Kemp v. Rawlings, 25800.

• Citation: 594 S.E.2d 845,358 S.C. 28
• Decision Date: 05 April 2004
• Docket Number: No. 25800.,25800.
• Parties: Drusilla KEMP, Lenora Hickman, Cecil D. Rawlings, and William W. Rawlings, III, Respondents, v. Snoda Elizabeth A. RAWLINGS, and William L. Shipley, as Personal Representative of the Estate of William Wyatt Rawlings, Jr., Defendants, Of whom Snoda Elizabeth A. Rawlings is, Appellant.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of South Carolina

358 S.C. 28

594 S.E.2d 845

Drusilla KEMP, Lenora Hickman, Cecil D. Rawlings, and William W. Rawlings, III, Respondents, v. Snoda Elizabeth A. RAWLINGS, and William L. Shipley, as Personal Representative of the Estate of William Wyatt Rawlings, Jr., Defendants, Of whom Snoda Elizabeth A. Rawlings is, Appellant.

No. 25800.

Supreme Court of South Carolina.

Heard March 4, 2004.

Decided April 5, 2004.

Charles E. Carpenter, Jr., S. Elizabeth Brosnan, and Jeff Z. Brooker, III, all of Richardson, Plowden, Carpenter & Robinson, P.A., of Columbia, for appellant.

Morris D. Rosen and Donald B. Clark, both of Rosen, Rosen & Hagood, LLC, of Charleston, for respondents.

Justice MOORE:

We are asked to determine whether the circuit court erred by affirming the probate court's decision finding appellant was not entitled to certain joint account funds following the death of her husband. We reverse.

FACTS

This case involves the construction of the will of Colonel William Rawlings (Col.Rawlings). Col. Rawlings' adult children (respondents) filed a complaint in probate court alleging constructive trust, accounting, and conversion, against appellant, who is Col. Rawlings' widow. William L. Shipley, the attorney who is the personal representative of Col. Rawlings' estate and who drafted the will, was named as a party to the action. Respondents sought to recover funds appellant withdrew from joint accounts she held with Col. Rawlings approximately a year before his death.

Appellant, who was 78 years old, and Col. Rawlings, who was 77 years old, were married in December 1988. Both Col. Rawlings and appellant had adult children from prior marriages. In 1990, Col. Rawlings executed his will with the assistance of Attorney Shipley. The pertinent portions of the will state:

ITEM III: I have made adequate provisions for my beloved wife, SNODA ELIZABETH A. RAWLINGS, as we have a joint or survivorship bank account or joint or survivorship savings account and she is entitled to and I give and bequeath all funds in said account except for any Certificates of Deposit accounts which are not joint or survivorship accounts....

(Emphasis added). Col. Rawlings left the residue of his property to respondents.

Attorney Shipley testified Col. Rawlings told him he had accounts solely in his name and joint accounts with appellant, none of which were identified by bank or by account number. Shipley testified Col. Rawlings stated his intent was to ensure appellant was well taken care of with all of his joint accounts if he predeceased her.

At the time the will was executed, Col. Rawlings and appellant had a joint checking and a joint savings account at C & S National Bank of South Carolina. When NationsBank acquired C & S Bank in 1991, those accounts were converted to NationsBank accounts. Subsequently, Col. Rawlings withdrew $80,000 from the NationsBank joint savings account and opened a joint brokerage account with appellant at First Union. In 1995, Col. Rawlings closed the First Union joint brokerage account and opened a new joint brokerage account with appellant at Wachovia. He also opened a joint checking account with appellant at Wachovia. He later closed the NationsBank accounts.

In 1997, Col. Rawlings, suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized. He was subsequently transferred to Roper Care Alliance and remained there for a month. When he returned home, he was cared for by appellant and paid sitters. A year later, when appellant could no longer care for Col. Rawlings at home, he was placed in the Charleston VA Hospital nursing facility. Appellant then instituted a guardianship/conservatorship action and, in February 1999, appellant was appointed to be Col. Rawlings' guardian and conservator.

Approximately two months before the petition was filed to declare Col. Rawlings incompetent, appellant, on the advice of counsel, withdrew over $130,000 from the Wachovia brokerage account she shared with him and deposited them into her individual Wachovia brokerage account. Thereafter, she placed $30,000 of those funds in Col. Rawlings' conservatorship account. Some of the funds were withdrawn as cash and have not been accounted for; however, appellant indicated this money was spent on Col. Rawlings' medical care and home sitting care.

