Howard v. Leonard

• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: BRANCH, Judge.
• Citation: Howard v. Leonard, 330 Ga.App. 331, 765 S.E.2d 466 (Ga. App. 2014)
• Decision Date: 20 November 2014
• Docket Number: No. A14A0842.,A14A0842.
• Parties: HOWARD v. LEONARD.

330 Ga.App. 331

765 S.E.2d 466

HOWARD

v.LEONARD.

No. A14A0842.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

Nov. 20, 2014.

Reconsideration Denied Dec. 12, 2014.

R. Leslie Waycaster Jr., for Appellant.

Joseph E. Willard Jr., Rossville, for Appellee.

Opinion

BRANCH, Judge.

A father, mother, and daughter had been joint owners of a credit union account for 16 years when the father died. While the mother was still alive and with her purported endorsement, the daughter then moved half of the account balance into an account for her mother and half into an account for herself. One of the daughter's brothers, who was subsequently appointed as his mother's conservator, later filed suit seeking a declaration that all the funds belonged to the mother, not the daughter. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the brother and denied the daughter's cross motion in which she sought to establish ownership of half of the account. The daughter appeals both rulings. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

On appeal from the grant of summary judgment, appellate courts “conduct[ ] a de novo review of the evidence to determine whether there is a genuine issue of material fact and whether the undisputed facts, viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, warrant judgment as a matter of law.” Shekhawat v. Jones, 293 Ga. 468, 469, 746 S.E.2d 89 (2013) (citation omitted); State Dept. of Corrections v. Developers Sur. & Indem. Co., 324 Ga.App. 371, 372, 750 S.E.2d 697 (2013).

Where the evidence on motion for summary judgment is ambiguous or doubtful, the party opposing the motion must be given the benefit of all reasonable doubts and of all favorable inferences and such evidence construed most favorably to the party opposing the motion. Furthermore, while a movant's evidence is to be carefully scrutinized, a respondent's evidence is to be treated with indulgence.

Layfield v. Dept. of Transp., 280 Ga. 848, 850, 632 S.E.2d 135 (2006) (citations and punctuation omitted).

Construed in favor of the appellant for the purpose of addressing the appellee's summary judgment, the facts show that Royce and Leola Leonard were married for many years and at least 20 years ago, Royce, an employee of the United States Postal Service, established joint account No. 6626 with Leola at the Atlanta Postal Credit Union (“APCU”). The Leonards raised three children—Ronald, David, and Marketta (now known as Marketta Howard)—who are all now adults. On November 21, 1995, Royce, Leola, and Marketta Howard signed a “Joint Membership Agreement” with APCU regarding account No. 6626. The agreement provides that going forward, all past and future deposits would be owned “jointly with right of survivorship,” any member could withdraw funds deposited into the account, and upon the death of one or more members, all deposits would vest in the survivor or survivors:

The undersigned hereby apply for a “joint membership” in the Atlanta Postal Credit Union and, in consideration of the approval of applicants in joint membership by the said credit union, do hereby agree each with the other and with the said credit union, that all sums now invested in deposits or hereafter paid in as payments on deposits, and all interest therefrom shall be owned by us jointly with right of survivorship, and shall be subject to withdrawal by either or the survivor of us and said payments upon withdrawal shall be valid and release and discharge such credit union from any payments so made. In case of the death of any one or more of said joint members all rights and privileges of membership and all rights and privileges of ownership in all deposits held jointly in said credit union shall be vested in the survivor or survivors.

Royce signed the agreement as the “applicant,” and Leola and Howard signed as “Joint Owner[s].” The agreement modified APCU account No. 6626, and it made Howard an owner of the account along with her parents. During the life of account No. 6626, only Royce made deposits; neither Leola nor Howard made any.

Royce Leonard died on December 7, 2011, at age 89; Leola was 89 at the time, and Howard had concluded as early as April 2011, that her mother had begun to lose her mental capacities and may have had dementia. After her father's death, Howard contacted APCU regarding how to handle the joint account. Thus, in February 2012, based on APCU's instructions, Howard used $25 from the account to open a separate joint account at APCU for her mother and herself, into which Howard planned to transfer the funds from account No. 6626. Shortly thereafter, however, Howard learned from APCU that Ronald, who was not a joint party on account No. 6626, was making inquiries with APCU about transferring the balance of account No. 6626 to a different bank. Ronald later admitted that without telling Howard, he took his mother to Regions Bank in order to attempt to transfer the APCU funds to that bank. On April 2, 2012, after learning of Ronald's inquiries at APCU, Howard asked APCU to issue a check for the entire balance of $143,282.93 on account No. 6626 made payable to “Royce P Leonard or Leola S Leonard c/o Marketta Leonard” and to mail it to her.

