In re Estate of Miller
| Decision Date | 02 October 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 5-00-0634.,5-00-0634. |
| Citation | 778 N.E.2d 262,268 Ill.Dec. 276,334 Ill. App.3d 692 |
| Parties | In re ESTATE OF Louis J. MILLER, Deceased. Thomas Miller, Special Administrator of the Estate of Louis J. Miller, Petitioner-Appellee and Cross-Appellant, v. Emma Ford, Steve Ford, Sherri Ford, Mark Ford, Ronna Martin, Scott Ford, and Anthony Ford, Respondents-Appellants and Cross-Appellees, Albert Miller, Interested Person-Appellee and Cross-Appellee. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
Michael F. Dahlen, John R. Daly, of Feirich, Mager, Green & Ryan, Carbondale, for Emma Ford, Steve Ford, Anthony Ford, Mark Ford, and Sherri Ford.
Aaron A. Atkins, Du Quoin, for Scott Ford and Ronna Martin.
Don E. Prosser, of Gilbert, Kimmel, Huffman, Prosser & Hewson, Ltd., Carbondale, for Thomas Miller.
Gayl S. Pyatt, Pinckneyville, for Albert Miller.
Emma Ford, Steve Ford, Sherri Ford, Mark Ford, Ronna Martin, Scott Ford, and Anthony Ford (collectively respondents) appeal an order of the circuit court of Perry County requiring them to return funds to the estate of Louis J. Miller and to Albert Miller. Thomas Miller (petitioner), as the special administrator of the estate of Louis Miller, filed a cross-appeal for funds that Emma Ford was allowed to retain. Albert Miller filed a brief as an interested person for funds that the court determined were his personal property. This appeal raises the following issues: (1) whether the court erred in requiring respondents to return proceeds from certificates of deposit that had been held by Louis Miller individually, (2) whether the court erred in requiring respondents to return proceeds from checking accounts that had been held by Louis Miller, (3) whether the court erred in allowing Emma Ford to retain the proceeds from certificates of deposit she had held jointly with Louis Miller, (4) whether the trial court had jurisdiction to award funds to Albert Miller, and (5) whether the trial court erred in failing to award prejudgment interest. We affirm.
On March 27, 1996, Louis Miller, at the age of 86 years old, signed a form giving his youngest sister, Emma Ford, a power of attorney pursuant to the Statutory Short Form Power of Attorney for Property Law (755 ILCS 45/3-1 et seq. (West 1996)). Between that date and Miller's demise a year later, numerous transactions occurred which benefited Emma Ford.
On March 29, 1996, Emma Ford's name was added to Louis Miller's checking account at DuQuoin National Bank. On April 3, 1996, Emma Ford inspected Louis Miller's security deposit box. In the lockbox, she found several certificates of deposit and Louis Miller's last will and testament. The certificates of deposit were held separately in Louis Miller's individual name, the joint names of Louis Miller and Albert Miller, the joint names of Louis Miller and Emma Ford, and the joint names of Louis Miller and Clara Hottes. On April 25, 1996, she redeemed a certificate of deposit that had been held jointly in the names of Emma Ford and Louis Miller for $10,000, and she deposited the proceeds in her personal account.
In early May 1996, Louis Miller was discharged from the nursing home and came to live at Emma Ford's home. On May 9, 1996, Emma Ford used her power of attorney to surrender four certificates of deposit that had been held by Louis Miller individually. She deposited the proceeds of these certificates in an account at DuQuoin State Bank in her name and the name of her son, Steve Ford. She then distributed four checks from the account, each in the amount of $10,000, to Steve, to her daughter-in-law Sherri Ford, and to Emma's grandchildren, Mark Ford and Anthony Ford. On May 28, 1996, Emma Ford redeemed a certificate of deposit that had been held in the names of Louis Miller and Emma Ford jointly. The proceeds of the certificate were distributed to Emma's grandchildren Ronna Martin and Scott Ford, in the amount of $5,000 each.
In June 1996, Emma Ford redeemed a certificate that had been held in the joint names of Emma Ford and Louis Miller for $10,086.87. She then distributed $5,000 each to Ronna Martin and Scott Ford and retained the remainder.
On July 17, 1996, Emma Ford delivered to Citizens Bank in Du Quoin a signature card signed by her and Louis Miller. The signature card added her name to a checking account at that bank. After Miller's death, she closed this account and received $32,502.80. On July 26, 1996, she delivered a deposit agreement signed by her and Miller adding her name to Miller's checking account at First National Bank of Pinckneyville. After Miller's death, she closed the account and received $48,498.89. On August 1, 1996, she delivered to Murphy-Wall State Bank & Trust Co. (Murphy-Wall Bank) a new signature card signed by both herself and Miller. After Miller's death, she closed this account and received $19,725.62.
