In re Estate of Haviland

• Decision Date: 14 March 2013
• Docket Number: No. 86412–8.,86412–8.
• Citation: 301 P.3d 31,177 Wash.2d 68
• Parties: In the Matter of the Estate of James W. HAVILAND, Deceased.
• Court: Washington Supreme Court

177 Wash.2d 68

301 P.3d 31

In the Matter of the Estate of James W. HAVILAND, Deceased.

No. 86412–8.

Supreme Court of Washington, En Banc.

March 14, 2013.

Ladd B. Leavens, William Kennedy Rasmussen, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Seattle, WA, for Petitioner.

Carol S. Vaughn, Suzanne Churchwell Howle, Thompson & Howle Downtown Office, Howard Mark Goodfriend, Smith Goodfriend PS, William A. Olson, Aiken St. Louis & Siljeg PS, Seattle, WA, for Respondents.

Katherine George, Harrison–Benis LLP, Seattle, WA, Amicus Curiae on behalf of Washington Association of Profes.

Barbara Ann Isenhour, Isenhour Bleck PLLC, Seattle, WA, Amicus Curiae on behalf of National Center on Elder Abuse.

Bruce Reed Moen, Attorney at Law, Seattle, WA, Amicus Curiae on behalf of Bruce R. Moen.

Richard L. Furman Jr., Aiken, St. Louis & Siljeg, P.S., Seattle, WA, for Other Parties.

MADSEN, C.J.

[177 Wash.2d 71]¶ 1 During the pendency of a will contest involving Dr. James Haviland's estate, the legislature amended the slayer statutes to disinherit those who financially abuse vulnerable adults. In light of the amendments, the administrator of the Haviland estate requested the trial court to determine whether Mary Haviland should be disinherited based on her conduct as found by the trial court. The trial court determined that the abuser statutes could not be applied to deny Ms. Haviland benefits from the Haviland estate because the statutes are triggered by financial abuse, which would require improper retroactive application of the statutes. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded for further proceedings, holding that the petition filed during probate to adjudicate whether an individual is an abuser is the triggering event for application of the statutes and that the statutes acted prospectively as applied to this estate. We affirm the Court of Appeals and hold that the abuser statutes act prospectively and that the filing of the abuser petition during probate triggers the statutes.

FACTS

¶ 2 Dr. James Haviland was a medical doctor practicing in the Seattle area. For several decades, he was married to Marion Haviland, with whom he had four children. She died in 1993 and much of their estate was put into a living trust for the benefit of Dr. Haviland and his children and grandchildren upon his death. Three years later, Dr. Haviland, then 85, met 35–year–old Mary Haviland (then Mary Burden) who worked at Providence Hospital where he was a patient. Following Dr. Haviland's discharge, he and Ms. Burden began dating and he agreed to pay $100,000 toward her education and an additional $300,000–$350,000 for a “nest egg.” Clerk's Papers (CP) at 13.

¶ 3 Dr. Haviland and Ms. Burden married in 1997. The day before their marriage, Dr. Haviland changed his will to include Ms. Burden and revised it several more times during their marriage in 1998, 2002, and 2006. The 2006 will authorized Dr. Haviland's total probate estate to pass to Ms. Haviland, with the exception of specific bequests of $55,000, only leaving his children the right of first refusal to purchase his property on Shaw Island if Ms. Haviland decided to sell it. The will also directed that Ms. Haviland would be one of the estate's personal representatives. During the marriage, Dr. Haviland also amended his living trust and transferred securities for Ms. Haviland's benefit, and made large cash gifts to her family members. Additionally, large sums were transferred from their joint checking account to Ms. Haviland's separate account.

¶ 4 Dr. Haviland suffered advanced dementia at the end of his life; however, it is unclear if he suffered the condition during the signing of the 2006 will. He died in November 2007. The 2006 will was admitted to probate the following month.

¶ 5 In April 2008, three of Dr. Haviland's children commenced an action challenging the 2006 will, alleging that Dr. Haviland lacked testamentary capacity and that the will was the product of undue influence by Ms. Haviland. They also sought removal of Ms. Haviland as copersonal representative of the estate under RCW 11.36.010 because of her ineligibility due to past criminal convictions. In May, Ms. Haviland resigned as copersonal representative, and a week later the court also granted the petition to remove her as the representative. The trial court found that “the lifetime Estate of Dr. Haviland was so depleted by Mary's transfer of funds that, after distribution of specific bequests, the total value of the Estate is a negative $45,834.38.” CP at 36. The court invalidated the 2006 will, finding by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence that the will was the product of undue influence by Ms. Haviland. The court also awarded attorney fees to the petitioners, paid from Ms. Haviland's share of the probate and nonprobate assets of the estate, and appointed Richard Furman as administrator of the estate.

