IN RE ESTATE WEILAND
| Decision Date | 25 April 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 2-01-1384.,2-01-1384. |
| Citation | 273 Ill.Dec. 220,788 N.E.2d 811,338 Ill. App.3d 585 |
| Parties | In re ESTATE of Helen WEILAND, Deceased (Madeline Baurhyte, Robert Baurhyte, Glen Baurhyte, Timothy Baurhyte, and Michaeline Smith, Claimants-Appellees, v. Genevieve Smith, Albert S. Salvi, Independent Ex'r of the Will of Helen Weiland, Deceased, and the Estate of Helen Weiland, Deceased, Respondents-Appellants; The People ex rel. James E. Ryan, Attorney General of the State of Illinois, Claimant-Appellee, v. Albert S. Salvi, as Ex'r of the Estate of Helen Weiland, Respondent-Appellant). |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
Michael J. Salvi, Salvi, Salvi & Wifler, Lake Zurich, for Albert S. Salvi, Genevieve Smith.
David M. Lutrey, Robert M. Bollman, Bollman & Lesser, Lake Forest, Bonnie
Spaccarelli Hannon, Barrington, for Glen Baurhyte, Madeline Baurhyte, Robert Baurhyte, Timothy Baurhyte, Michaeline Smith.
James E. Ryan, Attorney General, Joel D. Bertocchi, Solicitor General, Timothy K. McPike, Assistant Attorney General, Chicago, for People ex rel. James E. Ryan.
The present appeal involves the status of three bank accounts established by Helen Weiland, now deceased. The People of the State of Illinois ex rel. James E. Ryan, Attorney General of the State of Illinois, filed a claim against respondent Albert S. Salvi, the executor of Weiland's estate. Madeline Baurhyte, Robert Baurhyte, Glen Baurhyte, Timothy Baurhyte, and Michaeline Smith (the Baurhyte claimants) filed a separate claim naming as respondents Genevieve Smith, Salvi, and Weiland's estate. The State and the Baurhyte claimants alleged that the three bank accounts were POD accounts and that the accounts were improperly liquidated by Weiland's guardian after Weiland was adjudged disabled but before her death. Respondents disputed these allegations. Following a consolidated bench trial in the circuit court of Lake County, the trial court determined that all three accounts were POD accounts and that they were improperly liquidated. Respondents timely appealed.
On December 30, 2002, this court filed its opinion. We affirmed in part and reversed in part. Specifically, we reversed that portion of the trial court's ruling that one of Weiland's bank accounts was a POD account naming the Baurhyte claimants as beneficiaries. The basis for our decision was that the trial court applied the wrong standard of proof in assessing the Baurhyte claim. The Baurhyte claimants filed a timely petition for rehearing disputing our finding. We granted the petition for rehearing and withdrew our prior opinion. For the reasons that follow we adhere to our finding that the trial court applied the wrong standard of proof. Accordingly, we affirm the decision of the trial court in part and reverse in part.
The present dispute centers on three bank accounts established by Helen Weiland. Weiland opened account No. XXXXXXXXXX (5723) at Affiliated Bank on January 3, 1991. Early in the nineties, Comerica Bank acquired Affiliated Bank. On February 17, 1994, following the acquisition, Weiland opened account Nos. XXXXXXXXXX (4168) and XXXXXXXXXX (4218) at Comerica Bank. Sometime later, LaSalle Bank acquired Comerica Bank. Account No. 5723 is the subject of the claim brought by the Baurhyte claimants; account Nos. 4168 and 4218 are the subjects of the claim brought by the State.
In July 1997, Weiland, then 92, was adjudged disabled. Joseph Vogler, the public guardian of Lake County, was named guardian of Weiland's person and estate. Weiland was then placed in a nursing home. Vogler was succeeded by Weiland's sister, Genevieve Smith. Smith hired attorney Albert Salvi, Sr., to represent her in the administration of Weiland's estate.
On May 22, 1998, Salvi closed account No. 5723 and deposited the funds into an account held in the guardian's name. In June 1998, Salvi petitioned the circuit court of Lake County to revoke 11 other bank accounts held by Weiland at LaSalle Bank. Salvi believed that the bank accounts were POD accounts, also known as Totten trusts. A Totten trust is created when a deposit is made by a person (the holder) of his or her own money in his or her own name as trustee for another. In re Estate of Davis, 225 Ill.App.3d 998, 1005, 168 Ill.Dec. 40, 589 N.E.2d 154 (1992). The guardian of a disabled person's estate may revoke a Totten trust only with court authorization. 755 ILCS 5/11a-18(d) (West 1998). Moreover, such funds may only be used "as necessary for the comfort and suitable support and education of the ward * * * or for any other purpose which the court deems to be for the best interests of the ward." 755 ILCS 5/11a-18(a) (West 1998).
