In The Matter Of The Estate Of Dorsey W. Rohrbaugh
| Decision Date | 31 March 2010 |
| Docket Number | No.CL 2009-16701,No. FI2002-68397,FI2002-68397,CL 2009-16701 |
| Parties | In the Matter of the Estate of Dorsey W. Rohrbaugh |
| Court | Circuit Court of Virginia |
JUDGES
MICHAEL P. McWEENY
MARCUS D. WILLIAMS
STANLEY P. KLEIN
JANE MARUM ROUSH
LESLIE M. ALDEN
JONATHAN C. THACHER
R. TERRENCE NEY
GAYLORD L. FINCH, JR.
RANDY I. BELLOWS
CHARLES J. MAXFIELD
BRUCE D. WHITE
ROBERT J. SMITH
DAVID S. SCHELL
JAN L BRODIE
RETIRED JUDGES
BURCH MILLSAP
BARNARD F. JENNINGS
THOMAS J. MIDDLETON
THOMAS A. FORTKORT
RICHARD J. JAMBORSKY
J. HOWE BROWN
F. BRUCE BACH
M. LANGHORNE KEITH
ARTHUR B. VIEREGG
KATHLEEN H. MACKAY
ROBERT W. WOOLDRIDGE, JR.
Kenneth Mahieu, Esq.
Counsel for Claimant, Geanie L. Rohrbaugh
Matson Freyvogel, P.C.
James Ray Cottrell, Esq. and Kyle Bartol, Esq.
Counsel for the Estate of Dorsey W. Rohrbaugh and its Executors
Dear Counsel:
The parties came before the Court on December 4, 2009, and March 11, 2010, on remand from the Supreme Court of Virginia, which set aside this Court's previous order on the ground that the evidence in the record did not support the decision.1 The issue before this Court is whether Mrs. Rohrbaugh, by filing and pursuing two previous lawsuits against the Estate of Dorsey W. Rohrbaugh ("Estate"), invoked the no-contest provision of Dorsey W. Rohrbaugh's ("Mr. Rohrbaugh") will in light of all the factual circumstances of this case, including her intent in bringing the previous lawsuits. The Court has fully considered the applicable governing authorities, the relevant evidence, and the arguments presented both orally and in writing. For the reasons set forth herein, the Court now holds that Mrs. Rohrbaugh invoked the no-contest clause of Mr. Rohrbaugh's will, and is therefore entitled to only $100.00 pursuant to that clause.
Mr. and Mrs. Rohrbaugh married on April 18, 1974, and Mr. Rohrbaugh passed away on January 12, 2002. Since Mr. Rohrbaugh's death, his two sons from a previous marriage, Terry R. Rohrbaugh ("Terry Rohrbaugh") and Dorsey A. Rohrbaugh ("Sonny Rohrbaugh") have served as executors of the Estate (collectively, the "Executors"). Mrs. Rohrbaugh, Terry Rohrbaugh, Sonny Rohrbaugh, and Mr. Rohrbaugh's two daughters, also from a previous marriage, are the principal beneficiaries of the Last Will and Testament of Dorsey W. Rohrbaugh, dated January 3, 1994 ("Will").
Mr. Rohrbaugh's Will was admitted to probate on January 22, 2002. According to an Inventory filed by the Executors on May 15, 2002, the Estate had a value of approximately $2,127, 000.00. The litigation surrounding the administration of the Estate has included two separate lawsuits, the present adversary probate proceeding, and multiple appeals and cross-appeals to the Supreme Court of Virginia. The resolution of the present proceeding and Motion to Construe Will, filed by the Executors and Estate, requires an evaluation of an antenuptial agreement, the Will, and the two lawsuits.
Before their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Rohrbaugh executed an antenuptial agreement dated April 9, 1974 ("Antenuptial Agreement"). Before signing the agreement, Mrs. Rohrbaugh alleges that Mr. Rohrbaugh and his attorney, who drafted the agreement, assured her that all after-acquired property would be "theirs." The Antenuptial Agreement contains the following pertinent provisions 2.... GEANIE L. LYONS agrees... that her claim upon the estate of DORSEY W. ROHRBAUGH shall be limited only to such property which is not enumerated and not set forth on Schedule "A" attached... [A] 11 property, real, personal or mixed which the parties may accumulate after the marriage, singly or together over and above the estate set forth in Schedule "A"... shall be in full payment for all claims and demands of every kind and character which the said GEANIE L. LYONS shall be entitled to as the wife or widow of said DORSEY W. ROHRBAUGH against his said estate. This later interest in such estate to be [sic] a satisfaction of all claims for dower, statutory right, right of support, right of inheritance, and homestead right, and every claim of every kind or character...
6. It is specifically acknowledged and agreed by GEANIE L. LYONS that any and all property which is or may be acquired or purchased with the proceeds of any sale, pay-off or exchange of the property or assets set forth, in the Schedule "A" attached, shall... become a part of such schedule... free from any claim or demand which, she could or may have against the estate of DORSEY W. ROHRBAUGH.
