In re Halter
| Decision Date | 02 November 2022 |
| Docket Number | 21-1213 |
| Parties | IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF HELEN M. HALTER, Deceased. KIM BARBER, Appellant. |
| Court | Iowa Court of Appeals |
IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF HELEN M. HALTER, Deceased. KIM BARBER, Appellant.
No. 21-1213
Court of Appeals of Iowa
November 2, 2022
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jasper County, John D. Lloyd, Judge.
Kim Barber appeals an adverse ruling in a probate proceeding. AFFIRMED.
Joel C. Waters of Kaplan & Frese, LLP, Marshalltown, for appellant
Hilary J. Montalvo of Nuzum & Montalvo, PLLC, Newton, for appellee.
Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Badding, JJ.
BADDING, Judge
An estate executor filed an application to determine ownership of the decedent's property, alleging the decedent's half-sister and niece unduly influenced her to add them as joint owners of the decedent's bank accounts. Following a hearing, the district court found the niece had a confidential and fiduciary relationship with the decedent and failed to rebut the presumption of undue influence. Thus, the court determined the bank accounts are the sole property of the estate. The niece appeals that ruling, arguing she met her burden to overcome the presumption of undue influence. We affirm the decision of the district court.
I. Background Facts and Proceedings
This litigation involves the estate of Helen Halter. Judy Conn is Halter's daughter-in-law, having been married to Halter's son, Bruce, from 1967 until Bruce's death in 1982. Despite Bruce's death and Judy's remarriage to Jeff Conn, she and Halter continued to have a close relationship. Chad Halter, the son of Bruce and Judy, is Halter's only living grandchild. On the other side of the equation are Halter's half-sister, Phyllis Green, and her daughter, Kim Barber.
Halter's long-time attorney, Bruce Nuzum, assisted Halter with her estateplanning needs since the late 1990s. In May 2013, Nuzum helped Halter prepare and execute her last will and testament, a general power of attorney, and a combined living will and medical power of attorney. Halter's will provided for specific bequests of $5000 each to Green, Barber, and a church, with the residue of the estate going into a trust for the benefit of Chad. It also designated Judy as executor, with Jeff serving in her stead if she was unable. The general power of
attorney appointed Judy and Jeff as Halter's attorneys-in-fact with "full power and authority to manage and conduct all of [her] affairs." The living will and medical power of attorney designated Judy as her power of attorney for health care decisions, with Jeff as her successor.
After her husband died in 2010, Halter gradually became more forgetful, less independent, and more susceptible to influence. For example, she needed Judy's assistance with tasks she used to do on her own, and she forgot how to get to places she was familiar with. In 2017 or 2018, Halter's bank noticed that she was spending thousands of dollars per month on magazine orders because she was giving out her bank information to scammers over the phone. She also nearly fell victim to a mailing scam, which Judy learned of and prevented.
Around July 2019, Green learned that Judy was Halter's power of attorney. This upset Green, and she confronted Judy about it. According to Judy's testimony, Green "was adamant that she was going to do something to get me off of there and her on." When Judy asked her, "[W]hat about it do you want?" Green responded, "The money." On September 17, Barber and Green took Halter to Nuzum's law office. According to Barber, Halter told her and Green that she wanted to grant them powers of attorney. Nuzum testified that he met with the trio in the law firm's conference room when they arrived. After he learned they wanted to talk about changing Halter's power of attorney forms and her will, Nuzum asked to speak with Halter alone. According to Shirley, Nuzum's wife and legal assistant, Green and Barber "weren't very happy" when they came back out to the waiting area of the law office.
Nuzum testified that, during his individual visit with Halter, she "was not as responsive as [he] would have liked to have seen." Once they were alone, Nuzum explained to Halter that Judy and Jeff currently served as her agents. He asked Halter if there had been any problems with them, and Halter said there had not been. Ultimately, Nuzum asked Halter whether she wanted to make any changes to her power of attorney, and she responded that she didn't. Nuzum also explained to Halter that her will made specific bequests of $5000 each to Halter's niece, sister, and church, with the residue going into a trust for the benefit of Chad. Halter stated that she did not want to change her will either. She also wanted Judy and Jeff to remain executors under the will.
Nuzum testified that when he and Halter were done with their meeting, Green asked Halter whether she planned to make the changes. When Halter said no, Green's demeanor went from "friendly and outgoing" to "frosty and standoffish." Shirley testified Green and Barber "were very angry," and "they marched out the door." When Nuzum saw the three standing outside the office after they left, Green "seemed to be talking with some force to" Halter, but Halter was withdrawn and not responding. Shirley observed Green and Barber to be scolding Halter like a child.
Sometime the same day, Green was added to Halter's checking and savings accounts with a joint right of survivorship. Troy Garton, the bank's assistant vice president, testified Halter came into the bank with Green. He said Green did most of the talking, and she directed him to not notify Judy of the change to Halter's accounts. Garton did not tell Halter about the implications of giving Green a right of survivorship on the accounts. In the months that followed, Green filled out several checks from Halter's checking account, which Halter signed.
Some were payable to Green and Barber directly, but most of the suspect ones were payable in cash.
About a month later, in October, Halter's long-time primary care physician, Dr. Patrick Edwards, conducted a cognitive assessment of Halter. He opined she had "moderate cognitive impairment," specifically dementia, and she was not "capable of making financial or other legal decisions on her own accord."[1] Dr. Edwards told Judy "that her financial accounts should be monitored as I think she is at high risk for poor decision making of her financial accounts." Judy notified Barber of the diagnosis, but Barber did not agree with it.
On another occasion in October, Judy went to visit Halter at her home, but Halter ended up not being there. When Judy went to the garage to see if Halter's car was there, Green showed up in the driveway, accused Judy of "snooping," and told her to leave. Around the same time, the locks at Halter's home were changed. The check from Halter's account that was written to pay for the lock-changing service was written by Green.
Green returned to her home in Kansas in late 2019 after staying with Halter for several months. Then, in February 2020, Barber was added to Halter's checking account with a joint right of survivorship. Barber testified this was done so she could help Halter out with the account.
On August 10, after a derecho tore through Iowa, Barber picked up Halter from her Newton home and took her to Barber's home in Marshalltown. Barber did not tell Judy that Halter was with her. According to Barber's testimony, Halter
"was scared, upset, and she asked [Barber] to come get her." Halter never went back to her home. From then on, Barber controlled who Halter spoke with. Once Judy learned where Halter was...
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