Stalions v. Stalions (In re Stalions)
| Decision Date | 14 March 2022 |
| Docket Number | Court of Appeals Case No. 21A-GU-978 |
| Citation | 186 N.E.3d 604 (Table) |
| Parties | In the MATTER OF the GUARDIANSHIP OF Carol STALIONS, an Alleged Incapacitated Adult; Randy Stalions, Appellant-Intervenor, v. Benjamin Stalions and Beth Sullivan-Summers, Appellees-Petitioners. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Attorney for Appellant: Michael A. Ksenak, Ksenak Law Firm, Martinsville, Indiana
Attorneys for Appellees: Tony H. Abbott, Miranda L. Steele, Foley & Abbott, LLC, Indianapolis, Indiana
[1] Randy Stalions ("Randy") appeals from the trial court's order that denied his motion to dismiss the petition to establish guardianship over Carol Stalions ("Carol") that was filed by Benjamin Stalions ("Ben") and Beth Sullivan-Summers ("Beth"). Randy raises two issues for our review, which we restate as:
[2] We affirm and remand with instructions.
[3] Carol is a seventy-five-year-old woman who, until widowed in 2020, lived with her husband Wilbur Stalions ("Wilbur") in Martinsville, Indiana, in a home the couple built in 1972. Earlier in her life, Carol had an aneurism that required brain surgery
and caused her to suffer neurological limitations, including blackouts and seizures, that have continued throughout her life. She has suffered from epilepsy since she was twenty years old. Carol graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago and worked as an artist and as a filing clerk. She and Wilbur were married for fifty-two years.
[4] Carol and Wilbur had three children, Ben, Laura, and Randy. Ben, the couple's eldest son, is married and has been living in Virginia since 2009. Ben moved out of the family residence in 2009 but would return to visit with his parents and Randy once or twice per year. Laura currently lives in Oregon and is estranged from the family. Randy, the youngest son, who was around forty-one years old at the time the events relevant to this appeal took place, has lived with his parents his entire life and has served as his parents’ caretaker. Randy has never been married and has no children. He works "part time, here and there[,]" installing television antenna systems and restoring golf equipment. Tr. Vol. 2 at 177.
[5] Wilbur passed away in January 2020. In his later years, he suffered from Alzheimer's Disease
. During the two to three years that preceded Wilbur's death, Ben noticed a strong smell of urine in his parents’ house—primarily in the family room where Wilbur spent most of the time—and that the smell became progressively worse. When Ben expressed his concern to Randy, Randy did not take the matter seriously and told Ben, "[I]f my dad's peeing on the carpet and we clean it, dad's just going to pee on the carpet after we clean the carpet." Id. at 25.
[6] During one of Ben's visits, in either October or December of 2019, Ben discovered in his parents’ basement a deep freezer that had been unplugged and was filled with spoiled food. Ben was concerned that Carol would consume rotten or moldy food. When Ben told Carol and Randy about the freezer, Carol "didn't have a whole lot of reaction[,]" and Randy said, "well that's not good." Id. at 52. On another visit in October 2019, Ben and Randy installed a video surveillance camera on the front porch of their parents’ house. Video captured by the camera showed that on October 15, Randy kicked Wilbur in his upper right leg while Wilbur sat on a porch swing.
[7] In early January 2020, unbeknownst to Randy, Ben installed two "nanny" cameras inside of their parents’ home because, after having seen Randy kick Wilbur in October 2019, Ben "wanted to keep an eye on [his] dad." Id. at 34, 35. Within two hours of Ben installing the cameras, Ben's wife, who was watching the video feed from a different location, called Ben and told him that the feed showed Randy physically and verbally mistreating Wilbur. Randy's mistreatment of Wilbur continued over the next several days. The videos showed that, on January 4 and 6, Randy punched Wilbur in the left side of his head, punched Wilbur in the back twice and called him stupid, forcefully moved Wilbur from a couch to a wheelchair, smacked Wilbur's hands away from his face, and kicked Wilbur in the leg.
[8] Ben contacted Adult Protective Services ("APS") and provided the agency with the videos. On January 7, APS had Wilbur removed from his home and placed in a care facility. On January 17, Randy was charged with battery resulting in bodily injury to an endangered adult, as a Level 5 felony, and neglect of a dependent, as a Level 6 felony.2
[9] While Wilbur was in the care facility, he contracted pneumonia
and was transported to the hospital. He died on January 19, and his funeral was held on February 1. During the funeral, Carol became confused and did not recognize Ben. She believed that her son Ben was actually her brother James Long ("Jim"), even though Carol had last seen Ben two weeks before the funeral.
[11] The Guardians attached to their Emergency Petition a report that was prepared by Advanced Nurse Practitioner Lu Sclair, who had known Carol for six years and medically examined Carol on January 14, 2020. The report provided, among other things, a diagnosis for Carol of dementia
and progressive memory changes, and Sclair indicated in the report that a guardianship for Carol would be helpful.6
[12] On February 13, Randy took Carol to meet with Dale Coffey, who was then in his twenty-fourth year as an estate planning attorney. Coffey, who had not met Carol before, spoke privately with Carol for about forty-five minutes about her estate planning needs. Coffey was not informed of the pending guardianship proceedings, which he first learned of a year later. Carol asked Coffey to draft for her a will, a general durable power of attorney, and a healthcare power of attorney.
[13] Coffey drafted the documents and sent them to Carol for review. Randy and Carol then returned to Coffey's office on February 28 for a follow-up consultation. Coffey again met alone with Carol and asked Carol if she had questions about the documents. Carol indicated that "everything looked good[,]" and she signed the general durable power of attorney and the healthcare power of attorney (hereinafter referred to collectively as the "February 28 POAs"), both of which named Randy as her primary attorney-in-fact and her brother, Jim, as her secondary attorney-in-fact.7 Tr. Vol. 2 at 92. The general durable power of attorney gave Randy complete control over Carol's finances and provided in relevant part:
8. Effective Date and Incapacity. This Power of Attorney shall be effective as of the date of its execution and my disability or incompetence shall not affect or terminate this Power of Attorney. This Power of Attorney shall terminate only upon the execution and recordation of a written revocation of this Power of Attorney with the Recorder's Office of the County of my domicile.
Appellant's App. Vol. II at 37 (emphasis added).
[14] The court held a hearing on the Emergency Petition on March 6. Randy and Carol received notice of the hearing on March 5, but Randy did not attend because he had difficulty finding an attorney to represent him. Following the hearing, the trial court issued an order that found that Carol was in need of a guardian "by reason of her incapacity, that she is mentally unable to give her consent, and that it is in the best interest of [Carol] that a [g]uardian be appointed over her and her property." Appellees’ App. Vol. 2 at 3. The court appointed Ben and Beth as temporary guardians over Carol's person and estate. The court set a second hearing for May 1 to determine whether a permanent guardian was needed.
[15] The Guardians then attempted to locate Carol, but they were unable to find her because Randy and Carol were "staying low" at the home of a family friend. Tr. Vol. 2 at 182. Randy wanted to first obtain legal advice regarding the March 6 order. On March 9, the Guardians filed an "Emergency Petition for Pick-Up Order," and, the next day, the trial court issued an emergency pick-up order for Carol. Appellees’ App. Vol. 2 at 5-7, 8-10. That same day, on March 10, Randy was served with the pick-up order, and he then delivered Carol to The Springs of Mooresville, an assisted-living facility, where Carol...
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