Estate of Obert v. AABC Prop. Mgmt.
| Decision Date | 13 December 2022 |
| Docket Number | 2021-CA-00612-COA |
| Parties | IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF NOEL ELBERT OBERT, DECEASED: MICHAEL PETERSON, EXECUTOR OF THE ESTATE OF NOEL ELBERT OBERT APPELLANT v. AABC PROPERTY MANAGEMENT, LLC, WEBSTER OBERT, AND TERESA OBERT APPELLEES |
| Court | Mississippi Court of Appeals |
BEFORE BARNES, C.J., McDONALD AND McCARTY, JJ.
¶1. Michael Peterson, as the executor of Noel Obert's estate, filed two complaints for collection on two promissory notes in the Harrison County Chancery Court. Peterson is married to Noel's daughter Susan. Noel's other children are Kathlene Obert and Webster (Web) Obert. Peterson filed a complaint against AABC Property Management LLC (AABC), a company owned and operated by Web, for an alleged default on payment of a promissory note in the principal amount of $700,000 involving a trailer park Web operated through AABC. Peterson filed another complaint against Web and his former wife Teresa Obert for an alleged default on a promissory note in the full amount of $50,000 exchanged to finance a home in the trailer park.
¶2. AABC asserted that Noel forgave the $700,000 debt based upon a handwritten note signed by Noel, which stated that in the event of his death by accident or sickness, the debt would be considered paid in full (i.e., forgiven). Peterson argued that the forgiveness note was inapplicable because Noel died by suicide, which could not be considered either an accident or sickness. The chancery court determined the forgiveness note was a holographic codicil to Noel's last will and testament. The court granted partial summary judgment in favor of Peterson, finding Noel's suicide could not be considered an accident for purposes of the codicil. However, the chancery court ruled that the issue of whether Noel died by sickness needed to be fully tried due to the unique factual situation presented-Noel had been diagnosed with prostate cancer the year before his death and also suffered from chronic pain and bouts of depression, and these sicknesses could have caused him to commit suicide.
¶3. After a bench trial, the chancery court ruled that Noel's death was the result of sickness, finding "but for Noel's chronic pain, caused by the cancer and catheterization, he would not have committed suicide." Accordingly, the chancery court found under the holographic codicil that the $700,000 note to AABC was considered paid as of Noel's death. Further, the chancery court found Web and Teresa had paid the $50,000 house note in full, having made ten installments at six-percent interest. Both of Peterson's complaints were dismissed with prejudice.
¶4. Peterson now appeals. He essentially raises two issues regarding the chancery court's rulings, arguing Noel did not die by "sickness" under the terms of the codicil, and amounts due on both notes remain owed.
¶5. Finding no error in the chancery court's judgment, we affirm.
¶6. In January 2015, about a year and a half after Noel died, the chancery court entered an order granting Peterson the authority to pursue the balances allegedly due on the two promissory notes at issue. In June 2015, Peterson filed the complaints on behalf of Noel's estate, seeking collection of the two balances.[1]
¶7. In response, AABC claimed that Noel forgave the trailer-park debt based upon the forgiveness note found among Noel's belongings after his death, as well as Noel's own statements that he wanted Web to have the trailer park free and clear at Noel's death. Also, Web and Teresa claimed the house note had been paid in full. By order entered in August 2018, the chancery court determined the forgiveness note was a central part of the litigation and a valid holographic codicil to Noel's will. The note was hand-written on an index card and executed by Noel on March 16, 2012. It stated: "In the event of my death accidental or by sickness prior to final payoff of the AABC (trailer park mortgage), the mortgage is to be considered paid in full on that date." The note was admitted to probate. In June 2019, Peterson filed a complaint for a declaratory judgment regarding the applicability of the codicil since Noel committed suicide. In July 2019, the chancery court entered an order finding this determination could not be made until trial and authorizing the release of Noel's medical records.
¶8. In May 2020, Peterson filed a motion for summary judgment. In June 2020, the chancery court granted partial summary judgment, determining Noel's suicide was not an accidental death within the meaning of the codicil. However, the chancery court found the remaining issue of whether Noel's death by a self-inflicted gunshot would qualify as a death by "sickness" under the codicil would be decided at trial. If Noel's death was by sickness, the trailer-park debt was forgiven. The house debt was not addressed in this order.
