In re Conservatorship of Williams

• Decision Date: 18 December 1998
• Docket Number: No. 97-CA-00205 COA.,97-CA-00205 COA.
• Citation: 724 So.2d 1022
• Parties: In the Matter of the CONSERVATORSHIP OF the Person and Estate of June D. WILLIAMS. Essie Parker, Appellant, v. Clementine Parker, Appellee.
• Court: Mississippi Court of Appeals

724 So.2d 1022

In the Matter of the CONSERVATORSHIP OF the Person and Estate of June D. WILLIAMS.

Essie Parker, Appellant, v. Clementine Parker, Appellee.

No. 97-CA-00205 COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

December 18, 1998.

Rehearing Denied March 3, 1999.

Rebecca C. Taylor, Wiggins, Attorney for Appellant.

William S. Murphy, Lucedale, Attorneys for Appellee.

BEFORE BRIDGES, C.J., HINKEBEIN AND KING, JJ.

HINKEBEIN, J., for the Court:

¶ 1. Essie Parker (Essie), as conservator for the person and estate of June Williams (June), appeals the George County Chancery Court's January 14, 1997 order denying Parker's petition for real estate proceeds, rent, and attorneys fees from Clementine Parker (Clementine), the long time care-giver of June. Essie assigns the following points of error to the Chancellor's decision:

I. THE CHANCELLOR ERRED IN FINDING JUNE D. WILLIAMS COMPETENT TO CONVEY INTEREST IN REAL PROPERTY.

II. THE CHANCELLOR ERRED IN PERMITTING CLEMENTINE AND SHARLENE PARKER TO USE FUNDS, SOCIAL SECURITY AND PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF REAL PROPERTY IN THE SUM OF $26,000 WITHOUT A GUARDIAN OR CONSERVATOR APPOINTED TO DISBURSE UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THE CHANCERY COURT OF GEORGE COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI.

III. THE CHANCELLOR ERRED IN PERMITTING CLEMENTINE PARKER TO RESIDE ON THE PROPERTY OF THE INCOMPETENT AND FINDING THAT THE INCOMPETENT HAD A LIFE ESTATE IN AND TO THE REAL PROPERTY TO THE DETRIMENT OF THE INCOMPETENT.

IV. THE CHANCELLOR ERRED IN REQUIRING THE ORIGINAL PLAINTIFFS TO PAY COURT COSTS AND REASONABLE ATTORNEYS FEES INCURRED BY THE INCOMPETENT.

V. THE CHANCELLOR ERRED IN FINDING THE INCOMPETENT CONVEYED HER INTEREST IN AND TO THE REAL PROPERTY TO THE HEDEGAARDS FOR THE SUM OF $26,000.

VI. THE CHANCELLOR ERRED IN PERMITTING THE PARKERS TO EXPEND THE FUNDS OF THE INCOMPETENT WHEN THEY STOOD IN A FIDUCIARY CAPACITY WITHOUT PRIOR APPROVAL BY THE COURT.

VII. THE CHANCELLOR ERRED IN FINDING THE ORAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE PREDECESSORS IN TITLE OF JUNE D. WILLIAMS, MR. AND MRS. PRENTISS WILLIAMS, PERMITTING CLEMENTINE AND SHARLENE PARKER TO USE THE PROPERTY FOR MANY YEARS DID NOT VIOLATE THE STATUTE OF FRAUDS.

VIII. THE COURT ERRED WHEN IT ARBITRARILY ASSIGNED THE RENTAL VALUE OF $100 PER

MONTH WITHOUT ANY EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER TO SUPPORT THIS RENTAL VALUE.

¶ 2. Holding these assignments of error to be without merit, we affirm the judgment of the chancery court.

FACTS

¶ 3. The record reveals that June, who is now in her fifties, was born mentally and physically disabled. In 1971, her late parents, Prentiss and Annie Williams, deeded her a life estate in their Lucedale home and approximately forty acres of land. Her parents also deeded the remainder to June's sister Sharlene Parker and her husband Clementine. There was apparently an oral understanding that Sharlene and Clementine would live in the home and care for June for the rest of her life. There seems to be no dispute that all members of the family were aware of this unwritten agreement. At the time, June was already living with the couple and for over twenty years she continued to share the home with Sharlene and Clementine and their children. The record reveals she was well treated and regularly taken for appropriate medical treatment for her various physical ailments. While June received a small monthly Social Security benefit of $330, it appears the bulk of her support was provided by Sharlene and Clementine. In 1980, the couple was forced to take out a ten thousand dollar Farmer's Home Administration loan to repair extensive storm damage to the home and property. The record contains photos which reflect the scope of the damage. In a 1989 document signed by Sharlene, Clementine, and purportedly June, approximately thirteen acres of the property was sold to H. Lee Hedegaard and his wife Beverly. The sale was made in order to pay off the loan to the Farmer's Home administration. The remaining sixteen thousand dollars from the sale was paid to Sharlene and Clementine but a later court ordered accounting shows the money went toward further repairs to the home as well as to provide for June. Several months after the sale, Sharlene died and Clementine's daughter Melonie Parker Aleman (Melonie) moved in to help her father care for June.