¶ 6 Ms. Haviland appealed the trial court's ruling to the Court of Appeals. The court affirmed, determining that the trial court correctly analyzed the undue influence claim and that there was substantial evidence from the record supporting the trial court's written findings of fact and conclusions of law. In re Estate of Haviland, 162 Wash.App. 548, 569, 255 P.3d 854 (2011).

¶ 7 While the will challenge was pending, the legislature amended the slayer statutes, extending the statutes' application to prevent financial abusers of vulnerable adults from acquiring property or any benefit from their victims' estates.¹ LAWS OF 2009, ch. 525, codified in chapter 11.84 RCW, RCW 26.16.120, RCW 41.04.273, and RCW 11.96A.030. In light of this change, Furman, as administrator, filed a petition to determine whether Ms. Haviland engaged in a pattern of transferring assets from Dr. Haviland's estate for her and her designees' benefit, constituting financial exploitation sufficient for application of chapter 11.84 RCW.

[177 Wash.2d 74]¶ 8 The trial court denied the petition, concluding that the triggering event for application of the statutes was the financial exploitation of Dr. Haviland. The court noted the effective date of the statute was July 26, 2009, and declined to apply the statute retroactively. The Court of Appeals reversed. In re Estate of Haviland, 161 Wash.App. 851, 858, 251 P.3d 289 (2011). The court concluded that the triggering event for applying the statutes was the filing of the petition during probate to declare a person an abuser. Thus, any application of the abuser statutes in the Haviland probate would not constitute a retroactive application. Id. at 851, 251 P.3d 289. It remanded the matter to the trial court to determine whether the trial court's findings of financial exploitation were sufficient to determine that Ms. Haviland was an abuser for purposes of the statutes. Id. We granted Ms. Haviland's petition for review. In re Estate of Haviland, 173 Wash.2d 1001, 268 P.3d 941(2011).

ANALYSIS

¶ 9 Resolution of this case requires that we determine the triggering event for applying the financial abuse prong of the amended slayer statutes. ² The estate and Dr. Haviland's children contend that the legislature intended the statutes to act prospectively and that the filing of the abuser petition during probate is the triggering event for applying the statutes. Ms. Haviland agrees that the statutes must be applied prospectively; however, she argues that the date of the decedent's death is the triggering event. Thus, she contends that applying the statutes in this case would be an improper retroactive application. She also argues that application of the statutes would impair her vested rights, in violation of due process protections. To resolve this issue, we turn to the plain language of the statutes and applicable case law.

¶ 10 We review questions of statutory interpretation de novo. Jackowski v. Borchelt, 174 Wash.2d 720, 729, 278 P.3d 1100 (2012). A statute has retroactive effect when the precipitating event under the statute occurred before the statute's enactment. In re Pers. Restraint of Carrier, 173 Wash.2d 791, 809, 272 P.3d 209 (2012); State v. Belgarde, 119 Wash.2d 711, 722, 837 P.2d 599 (1992). A statute may also act retroactively when it takes away or impairs vested rights, or imposes new duties or disabilities in respect to past transactions; however, a statute is not retroactive “ ‘merely because it relates to prior facts or transactions where it does not change their legal effect. It is not retroactive because some of the requisites for its actions are drawn from a time antecedent to its passage or because it fixes the status of a person for the purposes of its operation.’ ” State v. Varga, 151 Wash.2d 179, 195, 86 P.3d 139 (2004) (quoting State v. Scheffel, 82 Wash.2d 872, 879, 514 P.2d 1052 (1973)); State v. Pillatos, 159 Wash.2d 459, 471, 150 P.3d 1130 (2007) (citing Pape v. Dep't of Labor & Indus., 43 Wash.2d 736, 740–41, 264 P.2d 241 (1953)). Conversely, “[a] statute operates prospectively when the precipitating event for the application of the statute occurs after the effective date of the statute, even though the precipitating event had its origin in a situation existing prior to the enactment of the statute.” Aetna Life Ins. Co. v. Wash. Life & Disability Ins. Guaranty Ass'n, 83 Wash.2d 523, 535, 520 P.2d 162 (1974); In re Estate of Burns, 131 Wash.2d 104, 110–11, 928 P.2d 1094 (1997). Statutes are presumed to apply prospectively, absent contrary legislative intent. Burns, 131 Wash.2d at 110, 928 P.2d 1094.

¶ 11 We look to the subject matter regulated by the statute and consider its plain language to determine the precipitating or triggering event. Carrier, 173 Wash.2d at 809, 272 P.3d 209 (citing State v. T.K., 139 Wash.2d 320, 330, 987 P.2d 63 (1999)); Burns, 131 Wash.2d at 112, 928 P.2d 1094. “The court's fundamental objective is to ascertain and carry out the Legislature's intent, and if the statute's meaning is plain on its face, then the court must give effect to that plain meaning as an...