After a trial, the probate court found for respondents on the constructive trust and accounting claims, but declined to award any additional damages on the conversion claim. The probate court found Col. Rawlings bequeathed to appellant only the joint accounts existing at the time he executed the will and not the joint accounts existing at his death, that the bequest to appellant had adeemed, that the funds in the joint accounts opened after the execution of the will belonged to Col. Rawlings during his lifetime, and that appellant would be required to repay the funds she withdrew from those joint accounts to the estate.

The probate court imposed a constructive trust against appellant in the amount of $225,162.70. Attorney Shipley, as personal representative of the estate, was ordered to pay respondents' attorney's and accountant's fees out of the estate prior to appellant's exercising her right to an elective share pursuant to S.C.Code Ann. § 62-2-201 (Supp.2003).¹ Appellant appealed to the circuit court, which affirmed the probate court.

ISSUE I

Did the probate court err by finding appellant was not entitled to the funds in the joint accounts under the will?

DISCUSSION

Appellant argues the probate court erred by finding Col. Rawlings intended to leave only the joint accounts existing at the time he executed the will, i.e. the C & S Bank joint checking and savings accounts, to her.² An action to construe a will is an action at law. Bob Jones Univ. v. Strandell, 344 S.C. 224, 543 S.E.2d 251 (Ct. App.2001). When reviewing an action at law, on appeal of a case tried without a jury, our jurisdiction is limited to the correction of errors of law and this Court will not disturb the judge's findings of fact unless found to be without evidence that reasonably supports the judge's findings. Townes Assocs., Ltd. v. City of Greenville, 266 S.C. 81, 221 S.E.2d 773 (1976).

The cardinal rule of will construction is the determination of the testator's intent. Matter of Clark, 308 S.C. 328, 417 S.E.2d 856 (1992). A will must be read in the ordinary and grammatical sense of the words employed, unless some obvious absurdity, repugnancy, or inconsistency with the declared intention of the testator, as abstracted from the whole will, would follow from such construction. Id. The rules of construction are subservient to the primary consideration of ascertaining what the testator meant by the terms used in the written instrument itself, and each item of a will must be considered in relation to other portions. Allison v. Wilson, 306 S.C. 274, 411 S.E.2d 433 (1991). Every word or phrase in a will must be considered and, if practicable, effect must be given to them. Id. An interpretation that fits into the whole scheme or plan of the will is most apt to be the correct interpretation of the intent of the testator. Lemmon v. Wilson, 204 S.C. 50, 28 S.E.2d 792 (1944).

From the terms of the will, it appears the intent of Col. Rawlings in making the bequest to appellant was to make an adequate provision for her through their joint bank accounts. However, as the probate court found, extrinsic evidence is admissible to determine if there is a latent ambiguity in the will. If there is such an ambiguity, then the court may also consider extrinsic evidence to determine whether Col. Rawlings intended to leave appellant only the C & S Bank joint accounts they had at the time the will was executed or whether he intended to leave appellant the joint bank accounts that existed at the time of his death. See Bob Jones Univ., supra (court may admit extrinsic evidence to determine whether latent ambiguity exists; once the court finds latent ambiguity, extrinsic evidence is also permitted to determine testator's intent.). A latent ambiguity is one in which the uncertainty arises, not upon the words of the instrument as looked at in themselves, but upon those words when applied to the object or subject which they describe. Id.

A latent ambiguity is present in Col. Rawlings' will. The words of the will bequeath the joint bank account or joint savings account appellant and Col. Rawlings have. When applying those words, especially the word "have," an ambiguity arises as to whether Col. Rawlings intended to leave only the C & S joint bank accounts to appellant because those were the accounts they had at the time the will was executed, or whether he intended to leave any joint bank account to appellant. Evidence of Col. Rawlings' intent can be found in the will and from Attorney Shipley's testimony.

The will provides that Col. Rawlings has "made adequate provisions for [his] beloved wife" through a joint bank account they "have." This indicates his intention that he desires his wife to be adequately provided for. Further, Attorney Shipley testified that, by his will, Col. Rawlings intended that appellant should be well taken care of with "all of his joint accounts" if he predeceased her.

At Col. Rawlings' death, the C & S Bank joint accounts were no longer in existence; however, Col. Rawlings transferred the funds in those accounts (after a series of transfers) to Wachovia in bank accounts held jointly with appellant. Given Col. Rawlings' intent and the fact that he is presumed to know that a will speaks at death, the probate court erred by finding that, under the will, appellant was not entitled to the joint accounts she and Col. Rawlings held at the time of his death. See Shelley v. Shelley, 244 S.C. 598, 137 S.E.2d 851 (1964)

(will speaks at death); In re Estate of Holden, 343 S.C. 267, 539 S.E.2d 703 (2000) (everyone is presumed to have knowledge of the law). Further, the probate court erred by adding language to the terms of Col. Rawlings'...