Oxley v. Oxley
| Decision Date | 18 January 1978 |
| Docket Number | No. 59664,59664 |
| Citation | 262 N.W.2d 144 |
| Parties | In the Matter of the Estate of Ruth Marion OXLEY, Deceased, Farmers State Bank, Marion, Iowa, Executor of the Estate, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. George A. OXLEY, Kathleen Eacutt, Ruth E. Oxley, Defendants-Appellees, and Covenant Presbyterian Church of Long Beach Unified School District, Defendant, and John Wayne Oxley, Clela O. Blankmeyer, Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Patrick M. Roby and W. R. Shuttleworth, of Shuttleworth & Ingersoll, Cedar Rapids, and James H. Counts and Stephen J. Briggs, of Morton, Reed & Counts, St. Joseph, Mo., for defendants-appellants John Wayne Oxley and Clela O. Blankmeyer.
Winfield A. White of White, Stone & Horan, Marion, for plaintiff-appellee.
David A. Elderkin of Wadsworth, Elderkin, Pirnie & Von Lackum, Cedar Rapids, for defendants-appellees.
Heard before MOORE, C. J., and MASON, RAWLINGS, REYNOLDSON and HARRIS, JJ.
Defendants, John Wayne Oxley and Clela O. Blankmeyer, appeal from an adverse decree of the trial court in an action brought by the executor of the estate of Ruth M. Oxley seeking construction of the last will and testament of the decedent. The appeal presents the question whether four certificates of deposit listed in Schedule C of the probate inventory of the decedent's estate should be included in the bequest of "stocks, bonds and/or securities" in paragraph six of decedent's last will and testament or whether they should be a part of the rest, residue and remainder of the estate which would be distributed according to paragraph seven of the will and paragraph five-A of the first codicil.
July 12, 1975, Ruth Marion Oxley, then a resident of Marion, Iowa, died testate. Her will dated April 21, 1964, her first codicil dated September 28, 1965, and her second codicil dated August 15, 1967, each of which was executed while she was a resident of Long Beach, California, have all been admitted to probate in the Linn District Court. When her executor, Farmers State Bank, Marion, Iowa, reached the point at which distribution under the will could commence, a dispute arose concerning proper distribution.
Miss Oxley had never married and, at the time of her death, her only surviving heirs at law were two nephews, John Wayne Oxley and George A. Oxley, and two nieces, Clela O. Blankmeyer and Kathleen Eacutt. The decedent was also survived by her sister-in-law, Ruth E. Oxley.
As indicated, the executor filed a petition in equity in the Linn District Court seeking construction of the sixth paragraph of the will. Defendants, George A. Oxley, Kathleen Eacutt, and Ruth E. Oxley, answered and filed a motion for summary judgment. Defendants, John Wayne Oxley and Clela O. Blankmeyer, also answered and filed a motion for summary judgment.
At the hearing on the motions for summary judgment the parties agreed the court should treat the motions and the support thereto as arguments relating to the petition for construction. The parties later filed briefs in support of the arguments raised in their motions. After consideration of these arguments, the trial court ruled in favor of the position of the executor and of defendants, George A. Oxley, Kathleen Eacutt and Ruth E. Oxley.
The provisions of the will relevant hereto are as follows:
In a first codicil to her will, testatrix, by insertion of a new paragraph entitled fifth-A, made a bequest of $500.00 to the Covenant Presbyterian Church of Long Beach, California, and a bequest of $1,000.00 to the Long Beach Unified School District, Long Beach, California, and changed the executor of her will. By a second codicil she designated her brother George C. Oxley as her executor. Her brother predeceased her and the Marion State Bank was named executor. No issues are raised as to these codicils.
At her death testatrix left a total gross estate of $97,827.94. The total estate assets may be summarized as follows:
1. Checking account in Farmers
State Bank ........................ $ 800.37
2. Savings account in Farmers
State Bank ........................ $ 3,887.38
3. Benefits payable from California
Teachers Retirement System ........ $ 2,000.00
4. Life Insurance ..................... $10,632.37
5. Three savings certificates
of deposit with Marion
State Bank ........................ $33,877.82
6. One savings certificate with
Security Savings and Loan
Asssociation, Marion, Iowa
(formerly Linn County Savings
and Loan Association, Marion
Iowa) ............................. $24,295.12
7. Shares of stock in various
corporations ...................... $22,334.88
All parties hereto agree the shares of stock valued at $22,334.88 (Item 7) pass to the nephews and nieces through the sixth paragraph of the will. At issue here is the distribution of the four savings certificates of deposit (Items 5 and 6) totaling $58,172.94.
Defendants, John Wayne Oxley and Clela O. Blankmeyer, contend the four certificates of deposit pass through the sixth paragraph, of the will because of their interpretation of the phrase, "stocks, bonds and/or securities." The executor and defendants, George A. Oxley, Kathleen Eacutt and Ruth E. Oxley, interpret the phrase differently and consequently contend the certificates pass through the seventh paragraph of the will.
The trial court, after consideration of the motions for summary judgment, the support for these motions and the briefs of the parties, ruled in part as follows:
The issues as framed by the parties are as follows:
1. Is the phrase, "stocks, bonds and/or securities," ambiguous so that rules of construction of wills must be used to determine the intent of the testatrix?
2. Does the term "securities" include savings certificates of deposit?
3. Does application of the rule of ejusdem generis to the phrase "stocks, bonds and/or securities" result in a finding the term "securities" is limited in meaning to such securities as would be bought in the open market?
I. In this equitable action our review is de novo. Section 633.33, The Code; Larson v. Anderson, 167 N.W.2d 640, 642 (Iowa 1969); Houts v. Jameson, 201 N.W.2d 466, 468 (Iowa 1972). In re Marriage of Williams, 199 N.W.2d 339, 346 (Iowa 1972).
In a case of this type our review is guided by certain well-established legal principles. This court recently repeated the following principles in Baldrige v. Greiner, 255 N.W.2d 114, 115 (Iowa 1977):
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...trial court does not seek to uphold the ruling on the ground suggested. (Citations omitted.) (Emphasis added.) See also Oxley v. Oxley, 262 N.W.2d 144, 151 (Iowa 1978). It is only logical to reason that if we would uphold a ruling of a trial court for a reason other than the one relied on b......
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...involves the construction of a will with reference to the disposition of joint tenancy property. Our review is de novo. Oxley v. Oxley, 262 N.W.2d 144, 147 (Iowa 1978). The following appears from the documents and testimony in evidence. Mary K. Boldt, testatrix, owned accounts in financial ......
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