Taylor v. Grimes

• Decision Date: 15 June 1937
• Docket Number: 43854.
• Citation: 273 N.W. 898,223 Iowa 821
• Parties: TAYLOR v. GRIMES et al.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

273 N.W. 898

223 Iowa 821

TAYLOR v. GRIMES et al.

No. 43854.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

June 15, 1937

Appeal from District Court, Polk County; Loy Ladd, Judge.

An action for an accounting and judgment for amount found due growing out of a savings account in the name of Florence Elliott (the decedent) or L. M. Grimes. From a decree and judgment for the plaintiff, defendant appealed.

Affirmed.

Clark Byers, Hutchinson & Garber, of Des Moines, for appellant.

H. H Sawyer, of Des Moines, for appellee.

STIGER, Justice.

Florence Elliott entered the Home for the Aged of Des Moines, Iowa, in 1916, and resided there as a member until her death in February, 1934, at which time she was 84 years old. When she entered the home she executed an instrument designated as a form of bond conveying her property to the home. Her only relative was a niece, Mrs. Mae Culp, of Memphis, Tenn. Mrs Culp came to Des Moines to visit Mrs. Elliott in 1927 and in 1929. She occasionally corresponded with her and sent her small gifts from time to time.

In 1927, Mrs. Elliott opened a savings account in her own name in the First Federal State Bank of Des Moines, in the sum of $700. This account, on December 2, 1932, had increased, through deposits made by Mrs. Elliott and interest, to the sum of $1,000. The passbook and ledger sheet were in the name of Florence Elliott.

On December 2, 1932, the officers of the bank wrote the following words on the passbook and ledger sheet immediately after the name of Florence Elliott, " or L. M. Grimes." It is this savings account in the name of Florence Elliott or L. M. Grimes that is the subject matter of this suit.

After the death of Mrs. Elliott, the bank paid the savings account in the sum of $750 to Mr. Grimes. The plaintiff, as administrator of the estate of Mrs. Elliott, brought this action against L. M. Grimes and the bank for an accounting and for judgment for the amount found due.

Mr. Grimes bases his right to the fund on a gift made by Mrs. Elliott to him of the savings account on December 2, 1932, at which time the account was in the sum of $1,000.

The defendant alleged that, for a long period of years prior to the entry of the decedent into the Home for the Aged, he counseled and advised said decedent in business matters; that he had made investments for her and counseled and advised her frequently and his services, which were of aid and benefit to the decedent, were not paid for in any way and no compensation was ever requested or demanded of said decedent by this defendant and said gift so made by the decedent to this defendant was voluntary and without suggestion on the part of this defendant or any other person and was made by the decedent because of her long friendship for this defendant and in appreciation of the services rendered by said defendant to the decedent throughout a period of 25 years and more.

The trial court found no gift of the money was made to L. M. Grimes by Florence Elliott during her lifetime and entered judgment against him for the amount claimed by the plaintiff. The court further found that the payment of the money in the account at the time of the death of Mrs. Elliott to Grimes was legal and authorized under the provision of Code, § 9267, and dismissed the action as to the bank.

Defendant Grimes appealed from the judgment against him. The plaintiff appealed from the decree dismissing the action against the bank. The defendant Grimes having furnished a bond to pay any judgment that might be entered against him, the plaintiff dismissed his appeal.

The Home for the Aged authorized the bank to pay the fund to L. M. Grimes. The case is before us on the appeal of Grimes, and the sole question for determination is whether Mrs. Elliott made a gift of the savings account to Mr. Grimes on December 2, 1932.

The appellant had the burden of proving the gift and to sustain the burden relies primarily on a signature card, identified as Exhibit A, and a letter written to him by Mrs. Culp after the death of Mrs. Elliott.

The signature card reads as follows:

" First Federal State Bank,

Des Moines, Iowa

Below, please find duly authorized signatures which you will recognize in the payment of funds or the transaction of other business on our account.

Mrs. Florence Elliott

L. M. Grimes

Date Dec. 2, 1932. Savings."

The circumstances under which Exhibit A was signed are related by appellant as follows: " I saw the card when Mr. Tyler (Vice President of the bank) gave it to me to take over to Mrs. Elliott, took it over there and she signed it and I signed it. I took this signature card over to Mrs. Elliott and she signed it and I signed it and took it back to the bank and gave it to them."

After Grimes brought the card back to the bank, its officers, without any authority from Mrs. Elliott, and relying solely on the signature card, changed the account from the individual account of Mrs. Florence Elliott to the account of Mrs. Florence Elliott or L. M. Grimes.

Mr. Harrison, assistant cashier of the defendant bank, testified without objection that, " This account was always known as Mrs. Elliott's account and it was my understanding that the money in the account belonged to Mrs. Elliott. I never knew anything to the contrary. The placing of this card, (Ex. ‘ A’ ) was a mere authorization upon the part of the bank to recognize Mr. Grimes' signature in connection with the account; I never heard anybody in the bank say anything to the effect that the money in the account or any part of it belonged to Mr. Grimes. As far as I know Mr. Grimes never furnished any of the money, and all of it came from Mrs. Elliott. I was never informed that Mr. Grimes claimed any part of it." The witness further testified that Mrs. Elliott kept the custody of the passbook and that it " might have been my understanding" that whatever Grimes did under Exhibit A was on behalf of Mrs. Elliott.

It is apparent that the bank did not construe its form Exhibit A to constitute a gift of the savings account to appellant.

The conduct of Mr. Grimes suggests that he too thought the signature card was only an authorization to draw checks for the benefit of Mrs. Elliott. During her lifetime he made no claim to the fund nor does it appear that he drew any checks on the fund for his own benefit. The only check shown by the record to have been drawn on the account by Mr. Grimes was dated November 17, 1933, in the sum of $13.13 signed by L. M. Grimes " for Mrs. Elliott." On the check is the following notation, " delivered money to her today."

With reference to the services performed for and advice given to Mrs. Elliott which appellant alleges induced the gift, the evidence shows that she called Mr. Grimes on the phone on quite a number of occasions and that he would see her at the home. She gave all of her property to the home as early as 1916, which was only a few years after he first knew her, and the only property owned by her after she entered the home was the savings account. So the counsel given her and services rendered must have been primarily limited to the fund that was deposited in the bank.

The letter written by Mrs. Culp to the appellant is in part as follows:

" As an introduction I will state that I am the only daughter of Lizzie Lyon Chester, Florence Elliott was her youngest sister and my Aunt.

The last named person is the one with which this letter is concerned. From the time of her passing on to this date I have been expecting some word from you or the bank where she did business as to the disposal of what was left.

I know all the details. She told me many times in the last few years that I was to have what was left. I know about your friendship with her and that she did not pay you for all the little kindness that you did and that something was to be given you later."

In this letter Mrs. Culp claims the fund, and the letter sustains the...