Williams v. Walls, 21290

• Decision Date: 10 February 1998
• Docket Number: No. 21290,21290
• Citation: 964 S.W.2d 839
• Parties: Letha E. WILLIAMS, Deceased, By Carl Williams, Personal Representative, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Floyd R. WALLS and Carletta Walls, Defendants-Respondents.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

Page 839

964 S.W.2d 839

Letha E. WILLIAMS, Deceased, By Carl Williams, Personal Representative, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Floyd R. WALLS and Carletta Walls, Defendants-Respondents.

No. 21290.

Missouri Court of Appeals,

Southern District,

Division Two.

Feb. 10, 1998.

Motion for Rehearing or Transfer

Denied March 4, 1998.

John Alpers, Jr., Cabool, for plaintiff-appellant.

Jon S. Hutcheson, Houston, for defendants-respondents.

BARNEY, Judge.

Appellant Carl Williams (Carl), personal representative of the Estate of Letha E. Williams, appeals from a judgment of the Circuit Court of Texas County, Missouri.

Carl raises three points of trial court error. First, he contends that the trial court erred and abused its discretion when it denied the imposition of a constructive trust on "funds" belonging to his parents which were transferred to his sister, Respondent Carletta Walls (Carletta) and her husband, Respondent Floyd R. Walls (Ron), after Carletta was appointed their attorney-in-fact under a durable power of attorney signed by their parents, Letha E. Williams (Letha) and Homer O. Williams (Sam). ¹ Second, he maintains that the trial court erred in failing to establish a constructive trust on real property conveyed by Letha and Sam to Carletta and Ron by general warranty deed. Carl argues that a constructive trust should have been imposed over the real property because Carletta and Ron exercised coercion, duress and undue influence over Letha and Sam in obtaining title to the real property. Additionally, Carl asserts in his representative capacity, that as a prerequisite to the conveyance, Carletta and Ron were to have made a cash payment of $10,000.00 to Carl, individually, but that this was never done. ² Lastly, Carl contends that the trial court erred and abused its discretion in refusing to order Carletta to make an accounting on financial transactions arising from Carletta's appointment as attorney-in-fact.

I.

"Our standard of review in a constructive trust case, as in other court tried matters, is determined by Rule 73.01." Miller v. Miller, 872 S.W.2d 654, 657 (Mo.App.1994). "We will affirm the judgment of the trial court unless there is no substantial evidence to support it, it is against the weight of the evidence, or it erroneously declares or applies the law." Id. (citing Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30, 32 (Mo. banc 1976)). "Substantial evidence is that which, if true, has probative force upon the issues, and from which the trier of facts can reasonably decide a case." Tichenor v. Vore, 953 S.W.2d 171, 174 (Mo.App.1997). "Weight of the evidence denotes its weight in probative value, not the quantity or amount of evidence." Id. "It is not determined by mathematics; rather, it depends on its effect in inducing belief." Id.

"To establish a constructive trust, an extraordinary degree of proof is required. The evidence must be unquestionable in character. The evidence must be so clear, cogent, and convincing as to exclude every reasonable doubt in the mind of the trial court." Rackley v. Rackley, 922 S.W.2d 49, 51 (Mo.App.1996). (citing Fix v. Fix, 847 S.W.2d 762, 765 (Mo. banc 1993)). "This Court will also defer to the trial court on factual issues because it is in a better position to not only judge the credibility of witnesses directly, but also their sincerity and character as well as other trial intangibles which may not be completely revealed by the record." Tichenor, 953 S.W.2d at 174 (citing In re Estate of Campbell, 939 S.W.2d 558, 564 (Mo.App.1997)).

The trial court made extensive findings of fact in a rambling and oft-times confusing fashion. Its conclusions of law contained no case citations or statutory references.

II.

Sam retired from Caterpillar Tractors of Peoria, Illinois, in 1976. He and his wife, Letha, then moved to a home at 605 Tindel Terrace in Cabool, Missouri. They both received social security benefits, and Sam received a pension from Caterpillar Tractor as well as a Veterans Administration (VA) pension. In 1983, they purchased certificate of deposit 17460 in the sum of $10,000.00 at Cabool State Bank (CSB), and titled it in their joint names. In 1984, they purchased certificate of deposit 18625 in the sum of $10,000.00 at the same institution and also titled that instrument in their joint names. Sam and Letha also maintained checking account 973399 at CSB.

In 1986, Sam and Letha executed separate wills, naming Carletta as personal representative and providing that Carl and Carletta would equally inherit their parents' properties upon the demise of the last spouse. Thereafter, matters became more complicated and convoluted.

