In re Estate of Lasater, 88,218.

• Decision Date: 06 September 2002
• Docket Number: No. 88,218.,88,218.
• Citation: 30 Kan. App.2d 1021,54 P.3d 511
• Parties: IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF RUTH I. LASATER, DECEASED. STATE OF KANSAS, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND REHABILITATION SERVICES, Appellant, v. E. BRUCE LASATER, Appellee.
• Court: Kansas Court of Appeals

30 Kan. App.2d 1021

54 P.3d 511

IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF RUTH I. LASATER, DECEASED.

STATE OF KANSAS, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND REHABILITATION SERVICES, Appellant, v. E. BRUCE LASATER, Appellee.

No. 88,218.

Court of Appeals of Kansas.

Opinion filed September 6, 2002.

Brian M. Vazquez, of Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, for appellant.

Timothy P. O'Sullivan, Jason P. Lacey, and Carolyn L. Rumfelt, of Foulston Siefkin, L.L.P., of Wichita, for appellee.

Before GREEN, P.J., WAHL, S.J., and JOHN J. BUKATY, JR., District Judge, assigned.

WAHL, J.:

The trial court determined that title to Ruth Lasater's home passed to her son outside her probate estate by virtue of his right of survivorship as a joint tenant. The Estate Recovery Unit of the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) appeals. The case was submitted to the trial court on an agreed stipulation of facts, which reads:

"1. On or about December 23, 1991, Ruth I. Lasater established the `Ruth I. Lasater Revocable Trust' and signed a `Declaration of Trust Ownership,' a copy of which is attached and marked for reference as Exhibit `A';

"2. On September 28, 2000, Ruth I. Lasater signed a `Trustee's Deed,' a copy of which is attached and marked for reference as Exhibit `C,' which transferred real estate legally described as:

`Lot Fourteen (14), Dudte's Replat of Block Two (2), J.H. Anderson's Addition to the City of Newton, Kansas' from the `Ruth I. Lasater Revocable Trust' to Ruth I. Lasater individually;

"3. On September 28, 2000, Ruth I. Lasater signed a `Quit Claim Deed,' a copy of which is attached and marked for reference as Exhibit `C,' which transferred the above-identified real estate from Ruth I. Lasater, individually, to Ruth I. Lasater and E. Bruce Lasater as joint owners; E. Bruce paid $680 or approximately 1% of the value of the property at the time of deed execution;

"4. On February 25, 2001, Ruth I. Lasater passed away in Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas."

The deed conveying these interests reads:

"QUIT CLAIM DEED RUTH I. LASATER, a single person QUIT CLAIMS

to

RUTH I. LASATER and E. BRUCE LASATER

(family contribution, no monetary consideration given) all of her right, title and interest in and to the following described real estate located in the County of Harvey, State of Kansas, to-wit:

"Lot Fourteen (14), Dudte's Replat of Block Two (2), J.H. Anderson's Addition to the City of Newton, Kansas.

"It is the intent of the grantor that as a result of such conveyance the ownership interest in the above-described property of Grantee, RUTH I. LASATER, shall be ninety-nine percent (99%) and the ownership interst [sic] in the above-described property of the other grantee, E. BRUCE LASATER, shall be one percent (1%). Such ownership interests shall govern all aspect [sic] of the joint tenancy ownership of the Grantees in said property, including but not limited to, right to income and ownership rights upon any later sale of, or partition or severance of such joint tenancy ownership interest in said property. This recitation of intent shall be interpreted so as to conclusively rebut any presumption under the law of equal joint tenancy ownership by the Grantees in the aforesaid property. Such recitation shall not be interpreted, however, in a manner which would defeat the survivorship rights of the surviving joint tenant to succeed to a predeceased joint tenant's ownership interest in said property."

Prior to Ruth's death, she received $5,703.41 in Medicaid assistance as a result of her last illness. SRS initiated a creditor's administration of Ruth's estate making claim for reimbursement of her final medical expenses. At the time of her death, Ruth's home was her only significant asset.

Deciding the case on stipulated facts, the trial court found that the quitclaim deed of September 28, 2000, established a joint tenancy with right of survivorship, and the title to Ruth's home passed to her son as surviving joint tenant at the time of her death.

The question before this court is identical to that before the trial court. On the record of stipulated facts, the parties seek interpretation of the legal effect of Ruth's quitclaim deed. The interpretation and legal effect of written documents are matters of law upon which our standard of review is unlimited. City of Topeka v. Watertower Place Dev. Group, 265 Kan. 148, 152-53, 959 P.2d 894 (1998). Where the controlling facts are based on written or documentary evidence or stipulations, this court has as good an opportunity to examine and consider the evidence as did the court below. Heimann v. Parrish, 262 Kan. 926, 927, 942 P.2d 631 (1997).

SRS claims the trial court erred in determining Ruth's deed created a joint tenancy and contends Ruth's interest in her home should have been administered in her estate subject to the claims of creditors rather than passing directly to her son outside of probate. SRS claims Ruth's intent to create a joint tenancy was insufficiently clear to satisfy statutory requirements. Further, her deed created different percentage interests in Ruth and her son, violating the unity of interest required of joint tenants. Due to these flaws, SRS claims Ruth created a tenancy in common.

Lasater contends the trial court was correct and that Ruth clearly created a joint tenancy and that Ruth's interest passed to him upon her death.

When construing the meaning of a deed, the intention of the grantor, as gathered from examination of the instrument as a whole, is the primary consideration. Bennett v. Humphreys, 159 Kan. 416, 419, 155 P.2d 431 (1945). The meaning of a document and the intent of the parties is determined...