In re Estate of Baker
| Decision Date | 22 November 2019 |
| Docket Number | No. W2019-00229-COA-R3-CV,W2019-00229-COA-R3-CV |
| Parties | IN RE ESTATE OF MARGARET OWENS BUSH BAKER |
| Court | Tennessee Court of Appeals |
Appeal from the Chancery Court for Carroll County
Carma Dennis McGee, Chancellor
In this probate action involving a testate decedent, the surviving spouse filed a petition seeking to claim an elective share in addition to homestead rights, exempt property, and year's support. The surviving spouse later withdrew his petition for an elective share but continued to assert claims for exempt property and year's support. The trial court denied those claims, determining that the statutory provisions governing a surviving spouse's claims for exempt property and year's support require that the claimant had also simultaneously elected against the decedent's will. The surviving spouse has appealed. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm.
Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Chancery Court Affirmed; Case Remanded
THOMAS R. FRIERSON, II, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which J. STEVEN STAFFORD, P.J., W.S., and W. NEAL MCBRAYER, J., joined.
Dwayne D. Maddox, III, Huntingdon, Tennessee, for the appellant, John W. Baker.
George Robert Whitfield, III, Paris, Tennessee, for the appellee, Janice Burns Payne, Executrix of the Estate of Margaret Owens Bush Baker.
OPINIONThe petitioner, John W. Baker, filed a petition for letters of administration on August 17, 2016, in the Probate Division of the Carroll County Chancery Court ("trial court") concerning the estate of his deceased wife, Margaret Owens Bush Baker ("Decedent"). In his petition, Mr. Baker stated that Decedent had passed away on February 25, 2016. Mr. Baker alleged that Decedent's daughter, Janice Burns Payne, had provided him with a copy of a Last Will and Testament purportedly executed by Decedent, which he attached to his petition. Mr. Baker posited that because no one had come forward to probate the original Last Will and Testament ("Will"), Decedent had died intestate.
Mr. Baker estimated that the value of Decedent's estate ("the Estate") was $59,300.00, which included real property. Mr. Baker requested that the trial court appoint him as administrator of the Estate and that notice be given to Decedent's creditors. In addition to himself, Mr. Baker identified Decedent's children, Janice Burns Payne, Mary Ann Garner, and James Doug Bush, as Decedent's heirs. Mr. Baker concomitantly filed an affidavit stating that he had provided notice to the other heirs.
The trial court entered an order appointing Mr. Baker as administrator of the Estate on August 17, 2016. Mr. Baker filed an inventory that same day, listing Decedent's assets as: (1) a tract of real property located in McKenzie, Tennessee, valued at $34,300.00; (2) a 2005 Ford Crown Victoria automobile valued at $5,000.00; and (3) miscellaneous personal property valued at $20,000.00.
On March 22, 2017, Mr. Baker filed a petition suggesting that the Estate was insolvent and asking the trial court to approve the sale of Decedent's real and personal property. In support, Mr. Baker stated that after conducting a diligent search, he had discovered personal assets worth $5,000.00, as well as an additional tract of real property in Carroll County that had been owned by Decedent. Mr. Baker acknowledged that Decedent's funeral expenses had been paid by Ms. Payne and that Ms. Payne was entitled to reimbursement from the Estate for such expenses. Mr. Baker further averred that attorney's fees, administrator's fees, court costs, and other expenses would need to be paid from the Estate. According to Mr. Baker, the Estate had no funds from which to pay these expenses, such that selling the real and personal property would be necessary.
On June 12, 2017, Ms. Payne filed a petition seeking revocation of Mr. Baker's letters of administration. Ms. Payne averred that upon Decedent's death, approximately $615,000.00 worth of jointly titled real and personal property passed directly to Mr. Baker. Ms. Payne alleged that although Mr. Baker was aware that she possessed the original Will, Mr. Baker nonetheless filed his petition asserting that Decedent had died intestate. Ms. Payne further claimed that she was not afforded notice of the prior proceedings. For these reasons, Ms. Payne asked the trial court to revoke Mr. Baker's letters of administration and allow her to probate the Will, attached to her petition, wherein she was named executrix. Ms. Payne further requested that the court direct Mr. Baker to account for and deliver the Estate's assets to her.