¶ 4. In April 1990, June's health deteriorated to the point where she had to enter a nursing home. She continues to reside there with her care paid for through Social Security and other government benefits, although there is the prospect she might have to return to live with Clementine and his daughter. In October 1990, June's sister Essie sought and obtained from the George County Chancery Court a conservatorship over June. Essie testified at trial that prior to being named conservator, she had seen June only a handful of times since 1970. In the chancellor's order from the case sub judice, he states his belief that the prior chancellor appointed Essie instead of Clementine out of an abundance of caution and out of fear of some conflict. Essie promptly had Clementine and Melonie enjoined from removing June from the nursing home. In the case sub judice, she sought to have Clementine pay June's estate the value of June's interest from the 1989 land sale, claiming that June had been incompetent to approve the sale. Essie also sought to have Clementine pay June's estate years worth of back-rent for the use of the Lucedale home. She also sought $8,444.69 in attorney fees.

¶ 5. On January 14, 1997, the chancellor denied the relief sought by Parker, although he did order Clementine to pay $100 per month rent while June was not actually living in the Lucedale home. The chancellor's order did find that June was mentally incompetent at the time of trial as well as when the conservatorship was created. However, the chancellor found that without any proof being offered to the contrary, June was mentally competent and understood the nature and consequences of her actions when she signed the warranty deed in the 1989 transaction. The order attributes June's declining physical and mental health since the execution of the warranty deed to her current mental incompetence. The chancellor also gave great weight to the sacrifice and love shown by Clementine, Sharlene, and their children in caring for June for more than two decades. He noted that June's other family members had failed to offer any assistance, financial or otherwise, in caring for her during the twenty-one years period. The chancellor found that the funds expended by Clementine and his family to provide for June far exceeded the meager amount June received from Social Security, and that the court "cannot place any value on the time and love expended on June."

DISCUSSION

I. THE CHANCELLOR ERRED IN FINDING JUNE D. WILLIAMS COMPETENT TO CONVEY INTEREST IN REAL PROPERTY.

V. THE CHANCELLOR ERRED IN FINDING THE INCOMPETENT CONVEYED HER INTEREST IN AND TO THE REAL PROPERTY TO THE HEDEGAARDS FOR THE SUM OF $26,000.

¶ 6. Since the assignments of error in issues one and five both deal with the chancellor's finding that June was competent to convey her interest in the real property, they will be addressed together. Essie argues that, based on the totality of circumstances, it was obvious that June was not competent in 1989 to convey her interest in the real estate and the chancellor's decision was in error. Clementine echoes the chancellor's order and asserts that it was supported by substantial evidence with no abuse of discretion or manifest error. We agree that the chancellor's decision as to June's competence at the time of the sale was within his discretion.

¶ 7. The Mississippi Supreme Court has long held that "[w]henever there is substantial evidence in the record to support the chancellor's findings of fact, those findings must be affirmed here." Denson v. George, 642 So.2d 909, 913 (Miss.1994). Those findings will not be disturbed unless "such findings are manifestly wrong or clearly erroneous." Id. Substantial evidence has been defined as "such relevant evidence as reasonable minds might accept as adequate to support a conclusion" or to put it simply, more than a "mere scintilla" of evidence. Johnson v. Ferguson, 435 So.2d 1191, 1195 (Miss.1983). It is a well established precept that "[w]here a challenger asserts lack of capacity to execute a deed, his burden becomes one of proving his point by clear and convincing evidence." Mullins v. Ratcliff, 515 So.2d 1183, 1190 (Miss.1987). The grantor's mental capacity is to be measured as of the time of the deed's execution. Richardson v. Langley, 426 So.2d 780, 783 (Miss. 1983).

¶ 8. There is no dispute that June lacked capacity as of the time Essie was named conservator, as well as when she actually testified in the case sub judice. However, the record reveals conflicting testimony as to June's capacity to understand financial matters as of the time of the sale of the real property. It is also evident that the chancellor was aware of the varying agendas in this intra-family conflict. Clementine testified that June understood the essentials of the land sale and what the proceeds would be used for, and was present during negotiations with H.L. Hedegaard as well as at the closing. Clementine's daughter Melonie also recounted a telephone conversation where June described the sale of the land and the signing of documents at the lawyer's office. Melonie also related June's later physical and mental deterioration that led to her being placed in the nursing home. Essie, however, testified that June's mental capacity had remained the same all her life, and at no time had she been able to understand anything regarding money or financial concepts. Her testimony also revealed that she had extremely limited contact with June over a twenty-year period. Essie's daughter-in-law, Debra Parker, also testified that June had always operated at the level of a child. Other family members who testified took either the position that...