In Re The Estate Of Patrick W. Butler, A09-1208.

• Decision Date: 10 August 2010
• Docket Number: No. A09-1208.,A09-1208.
• Citation: 782 N.W.2d 829
• Parties: In re the ESTATE OF Patrick W. BUTLER, Deceased.
• Court: Minnesota Court of Appeals

782 N.W.2d 829

In re the ESTATE OF Patrick W. BUTLER, Deceased.

No. A09-1208.

Court of Appeals of Minnesota.

May 25, 2010.
Review Granted Aug. 10, 2010.

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COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

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Syllabus by the Court

1. Minn.Stat. § 524.6-204(a) (2008) governs the determination of whether a decedent intended the proceeds of a joint account to pass to a surviving joint accountholder or to be distributed under the terms of his will. The decedent's selection of an account with survivorship rights is not conclusive of the determination under section 524.6-204(a).

2. Evidence of the decedent's estate plan and the decedent's relationship with other family members is relevant to determining the decedent's intent in establishing the joint account.

William A. Erhart, Erhart & Associates, L.L.C., Anoka, MN; and Ronald R. Bradley, Minneapolis, MN, for appellant Maureen Kissack.

Kyle T. Wermerskirchen, Steven H. Snyder & Associates, Maple Grove, MN, for respondents Sheila M. Montognese, Bridget Beaudry, Lori France, Sandra Taverna, John Sandahl and Steven Sandahl.

Stephen M. Baker, Walker, MN, for respondent Estate of Patrick W. Butler.

Considered and decided by SCHELLHAS, Presiding Judge; HALBROOKS, Judge; and JOHNSON, Judge.OPINIONHALBROOKS, Judge.

Appellant challenges the treatment of five certificates of deposit as estate assets

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following a jury's determination that her father did not intend proceeds from the accounts to belong solely to her. Because we conclude that the evidence was sufficient to support the jury's verdict and because the district court did not err in admitting evidence or instructing the jury, we affirm.FACTS

Appellant Maureen Kissack is the daughter of decedent Patrick Butler and is named as the personal representative in his will. Respondents are Butler's children and the children of his second wife, Viola Sandahl, who predeceased him. Butler and Sandahl executed reciprocal wills in 1996. Each spouse designated the other as the sole beneficiary and provided for distribution of the estate in equal shares to the couple's combined eight children if the other spouse predeceased him or her. Article IV of Butler's will provided:

I hereby give, devise and bequeath my property, real, personal and mixed, including but not limited to my interest in real property, IRA's, insurance policies and checking accounts, wherever so located, to Viola M. Sandahl if she survives me by thirty days.

If Viola M. Sandahl does not survive me ... I then leave my entire estate in equal shares to the following named persons who are alive at the time of my death: Bridget A. Beaudry, Sheila M. Cooper, Lori M. France, Maureen J. Kissack, Sharon F. Sax, Jack K. Sandahl, Steven K. Sandahl, and Sandra E. Taverna.

Both Viola Sandahl and one of her daughters, Sharon F. Sax, predeceased Butler, who died on February 1, 2008.

Following Butler's death, Kissack filed a petition to probate his will and for her appointment as personal representative. The district court granted the petition. In the process of settling Butler's affairs, Kissack discovered the existence of five certificates of deposit (CDs) for amounts totaling approximately $100,000. Each of the CDs listed Butler and Kissack as joint accountholders, and each was designated as a “Joint Account-With Survivorship.” One of the CDs was subject to a lien securing a loan on Butler's manufactured home.

Kissack, who had no knowledge of the CDs prior to Butler's death, consulted with counsel for the estate and a personal attorney, both of whom advised her that the money in the accounts belonged to her and was not subject to probate. Kissack cashed in CDs worth approximately $50,000, which she used to pay down her mortgage. Kissack could not cash out the CD subject to the manufactured-home lien; that CD remains in the possession of the bank.

Based in part on Kissack's failure to include the CDs as estate assets, respondent Sheila M. Montognese, another of Butler's daughters, petitioned the court to remove Kissack as personal representative. Montognese asserted that Kissack had “failed to account for substantial Estate assets and ... prematurely distributed Estate assets.” The district court held an evidentiary hearing on the petition to remove Kissack as personal representative. Following the hearing, the district court issued an order denying the petition to remove Kissack as personal representative but requiring her to post a $300,000 bond. In the same order, the district court concluded that the CDs were estate assets and directed that their proceeds be deposited into the estate account.