On September 4, 1996, Emma Ford redeemed a certificate of deposit held in her and Louis Miller's names at First National Bank of Pinckneyville for $10,156.85. On December 13, 1996, she directed DuQuoin State Bank to reissue a certificate that had previously been held in her name and Miller's. She had the bank delete Miller's name from the new certificate and had it reissued in her name and the names of her two sons. The certificate was valued at $10,020.50.
Between January 6, 1997, and January 27, 1997, using her power of attorney, Emma Ford surrendered six certificates of deposit held in the joint names of Louis Miller and Albert Miller. The proceeds of these certificates totaled $60,063.54. On February 10, 1997, she surrendered a certificate of deposit at Charter Bank for $9,904.19 that had been held in Louis Miller's name only.
On March 19, 1997, Emma Ford surrendered for payment a certificate held at Charter Bank in the name of "Louis Joe Miller, Trustee for Albert J. Miller." She endorsed the certificate using her power of attorney for Louis Miller, and she received $20,238.40.
On March 26, 1997, she surrendered three certificates of deposit at Murphy-Wall Bank. The certificates were held in Louis Miller's individual name. These certificates were endorsed by Emma Ford as Miller's attorney-in-fact, and she received $30,190.65.
Louis Miller died on March 27,1997. In April 1997, a petition for probate of will and for letters of testamentary was filed, and an order admitting the will to probate and appointing Emma Ford as the representative of the estate was entered. A notice that the will had been admitted to probate was sent to the heirs and legatees. Clara Hottes, Albert Miller, and petitioner filed a petition to terminate the independent administration and a petition for a citation on behalf of the estate and for the appointment of a special administrator. The independent administration was terminated on July 23, 1998, and Thomas Miller was appointed the special administrator. On January 20, 2000, petitioner, as the special administrator, filed a petition for a citation to recover property and related relief against respondents to recover certain money pursuant to the Probate Act of 1975(Act) (755 ILCS 5/16-3 (West 1998)).
A bench trial was held on August 4, 2000. At the hearing, Emma Ford testified that in private conversations, Louis Miller had stated that he wanted her to have the certificates and his funds. Emma Ford admitted that she did not disclose the transfers to other members of Louis Miller's family.
Louis Miller's attorney, Roger Seibert, testified that he had consulted with Miller about Miller's estate plan and had prepared Miller's will. Seibert testified that, as a part of his estate plan, Miller had established a number of joint accounts in order to avoid probate. He testified that Miller intended for several relatives to benefit from his estate but that he was primarily concerned about Emma Ford. Seibert testified that the transactions made by Emma Ford were consistent with his perception of Miller's concern for her and his desire to avoid probate.
After the proceedings, the court entered an order finding, in part as follows:
The trial court ordered Steve Ford, Anthony Ford, Mark Ford, and Sherri Ford to pay back sums of $10,000 each to the estate for benefits they received in May 1996. Ronna Martin and Scott Ford were each ordered to pay back $5,000 to the estate in regard to the certificate of deposit surrendered on June 16, 1996. Emma Ford was ordered to pay to the estate $141,294.16 for various transactions made in 1996 and 1997.
In regard to the certificates of deposit that were in the name of both Louis Miller and Emma Ford prior to Emma Ford gaining the power of attorney, the court found that joint tenancies had existed at that time and the court ordered that Emma Ford be allowed to retain the sum of $40,177.30 as the surviving joint tenant.
The court found fraud in the transfers of the six certificates of deposit that had been held in joint tenancy between Louis Miller and Albert Miller and in the transfer of the certificate of deposit that Louis Miller had held as the trustee for Albert Miller. The court found that equity required that the money from these transfers should not be returned to the estate but should be the personal property of Albert Miller. The court, therefore, ordered that a judgment be entered in...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Ball v. Kotter
...See In re Estate of Pawlinski, 407 Ill.App.3d 957, 347 Ill.Dec. 525, 942 N.E.2d 728, 736–37 (Ill.App.Ct. 1st Dist.2011); Miller, 268 Ill.Dec. 276, 778 N.E.2d at 267. This is a determination the court can make as a matter of law, that is, whether the “bubble has burst” and whether the case s......
-
11995 v. Tiesi
...was fair and equitable and did not result from the agent's undue influence over the principal.” In re Estate of Miller, 334 Ill.App.3d 692, 698, 268 Ill.Dec. 276, 778 N.E.2d 262, 267 (2002), citing In re Estate of Teall, 329 Ill.App.3d 83, 87, 263 Ill.Dec. 364, 768 N.E.2d 124, 129 (2002); L......
- Budzileni v. Department of Human Rights
-
Prodromos v. Everen Securities, Inc.
...fair and equitable. See Prodromos I, 341 Ill.App.3d at 724, 275 Ill.Dec. 671, 793 N.E.2d 151, citing In re Estate of Miller, 334 Ill.App.3d 692, 268 Ill.Dec. 276, 778 N.E.2d 262 (2002). Plaintiff then argues that, when the trial court began examining whether proximate cause was established,......