7. Each of the parties waives and releases any rights as surviving spouse to elect to take against the other's will.
Schedule A, appended to the Antenuptial Agreement and initialed by Mr. and Mrs. Rohrbaugh, lists various items of real and personal property, including a house and lot located at 1304 and 1306 East Muriel Street, Orlando, Florida ("Orlando Property").3 Mr. and Mrs. Rohrbaugh thus agreed that (1) in satisfaction of any other claim she may have against the Estate, Mrs. Rohrbaugh could not claim any interest in property set forth in Schedule A (including the Orlando Property), or after-acquired property purchased with the proceeds of any sale of property enumerated in Schedule A; and (2) they mutually waived their statutory rights of election.
Under Paragraph 3 of the Will, Mr. Rohrbaugh devised his right, title, and interest in the Orlando Property to Mrs. Rohrbaugh. Under the same Paragraph, he also transferred the marital home at 725 Springvale Road, Great Falls, Virginia ("Great Falls Property"), or the net proceeds from the sale of such property, to a "Q-TIP Trust" for the benefit of Mrs. Rohrbaugh during her lifetime.4 Apart from an interest in the Orlando Property and in the net income generated from the sale of the Great Falls Property, the Will bequeathed no other property to Mrs. Rohrbaugh, and left the residuary of the Estate to Mr. Rohrbaugh's four children. Subsequent to his execution of the Will, however, Mr. Rohrbaugh sold the Orlando Property, and, allegedly, purchased with its proceeds real property located at 1149 North Timucuan Trail, Inverness, Florida ("Inverness Property").
The current Motion to Construe Will is governed by the no-contest clause of the Will, which provides, in full:
14.3. Contests to Will. To the extent permitted by law, it is my intention, and I hereby direct, that any person who contests this Will or any provision hereof, claims against this Will or fails to dismiss any such contest or claim, shall ipso facto forfeit any rights, titles or interest such person has or may at any time have under this Will and/or in any property distributable hereunder, except for the sum of One Hundred Dollars ($100).
In other words, if any beneficiary "contests" the Will, that person forfeits any interest he or she otherwise had under the Will, except for $100.00.
On July 12, 2002, Mrs. Rohrbaugh filed a twelve count Bill of Complaint against the Executors and the Estate ("Original Lawsuit") setting out the following causes of action: (I) Declaratory Judgment Voiding Antenuptial Agreement; (II) Breach of Contract (Antenuptial Agreement); (III) Enforcement of Claim to an Elective Share; (IV) Enforcement of Claim for Family Allowance; (V) Enforcement of Claim for Exempt Property Allowance; (VI) Enforcement of Claim for Homestead Allowance; (VII) Valuation of the Augmented Estate; (VIII) Declaratory Judgment of Rights to the Family Abode; (IX) Declaratory Judgment of Rights to the Florida Property; (X) Declaratory Judgment of Rights to the Personal Property in the Great Falls Property; (XI) Declaratory Judgment of Rights to the Personal Property in the Florida Property; and (XII) Accounting. Under Counts II and IX, Mrs. Rohrbaugh alleged that when Mr. Rohrbaugh sold the Orlando Property and purchased the Inverness Property with its proceeds, he orally promised Mrs. Rohrbaugh that he would convey the Inverness Property to her upon his death.
Mrs. Rohrbaugh nonsuited Counts II, VIII, IX, X, XI, and XII. Judge Dennis J. Smith subsequently entered a final order on June 28, 2004, holding, inter alia, that Mrs. Rohrbaugh was barred by the doctrine of laches from challenging the validity of the Antenuptial Agreement, and was further barred by the Antenuptial Agreement from seeking a determination of the augmented estate value or from claiming an elective share, family allowance, exempt property allowance, or homestead allowance. The parties' cross appeals to the Supreme Court were denied.5
Subsequently, on November 5, 2004, Mrs. Rohrbaugh filed a Motion for Judgment against the Executors and the Estate ("Subsequent Lawsuit") for about $2,100, 000, alleging a claim for conversion of personal property located in the Great Falls and Inverness Properties, and re-alleging her breach of contract claims. Specifically, she alleged that (1) Mr. Rohrbaugh breached the terms and conditions of the Antenuptial Agreement and subsequent oral agreements by failing to leave her, by the time of his death, all property that he had acquired after the execution of the Antenuptial Agreement; (2) Mr. Rohrbaugh breached an oral agreement to convey the Inverness Property to her upon his death, which he made in consideration for her executing a deed with respect to the Orlando Property;6 and (3) the Executors wrongfully misappropriated numerous items of personal property that were located in the Great Falls and Inverness Properties at the time of Mr. Rohrbaugh's death.
From October 24 to 26, 2005, Judge Jane Marum Roush presided over a jury trial on the Subsequent Lawsuit. On October 26, 2005, on cross examination conducted by Rodney G. Leffler, former ...
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