Goshorn v. Wilson

• Decision Date: 06 July 2012
• Docket Number: No. 2011–CA–000574–MR.,2011–CA–000574–MR.
• Citation: 372 S.W.3d 436
• Parties: Richard GOSHORN, Appellant v. Donna WILSON, Executrix of the Estate of Dorothy Goshorn, Deceased; Donna Wilson; Carolyn Chafin; and John Enos, Appellee.
• Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals

372 S.W.3d 436

Richard GOSHORN, Appellant

v.Donna WILSON, Executrix of the Estate of Dorothy Goshorn, Deceased; Donna Wilson; Carolyn Chafin; and John Enos, Appellee.

No. 2011–CA–000574–MR.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

July 6, 2012.

Jan Kipp Kreutzer, Newport, KY, for Appellant.

Patrick J. Walsh, Newport, KY, for Appellees Donna Wilson, Carolyn Chafin and John Enos.

Before COMBS, DIXON and VANMETER, Judges.

OPINION

VANMETER, Judge:

Richard Goshorn appeals from the Campbell Circuit Court's findings of facts, conclusions of law, and judgment entered February 24, 2011, holding the parties' prenuptial agreement valid and enforceableand extinguishing any interest Richard may have had in his deceased wife's residence. Richard contends the prenuptial agreement is invalid and that the court erred by invalidating his life estate in the marital residence. Reviewing the record below, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.

Richard Goshorn and Dorothy Enos Goshorn were married on June 20, 1981. The marriage was the second marriage for both Richard and Dorothy; Richard divorced his first wife in September 1980 and Dorothy's first husband died in December 1978. Both Richard and Dorothy had adult children from their previous marriages. Before marrying, on June 12, 1981, the parties signed a prenuptial agreement specifying upon divorce or the death of one of them, each party's children from their previous marriages would receive the entirety of their parent's estate and the remaining spouse was not entitled to any assets. After they married, Richard sold his house and Dorothy's house became the marital residence.

In 2004, Dorothy constructed a will containing a clause providing that upon her death, the marital residence would pass to Richard “for so long as he shall live or until he desires to no longer reside” in the residence, at which time the residence should pass to Dorothy's three children. This was Dorothy's third drafted will; however, the previous two wills both contained the same provision guaranteeing Richard a life estate in the marital residence.

Dorothy was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2007 and began needing supervision and assistance to perform daily tasks. In the years following her diagnosis, relations between Richard and Dorothy's children, especially the youngest, Donna Wilson, deteriorated over disagreements regarding care for Dorothy. In 2009, when taking care of Dorothy became impossible for Richard to do alone, Richard's attorney told Wilson it was her responsibility to arrange for her mother's care because as power of attorney over her mother, Wilson controlled all of Dorothy's finances. As a result of their disagreements and contentious relationship, Wilson told Richard he could not spend the night in the marital residence since she was going to spend evenings there watching her mother. At the time, Richard had no interest in the marital residence since it was owned in full by Dorothy, and he believed that Dorothy must have changed her will to remove the provision of the life estate. As such, Richard purchased a condominium in June 2009 and did not spend any nights at the marital residence from June 19–July 15, 2009. However, during this time, Richard spent the entirety of his day at the residence with Dorothy but when Wilson came to spend the night, he returned to his condominium.

Wilson then invited two of her husband's relatives to move into the marital residence and take care of Dorothy for $500/week and free lodging. She told Richard he needed to remove all of his belongings from the residence so there would be room for the couple to move in. Concerned that these two individuals were not properly trained to take care of Dorothy, Richard filed a petition requesting Dorothy be found incompetent and to obtain emergency guardianship over her. On July 15, 2009, Richard was named Dorothy's emergency guardian, began spending evenings back at the residence again, and chose to have Connecting Hearts take care of Dorothy at the marital residence full-time. Wilson objected to Richard's guardianship status and eight days later, on July 23, 2009, Keith Gambrel, a local attorney, became Dorothy's legal guardian. Richard had previously promised Dorothy that he would not send her to a nursing home, but under Gambrel's discretion, Dorothy moved into a nursing home on October 29, 2009. Dorothy remained at the nursing home until she died on February 10, 2010. From the time Dorothy moved into the nursing home until she died, Richard lived in his condominium, not at the marital residence.

Richard was provided a copy of Dorothy's will in February 2010. Dorothy's will was admitted to probate on March 5, 2010. On May 7, 2010, Richard filed a timely renunciation of will by a surviving spouse pursuant to KRS ¹ 392.080(b). Richard claimed Dorothy's will was invalid and that he desired to receive his statutory share of her remaining assets in accordance with KRS 392.020. Subsequently, Wilson filed a complaint as executrix of Dorothy's estate against Richard; Wilson individually, as well as her two other siblings, also sought a declaration of rights for each party and a proper distribution of the estate's assets in light of the alleged inconsistent terms of the prenuptial agreement and the will.

Dorothy's three children then asserted a cross-claim against Richard, alleging the prenuptial agreement was valid, the renunciation of the will was invalid, and that any interest Richard possessed in Dorothy's residence had extinguished and passed to the children. Richard's answer to the cross-claim reasserted that the prenuptial agreement could not be enforced since Dorothy did not fully disclose her assets to Richard and that without the misleading actions of Wilson, who informed Richard that he had to vacate the marital residence, he never would have moved into the condominium and thus he should still be entitled to the life estate in the residence that Dorothy left for him in her will.

A bench trial was set for January 18, 2011, and on February 24, 2011, the Campbell Circuit Court issued its findings of fact, conclusions of law, and judgment. The court held the prenuptial agreement valid, found Richard to have vacated the marital residence, extinguishing any interest he may have had in the property, and dismissed all claims Richard had against Dorothy's children for fraud, misrepresentation, and wrongful eviction. This appeal followed.

Because this is an appeal from a bench trial without a jury, the trial court's findings of fact are “not [to] be set aside unless clearly erroneous with due regard being given to the opportunity of...