¶9. In July 2020, Peterson filed a "Motion for Reconsideration and Revision of Order Granting in Part Motion for Summary Judgment," arguing no evidence showed Noel intended suicide to qualify as a sickness in his forgiveness note. Further, under Mississippi law, Peterson claimed that AABC, Web, and Teresa had to prove Noel's suicide was the result of an "irresistible impulse" substantially caused by his cancer and not by his own volition. In August 2020, the Defendants filed a memorandum in opposition to Peterson's motion. After a hearing, the chancery court denied Peterson's motion for reconsideration and revision.
¶10. In September 2020, both complaints were tried together. In May 2021, the chancery court entered a judgment, finding:
Noel's death was the result of sickness[,] that being his prostate and bladder cancer and associated side effects of pain, frequent and constant catheterizations and depression all of which were compounded by his stated and longstanding pathological fear of prostate cancer and his father's death from prostate cancer at age 80.
The chancellor concluded that Noel died as a result of sickness within the meaning of the codicil; thus, the $700,000 note was forgiven; the chancellor further determined that the $50,000 house note had been paid in full.
¶11. On August 24, 2013, Noel, at age eighty-five, died on the top floor of the Beau Rivage parking garage in Biloxi Mississippi, from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Noel had executed his last will and testament in October 2011, naming Peterson, his son-in-law, as executor. Noel left his estate in equal shares to his three adult children-Susan, Kathlene, and Web. Noel's wife predeceased him in 1996, dying of cancer. Upon Noel's death, his will was admitted to probate. His estate consisted of real and personal property, as well as financial investments.
¶12. In the 1980s, Noel retired from the United States Air Force with the rank of Chief Master Sergeant at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi. He and his wife moved off the base, purchased a trailer home, and moved it to a trailer park adjacent to the base. A few years later, Noel purchased the trailer park, developing it from twelve to sixty-five rental trailers. Noel also actively studied and invested in the stock market. His goal was to leave each of his children one million dollars; so he worked hard and lived frugally. His hobbies included repairing small engines and appliances, riding his bicycle, playing with his grandchildren, meeting friends and family for meals, and (after his wife died) visiting the casinos most days to dine and "dance with the ladies."
¶13. In August 1999, Noel sold the trailer park to AABC. Web, as sole owner of AABC, executed a promissory note for $700,000 at an initial interest rate of six percent annually over twenty years. Web made monthly payments of $5,015.02 starting in October 1999 until August 2013, the month Noel died. While still married, Web and Teresa also financed one of Noel's trailer homes on Judge Sekul Avenue in Biloxi, executing a promissory note for $50,000 at an initial interest rate of six percent with monthly payments in the amount of $358.22 over twenty years. This note allowed for prepayment, and Web testified he paid the loan off in ten payments.
¶14. In the years before his death, Noel was suffering from several health issues, but there was no evidence of any diminished mental capacity. In September 2012, Noel was diagnosed with "high-grade" prostate cancer that had spread to his bladder (but no other areas).[2] He also suffered from "benign prostatic hypertrophy" (BPH), for which he had been diagnosed in 1991 and again in 2008. BPH caused Noel to have difficulty voiding his bladder. He was treated with medications, underwent procedures, and had various types of catheters. In the year before his death, Noel was having to self-catheterize himself daily or more frequently. Sometimes he had to seek medical assistance at the hospital for catheterization.
¶15. Keesler's medical records were entered into evidence at trial and detailed Noel's bouts of depression and health issues. As early as 1998, depression was listed as one of Noel's chronic illnesses, but he was not prescribed any medication at the time. An internal medicine record noted that Noel had lost ten pounds since his wife died two years earlier and had a decrease in mood. In September 1999, during his annual prostate check, medical records noted Noel "has [a] pathological fear of prostate [cancer]" and continued to have chronic BPH. Other records indicated that Noel's father had died of prostate cancer at the age of eighty. In January 2000, Noel reported to medical staff...
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