Kissack moved the district court for amended findings or a new trial on the status of the CDs, arguing that she did not have proper notice that the issue would be resolved by the district court in connection with the petition for her removal as personal

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representative. Kissack also asserted that she was entitled to a jury trial on the status of the CDs. Over respondents' objection, the district court granted Kissack a new trial, stating that it “should not have made a ruling on the ownership of the joint accounts because that issue was not properly before the Court at the time of the hearing.” The district court subsequently empanelled a jury to determine whether Butler intended exclusive ownership of the CDs to pass to Kissack upon his death.

At trial, the jury heard testimony from Kissack and four of the six respondents. Neither Kissack nor any of the testifying respondents was aware of the CDs before Butler's death. And none of respondents knew any reason why Butler would leave the CDs to Kissack, rather than in equal shares to Kissack and each of the respondents in accordance with the terms of his will.

The testifying respondents asserted that Butler had a good relationship with each of his children and stepchildren. But Kissack and Montognese testified regarding a falling out between Butler and his third daughter, respondent Bridget Beaudry. And Montognese testified regarding a detrimental change in her own relationship with her father about six months before his death. Respondents acknowledged that Butler had dated other women during the 11 years after Viola Sandahl died, but insisted that Viola was the love of his life and that he would not have departed from the estate plan that they had created together. Respondents also conceded that Butler had purchased a number of life-insurance policies naming only his natural children as beneficiaries.

Respondents asserted that the circumstances surrounding the purchase of the CDs supported a finding that Butler intended them to pass through his estate. Montognese and respondents Jack Sandahl and Steven Sandahl testified that the CDs were funded with insurance and property-sale proceeds after a fire destroyed a lake home that Viola Sandahl had purchased before marrying Butler. Respondents argued that the use of a CD-rather than another asset-to secure the manufactured-home loan reflected Butler's intent that CDs be considered assets of his estate. But a bank employee testified that he advised Butler that using the CD as security offered the lowest cost and simplest financing option.

Following the testimony and arguments, the district court instructed the jury. The district court declined to give an instruction requested by Kissack on the difference between probate and non-probate assets, reasoning that “[t]he question is really whether there was a different intent other than joint ownership. I think it's simpler that way, so I'm going to just give that instruction.” The jury was given a special-verdict form, asking whether “there was clear and convincing evidence that the decedent had an intent other than what the CD's stated on their face-that Maureen Kissack became the owner of the funds upon Patrick Butler's death?” The jury answered “yes.”

Kissack moved for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial, arguing that (1) the evidence was insufficient to support the jury's finding; (2) the district court abused its discretion by admitting irrelevant evidence, including Butler's and Viola Sandahl's wills and testimony regarding Butler's relationships with the parties, the source of funds used to purchase the CD accounts, and the use of one CD to secure the manufactured-home loan; and (3) the district court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on probate versus non-probate assets. The district court denied the motions, and Kissack appeals.

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ISSUES I. Did the district court err by denying Kissack's motion for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial on the ground that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict?
II. Did the district court err by denying Kissack's motion for a new trial on other grounds?ANALYSIS

On appeal from a posttrial motion for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL), “this court determines whether there is any competent evidence reasonably tending to sustain the verdict.” Bolander v. Bolander, 703 N.W.2d 529, 545 (Minn.App.2005) (citing Blue Water Corp. v. O'Toole, 336 N.W.2d 279, 281 (Minn.1983)), review dismissed (Minn. Nov. 15, 2005); see also Minn. R. Civ. P. 50.02. “The jury's verdict stands unless it is manifestly and palpably contrary to the evidence, considered in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.” Id. (citing Stuempges v. Parke, Davis & Co., 297 N.W.2d 252, 256 (Minn.1980)). “Verdicts are upset only in extreme circumstances.” Id. (citing Ralph Hegman Co. v. Transamerica Ins. Co., 293 Minn. 323, 327, 198 N.W.2d 555, 558 (1972)).

This court reviews the district court's denial of a motion for a new trial for abuse of discretion. Lake Superior Ctr. Auth. v. Hammel, Green & Abrahamson, Inc., 715 N.W.2d 458, 476-77 (Minn.App.2006), review denied (Minn. Aug. 23, 2006). We “ ‘will not set aside a jury verdict on an appeal from a district court's denial of a motion for a new trial unless it is manifestly and palpably contrary to the evidence viewed as a...