non-jury trial and the consideration of post-trial motions, the court entered an aggregate judgment of $617,342 against Rex's estate for the misuse, conversion, and misappropriation of various items of Robert's funds and property, a joint and several judgment of $312,710 against Rex's estate and Antoinette for failing to keep a house deeded to Robert by his parents profitably rented, and a judgment for $55,000 against Antoinette alone by reason of an encumbrance she placed on that house. The actual loss of rent from the house was determined to be $83,916, which, on post-trial motion, the court increased to $312,710 to take account of the earnings that it found could have been realized if the $83,916 in rent that should have been received from the property had been invested in stocks and bonds during the approximate 20-year period at issue.

Rex's estate acquiesced in the judgments against it, but Antoinette appealed those entered against her, raising issues of laches, sufficiency of evidence, and the boosting of the $83,916 to $312,710 by the addition of what Antoinette regarded as inappropriate pre-judgment interest. The Court of Special Appeals found no merit in the laches argument. It did, however, find some merit in her complaints regarding the manner in which Robert's losses arising from the non-rental of the house were calculated, and it disagreed entirely with the calculation of what it regarded as prejudgment interest, and thus remanded the case to the Circuit Court for further proceedings. Neither Robert nor Antoinette were satisfied with the intermediate appellate court's disposition. We granted their cross-petitions to consider the issues of laches, the additional amount added to the $83,916 (whether characterized as prejudgment interest or additional damages), and whether the Circuit Court erred in admitting certain expert witness testimony regarding the calculation of lost rent.

BACKGROUND

As a result of oxygen deprivation during the birthing process, Robert, who was 52 when this suit was filed, was left mentally retarded. From the time he was a child, his parents began making investments for him to assure his security after their death. In 1961, they purchased a house on Montauk Avenue in Bethesda, initially for his brother, Wayne, but which, in 1968, they deeded to Robert. A mortgage that was placed on the home was paid off in 1983. At first, the house was rented out, and the rent received was placed in a custodial account controlled by Rex. In 1970, through a Federal program for the handicapped, Robert's mother obtained a job for him in the mail room at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where, at the time of trial, he continued to be employed and earned about $24,000/year. In 1973, upon his mother's efforts, Robert began living in a group home for retarded individuals.

The seeds of ensuing strife were sown in 1976-77, when Robert's parents went through a very bitter divorce. One consequence of that divorce was the departure of Robert's mother from the scene—she moved to Florida and then to the Deep Creek area, eventually became ill and disabled, and died in either 1995 or 1997, the record being somewhat inconsistent as to the date. Another was the removal of Robert from the group home. At some point, Rex developed a relationship with Antoinette, and, in September, 1976, he moved Robert into Antoinette's home in Potomac. In December, 1977, Rex and Antoinette were married, and he moved into the home as well. In the meanwhile, from 1976 to 1988, Rex permitted one Coy Thomas to live in the Montauk Avenue house. It does not appear that Mr. Thomas paid any rent during that 12-year period, although he said that he made between $8,000 and $10,000 in repairs and improvements to the house at his own expense. Antoinette confirmed that no rent was paid. At various times during his stay, at least three other people also lived in the house rent-free—Jack Brookman, Sara Gerber, and Amy Collins. Some evidence was presented that Brookman assisted in making some repairs and that Amy Collins was allowed to live rent-free in settlement of a possible claim that she may have had against Robert by reason of having been raped on the property. The basis of any such claim was not explained and no specific finding was made regarding it.

In 1985, Rex, Antoinette, and Robert moved from Antoinette's home in Potomac to a larger property that she bought in Pleasant Hill. In conjunction with that move, Rex and Antoinette borrowed $79,000 in order to pay off some of Rex's bills and to improve space in the Pleasant Hill home that Rex used as an office. To secure that loan, Rex and Antoinette caused a mortgage to be placed on the Montauk Avenue house. At some point, according to Antoinette, she, Rex, and Robert decided to fix up the Montauk Avenue property and move there, in part because of Rex's deteriorating health. In 1988, she sold the Pleasant Hill home and, from the proceeds of the sale, paid off the mortgage on the Montauk Avenue home. After a brief stay in a rental property while extensive repairs and improvements were made to the Montauk Avenue home, they moved to the renovated house in 1990. According to Antoinette, she invested about $76,000 of her money to make those repairs and improvements. In May, 1991, she and Rex had Robert transfer by deed a half-interest in the Montauk Avenue house to her, and she placed another deed of trust, in the amount of $80,000 on the property. Robert received no consideration for the transfer. Antoinette testified that she took the 50% interest "as a protection to me that when the property was sold, the note would be paid." The deed of trust went into default and to the point of foreclosure four times during the next four years. At the time of trial, the loan balance was $77,600.

In 1991, concerned about Robert's perceived unhappiness, complaints by him that Rex or Antoinette were taking all of his money, and reports from one of his coworkers at NIH that he was scrounging in garbage cans for things to eat, Robert's sister, Priscilla, made a complaint to the Montgomery County Department of Adult Protective Services.¹ When the agency spoke to Robert, he asked that the matter not be pursued, and Priscilla dropped it. In January, 1996, however, she and her brothers moved Robert out of the Montauk Avenue home, and, in September, with Robert's consent, she succeeded in having herself appointed guardian of his property. A month later, she filed this lawsuit on Robert's behalf. Rex and Antoinette responded with (1) a motion to dismiss based on laches and other defenses, and (2) a counterclaim against Robert for breach of contract and unjust enrichment. The essence of the counterclaim, which eventually was resolved in Robert's favor, was that Robert agreed to the conveyance of a half-interest in the property in exchange for Antoinette's investment and that, if she is required to relinquish her interest, Robert will be unjustly enriched.

Much of the evidence presented at trial dealt with bank accounts, pensions, and other assets of Robert that are no longer at issue. We are concerned only with the findings and remedies pertaining to the Montauk Avenue property. In that regard, the court announced from the bench its findings of fact that (1) there was a confidential relationship between Robert, on the one hand, and Rex and Antoinette, on the other, (2) as to financial matters other than minimal day-to-day expenditures, there was a total dependence by Robert and a reposing of trust by him, (3) there was dominion over virtually everything Robert did by Rex and there was dominion by Antoinette both personally and on financial matters, (4) there was "absolutely no need" for Antoinette to obtain an ownership interest in the house, (5) Robert had little or no ability to appreciate the significance of or supposed need for transferring a half-interest in the property to her, (6) Coy Thomas's occupancy of the house for 12 years was not for Robert's benefit but rather entirely for the benefit of Rex and Antoinette—that it was, in effect, recompense for services he rendered to them, (7) the repairs and improvements that Thomas allegedly made did not materially improve the property, (8) Robert received no benefit from the occupancy by Brookman, Gerber, and Collins, (9) rent should have been set aside for Robert during the period 1989-1995, (10) the rental value of the property during that period, i.e., the rent lost to Robert, was $83,916, (11) of the amounts invested by Antoinette in 1989-90, only $35,000 inured to Robert's benefit, the rest of the work being for the benefit of Rex or Antoinette, and (12) Robert's execution of the 1991 mortgage arose from a breach of the confidential relationship—that he did not understand the ramification of the mortgage and did not truly assent to it. It was upon those findings that the court announced its intention to enter a joint and several judgment against Rex's estate and Antoinette for $83,916 and a separate judgment against...