Meanwhile, on April 3, a doctor signed an affidavit to the effect that Leola was incapacitated by reason of dementia; that she lacked the capacity to make or communicate responsible decisions concerning her health or safety or the management of her property; and that her condition would last for the rest of her life. Five days later, Ronald and David notified Howard that they were preparing to file petitions to appoint a guardian for Leola and a conservator for her estate. On April 9, the clerk of the probate court saw all three Leonard children, as well Howard's husband and Leola, appear at court to complete and file the petitions. The clerk overheard a conversation between the three children in which Howard told Ronald the dollar amount of the balance of the APCU joint account. Although the clerk did not recall anyone's words exactly, she also averred that she heard Ronald ask Howard for a letter stating that she was not the owner of the APCU account and heard Howard say something to the effect that “the money is mother's.” That same day, Howard refused to sign a letter addressed to APCU stating that the entire balance of account No. 6626 belonged to Leola and that Howard did not claim any ownership interest.

Shortly after the gathering at probate court, Howard received the check from APCU (which was dated April 2) for the balance of account No. 6626, and she and her mother endorsed it. On April 23, Howard opened two separate individual accounts at the Cohutta Banking Company and deposited half of the funds into an account in her own name and the other half into an account in the name of “Marketta L. Howard for the Benefit of Leola Leonard.”

On August 29, 2012, the probate court held a hearing on the petitions to appoint a guardian and conservator, and on September 12, it appointed Ronald as conservator of his mother's estate and Ronald and Howard as co-guardians of their mother. The probate court hearing transcript was tendered as evidence in the present action without objection.

After receiving a demand from Ronald in his role as conservator that she transfer to Ronald all funds previously on deposit in account No. 6626, Howard sent to Ronald by certified mail a check for the balance, including interest, of her mother's account at the Cohutta Bank; delivery was refused. Out of fear that Ronald would again attempt to take the funds in the accounts, Howard transferred the funds deposited in her own name to an account at the Bank of Chickamauga.

On October 2, 2012, Ronald, acting as conservator of his mother's estate, filed a verified complaint against Howard, alleging that she had converted her mother's interest in the account and seeking all funds that belonged to his mother. He also asked the court to require Howard to deposit all funds removed from the APCU account No. 6626 into the registry of the court, which Howard promptly did. Howard responded to the suit with a verified answer and a counterclaim seeking an accounting of her mother's estate and a constructive trust on any funds in her mother's estate. Leola died on November 21, 2012, and Ronald, who was appointed as executor of his mother's estate, was substituted as the plaintiff.

Ronald moved for summary judgment, seeking a ruling that all of the funds previously on deposit in account No. 6626 belonged to his mother and his father's estate, and not to Howard; at oral argument, he argued that the funds belonged to his mother's estate. Howard also moved for summary judgment, seeking a ruling that one-half of the funds in account No. 6626 belonged to her.

Following a hearing on the cross-motions for summary judgment, the trial court found that Royce's contributions to APCU account No. 6626 were “marital contributions” and that there was no evidence that Royce or Leola intended to make a gift to Howard during their lifetimes. The court held that although Howard had a right under law to withdraw the funds from APCU, she had no authority to place the funds into an individual account. Finally, because Howard contributed nothing to the APCU account whereas Leola “contributed marital funds,” Howard had no right to any of the money from account No. 6626. The court therefore granted Ronald's motion for summary judgment. On appeal Howard contends the trial court erred by concluding that deposits made by one spouse are also considered deposits of “marital funds” by the other spouse and by disregarding the requirement that the intent of the joint account holders be shown by clear and convincing evidence. She also contends that the trial court erred by denying her motion for summary judgment.

Resolving these issues depends on several provisions of Article 8 of Chapter 1 of the Banking and Finance Code governing multiple-party accounts. See OCGA § 7–1–810 et seq. (the “MPA Act”).¹

1. Ronald, who is also executor of...