Included in the list of accounts Salvi sought to revoke were account Nos. 4168 and 4218. According to the petition, the funds in the Totten trusts were intended to cover "anticipated overall cost and expense in sustaining the ward's person and estate" and "the exposure of federal estate, state inheritance and death tax liability in the event of the ward's death."
On or about June 29, 1998, Judge Bernard Drew granted the guardian's petition. The order provided in relevant part:
"IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the guardian of the estate is authorized to amend or revoke the Totten Trusts set forth in the petition to the extent necessary to provide increased income to the estate and to provide funds necessary for the care, management and investment of the estate, protective of any beneficiary contingent interest as much as is reasonably possible considering the needs and best interests of the ward pursuant to 755 ILCS 5/11a-18(d) while preserving the interests of the beneficiaries by accounting of the guardian."
Following Weiland's death on October 3, 1999, her disabled person's estate was closed. On or about October 22, 1999, the decedent's estate was opened and Salvi was appointed as independent executor.
On May 4, 2000, the Baurhyte claimants and the State filed the claims that comprise the present dispute.
The State brought its claim on behalf of the People of the State of Illinois "as the ultimate beneficiaries at common law of all assets given or held for charitable public-benefit purposes." The State alleged that account Nos. 4168 and 4218 were Totten trusts naming charitable beneficiaries and that the accounts were improperly liquidated in violation of Judge Drew's June 1998 order. According to the State, the liquidations were improper because Weiland's disabled person's estate contained sufficient assets to provide for her needs. Thus, the funds in the Totten trusts were not necessary to provide for the care and management of Weiland's disabled person's estate as required by sections 11a-18(a) and (d) of the Probate Act of 1975 (Probate Act) (755 ILCS 5/11a-18(a), (d) (West 1998)).
The Baurhyte claimants filed a two-count complaint. Count I was directed against Salvi, as independent executor of Weiland's estate. The Baurhyte claimants alleged that Weiland created certain bank accounts, including account No. 5723, as Totten trusts, naming them as beneficiaries. The Baurhyte claimants further alleged that the funds in the Totten trusts established for their benefit were not needed or used for Weiland's benefit. Count II was directed against Smith, as the guardian of Weiland's estate. However, Smith was voluntarily dismissed by the Baurhyte claimants prior to trial and is not a party to this appeal.
The trial commenced on January 22, 2001. Lynn Wanner, the keeper of records for LaSalle Bank, was the first witness. Wanner testified that she handles document production in response to court requests. Wanner compiled copies of documents related to Weiland's accounts, including bank statements and signature cards. It is the back of the signature card that the customer must complete in order to designate an account as a Totten trust. Relevant here, Wanner produced the front and back of a signature card dated January 3, 1991, for account No. 5723, the front of a signature card dated February 17, 1994, for account No. 4168, and the front and back of a signature card dated February 17, 1994, for account No. 4218. Admitted into evidence by stipulation of the parties were the signature cards pertaining to Weiland's accounts.
Wanner also produced documents purporting to be monthly bank statements for accounts 4168 and 4218. The statements are dated from February 17, 1994, through August 31, 1997. The statements for account No. 4168 are addressed to "HELEN L WEILAND, POD ST FRANCES DESALES [sic] CATHOLIC CHURCH, POD CALVARY CHAPEL OF LAKE VILLA, POD THE MARYKNOLL FATHERS & BROTHERS NY." The statements for account No. 4218 are addressed to "HELEN L WEILAND, POD NORBERTINE FATHERS, POD OUR LADY OF MIRACULOUS MEDAL & REV CHARLES F SHELBY & JAMES ILLICHMAN." Wanner admitted that these statements were not the actual statements mailed to the customer. Rather, they represented computer printouts of the records of LaSalle Bank as they existed at the time they were generated for the litigation. Wanner stated, however, that the information used to produce both the computer printouts and the statements that are mailed to the customer is identical and that the same information is sent to the customer.
Lisa McCarthy testified that in July 1997 she was employed as a personal banker at LaSalle Bank. McCarthy's duties included providing information to customers concerning their accounts. McCarthy noted that account information was routinely entered into the bank's computer system and that, in providing customers information about their accounts, she relied on the computer records as well as signature cards and other bank documents. To the best of McCarthy's knowledge, the bank kept copies of such requests and the bank's responses thereto.
On July 8, 1997, at her supervisor's request, McCarthy responded...
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