Ms. Payne concomitantly filed a response to Mr. Baker's petition suggesting that the Estate was insolvent. Ms. Payne averred that although no creditors had filed claims,the Estate now possessed only $5,000.00 in personal property when Mr. Baker's original accounting demonstrated personal assets worth $25,000.00. Although Ms. Payne confirmed that she had paid for funeral expenses for which she sought reimbursement, she denied that Mr. Baker should receive administrator's fees, noting his alleged misconduct. Ms. Payne further denied that it was necessary to sell the real property in order to pay the Estate's expenses.
The trial court conducted a hearing on June 20, 2017, concerning the petitions filed by Mr. Baker and Ms. Payne, and heard testimony from all three of Decedent's children. The court subsequently entered an order on July 6, 2017, finding that Decedent had executed a valid Last Will and Testament, which had been offered for probate by Ms. Payne. The court further found that the Will was properly witnessed and verified by affidavits from both witnesses. The court therefore appointed Ms. Payne executrix of the Estate in accordance with the Will's provisions and revoked the letters of administration issued to Mr. Baker.
Regarding Estate expenses, the trial court determined that Mr. Baker had performed valuable services for the Estate, "such as beginning the estate administration process, which was necessary because Payne did not come forward earlier to probate the Will," while also noting that Ms. Payne had provided reasons for her delay in seeking to probate the Will. The court found that although there were no claims filed against the Estate, Decedent's funeral expenses and the costs of administration would need to be paid by the Estate. According to the court's order, the Estate beneficiaries had indicated that they would be willing to pay necessary administration expenses in order to avoid the sale of the real property.
The trial court admitted Decedent's Will to probate, directing that letters testamentary be issued to Ms. Payne. Moreover, the court ordered Mr. Baker to file a final accounting and transfer the Estate's assets to Ms. Payne within thirty days of entry of the order. The court further ordered that Mr. Baker could file an appropriate motion requesting approval of any fees and expenses that he claimed were owed to him or his attorney.
On August 4, 2017, Mr. Baker filed a final accounting, stating that the Estate's assets consisted of (1) real property improved with a home, valued at $34,300.00; (2) a 2005 Ford Crown Victoria, valued at $5,000.00; (3) various quilts, valued at $1,500.00; and (4) jewelry, valued at $20,000.00, which Mr. Baker averred was "presumed stolen." Mr. Baker further stated that he, on behalf of the Estate, had received rental income of $1,500.00 and had incurred expenses of $3,477.82 related to the maintenance of the real property, which expenses purportedly had been paid by Mr. Baker personally. Mr. Baker thus claimed that the Estate owed him the difference between these amounts, or $1,877.82.
Also on August 4, 2017, Mr. Baker filed a "Notice of Surviving Spouse's Dissent from Will," wherein he stated that he "renounce[d] and surrender[ed] any claim to any gift under such will" and instead elected to receive the property to which he would have been entitled if Decedent had died intestate. Mr. Baker concomitantly filed a "Petition for Homestead, Elective Share, Exempt Property and Year's Support." In this petition, Mr. Baker stated that he was entitled to claim, inter alia, the surviving spouse's elective share.
On January 29, 2018, Ms. Payne filed an inventory of the Estate assets, which was approved by the trial court that same day. Subsequently, on May 9, 2018, Ms. Payne filed a response in opposition to Mr. Baker's petition for homestead, elective share, exempt property, and year's support. Ms. Payne asserted that Mr. Baker's claims were time barred because they were not filed within nine months of Decedent's death. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 31-4-102 (2015). Ms. Payne further asserted that Mr. Baker had received assets valued far in excess of the elective share outside of probate.
Following a hearing conducted on May 15, 2018, concerning the pending petitions, the trial court entered an "Omnibus Order" on July 6, 2018, determining that Mr. Baker's claims for homestead, elective share, exempt property, and year's support were not time barred. The court reasoned that the "timing of the petition to revoke the letters of administration and the request to admit the will to probate made it impossible for the filing of a petition for elective share within nine months of the date of death." The court further determined that Mr. Baker was precluded from making an advised and informed decision regarding whether to request an elective share until "after such time [as] it was determined that the last will and testament was going to be admitted to probate and was going to be the controlling method of distribution." The court therefore set Mr. Baker's petition for further hearing.
On July 10, 2018, Ms. Payne filed a motion to reconsider and to alter or amend the July 6, 2018 order pursuant to Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure 52 and 59.04. Also on July 10, 2018, Mr. Baker filed a motion to withdraw his demand for an...
To continue reading
Request your trial