In 1987, Carletta and her husband, Ron, and their children were living in Blue Springs, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City. Carletta was employed at a bank and Ron's work required him to travel. Carl and his family resided in Mobile, Alabama, where he ran an auto parts store.

At the request of her parents, Carletta accompanied them to the Cabool State Bank where Carletta's name was placed as an additional "Depositor" on each of Sam and Letha's certificates of deposit. ³ Carletta's name was also added to Sam and Letha's checking account at CSB, as joint owner. ⁴ Additionally, Carletta was authorized entry into Sam and Letha's safety deposit box. At that time, the certificates of deposit consisted of their original amounts plus interest that had accrued. The checking account contained approximately $10,289.90. The safety deposit box contained family papers but contained no cash, jewelry or other items of value. According to Carletta, Sam and Letha wanted her name on their checking account and certificates of deposit so that she could assist them with their care and to obtain additional benefits from the VA and other agencies.

In 1988, Sam experienced a stroke. Letha was caring for him but was growing very tired. Carletta was traveling to Cabool almost every weekend to be with them. After Sam's stroke, he could not drive and Letha did not drive. With the encouragement of Carletta and her husband, Sam and Letha sold their personal properties and placed the proceeds therefrom in their checking account at CSB and moved to Carletta's family home in Blue Springs, Missouri, sometime during March 1989.

On March 14, 1989, Carletta cashed-in CD 18625 and had the proceeds ($13,993.93) deposited in Sam and Letha's checking account at CSB. In the same month, Carletta also transferred $10,000.00 out of the checking account at CSB and opened up checking account 921890 at Blue Springs Bank (BSB) in the names of Carletta, Letha, and Sam. It is from this account that Carletta asserts most of her parents' future expenses were paid.

Sam and Letha paid no rent or mortgage payments, electric bills, water bills, gasolines, insurance or taxes while staying with Carletta and Ron. Letha would continue to care for Sam, helped with household chores, bought a portion of the groceries and contributed to other expenses. Letha would cash her social security check, approximately $250.00, and use the money for her own purposes and for miscellaneous contributions to the household. When Sam was not in the nursing home, discussed below, he would cash his monthly VA check (about $150.00) for spending money. Sam's other checks were deposited in a checking account, presumably account 973399 at CSB.

Although both Sam and Letha were mentally alert, Sam's health deteriorated due to strokes and he resided in nursing homes for at least 17 months between March 1989 and February 1993. From March 1989 until the time of Sam's death in February 1993, Letha and Sam received approximately $51,700 in retirement income. The trial court's findings of fact reveal that the cost of Sam's medical care, Sam and Letha's living expenses and Sam's funeral bill and gifts to Carl and to Carletta's daughter in the amount of $2,000.00 each, exceeded the sum of the retirement income earned during this period of time. However, we cannot discern either from the record or the trial court's findings of fact whether Sam received any other governmental assistance while in the nursing home or the amount thereof. Nor does the record or the findings of fact reveal what amount of money, if any, that may have been expended out of funds belonging to Sam, Letha or Carletta, in excess of the $51,700.00 of retirement income.

All during this time, Carletta and her husband continued their physical assistance to Carletta's parents. Although Carl would periodically visit his parents and Letha telephoned him weekly, Carl made no other contribution to the support of his parents.

In December 1990, Sam and Letha executed their respective durable powers of attorney, naming Carletta their attorney-in-fact, so that she could take care of "anything that would ever arise." ⁵

On February 2, 1991, Carletta transferred the remaining balance of $4,773.51 from Sam and Letha's checking account 973399 at CSB to a new CSB checking account 9458822. This account contained only the names of "Carletta Walls and Floyd R. Walls, P.O.D. Letha Williams." ⁶

Also on February 2, 1991, Carletta cashed in CD 17460 at CSB and purchased new CD 21553 at CSB with a face value of $18,616.92. The new certificate of deposit was titled in the name of "Carletta Walls or Floyd R. Walls, P.O.D. Letha Williams."

On February 7, 1992, Carletta purchased CD 21975 at CSB with part of the proceeds from a cashier's check drawn on BSB account 937819, standing in the name of Carletta and her husband. This cashier's check was made payable to Carletta, exclusively, in the amount of $33,702.11. Neither the record nor the findings of fact clearly show the source of these particular funds. As best as can be gleaned from the record, however, this amount was partially derived from the proceeds of CD 18625 at CSB, previously cashed in and transferred to BSB account 937819. The proceeds from CD 18625 were then mixed with money that exclusively belonged to Carletta and her husband....