Williamson's Estate v. Williamson
| Decision Date | 08 June 1964 |
| Docket Number | No. 2,No. 50189,50189,2 |
| Citation | 380 S.W.2d 333 |
| Parties | In re ESTATE of May H. WILLIAMSON, Deceased, Clyde H. Williamson, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Ralph S. WILLIAMSON, Administrator Pendente Lite, Respondent |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
Frank E. Morris, St. Louis, for respondent.
Dale Reaban, Mortimer Rosecan, St. Louis, for appellant.
This proceeding was commenced in the probate court of the City of St. Louis under Section 473.357 RSMo 1959, V.A.M.S., to determine title to assets in the hands of the administrator pendente lite of the estate of May H. Williamson, deceased. The probate court found against the petitioner Clyde H. Williamson and he appealed to the circuit court where the administrator Ralph S. Williamson filed a motion to dismiss for failure of the petition to state a claim and on the further ground that the probate court lacked jurisdiction of the subject matter under Sec. 473.357, so that the circuit court acquired no jurisdiction on appeal. The motion was sustained and the petition was dismissed. The petitioner has appealed to this court.
Clyde H. and Ralph S. Williamson are sons of May H. Williamson who died testate on September 2, 1957. The petition filed by Clyde in the probate court alleges that the will was admitted to probate on September 24, 1957, and Ralph was appointed executor. A will contest was filed June 6, 1958, and thereafter Ralph was appointed administrator pendente lite. The petition further asserts that he and his mother were joint tenants in bank and savings and loan accounts and that he had legal title and possession of a sum of cash in a safe deposit box in his name to which his mother had access as a deputy; that after his mother's death the administrator persuaded him to turn over these assets aggregating $37,520 on the fraudulent representation that it was necessary for tax purposes to deliver the property to the administrator and the balance after taxes would be transferred back to the petitioner as the legal owner. The prayer of the petition was that the court determine title to the savings account, the savings certificate and the cash and order and direct the administrator to return and deliver them to the petitioner or, in lieu thereof, pay to him the sum of $37,520 plus interest.
The answer filed by the administrator admits, as alleged by the petitioner, that May H. Williamson died testate on September 2, 1957, that her will dated April 12, 1957, was admitted to probate on September 24, 1957, and that Ralph S. Williamson was appointed executor; that notice of a will contest was filed on June 6, 1958, and thereafter after on April 10, 1959, Ralph was appointed as administrator pendente lite of the estate and is in control and possession of all of its assets. The answer denies all other allegations of the petition and alleges that the petition cannot be maintained under the provisions of Section 473.357 RSMo 1959, V.A.M.S., in that the probate court does not have jurisdiction of the subject matter of the action and that the petition does not state a claim upon which relief can be granted. In the circuit court the administrator filed a separate motion to dismiss on the ground that the probate court did not have jurisdiction of the subject matter of the action, that the petition did not state a claim upon which relief could be granted, and that the circuit court was without jurisdiction on appeal.
The motion to dismiss was sustained by the circuit court on March 21, 1963. The trial judge filed a memorandum which stated in general that neither the probate court nor the circuit court on appeal had jurisdiction to entertain the petition; that the petition was insuffficient in that it did not contain an allegation that the decedent was not the owner of the personal property described in the petition; that the statute was intended to cover the determination of title to 'specific property' which was taken into possession by an administrator on the death of the decedent although it had not belonged to the decedent; that the petitioner could not make such allegation with respect to the savings account and savings certificate because of the nature of the ownership; and since the cash was commingled with other money assets it could not be specifically identified and was not within the purview of the term 'personal property described therein' as used in Sec. 473.357.
We are particularly concerned with the kind of property involved and the allegations with respect to title. The petitioner alleges that there were two savings accounts in the names of 'May H. Williamson and Clyde H. Williamson, either or the survivor as joint tenants with the right of survivorship, and not as tenants in common'. One was for $9000 opened September 24, 1956; the other a savings certificate for $8000 was issued January 2, 1957. The passbook and the certificate were in the possession of petitioner when Mrs. Williamson died on September 2, 1957. On or about April 1, 1957, a joint checking account was opened in the names of May H. Williamson and Clyde H. Williamson with right of survivorship from which the petitioner rightfully withdrew the sum of $10,673.04 on August 20, 1957; that 'on September 2, 1957, he was in possession of and had legal custody of the balance of said cash'; that on November 14, 1957, he purchased using said funds five U. S. Treasury bonds of the face value of $9000 and that he was the legal owner of said bonds. The petitioner further alleges that on September 2, 1957, and for a long time prior thereto he was the legal owner of $11,520 kept in a safe deposit box which box was 'in the name of petitioner as owner and the said May H. Williamson as deputy'.
The petition further alleges that on December 26, 1957, the petitioner transferred to Ralph S. Williamson, then executor of the estate, the savings account and the savings certificate in reliance on the representation by the executor that, although the petitioner was the legal owner, such transfer was necessary 'for tax purposes before said savings account and said savings certificate could go to petitioner as survivor and legal owner', and that the administrator pendente lite is now in possession of the savings account and savings certificate and holding them as assets of the estate. On October 21, 1957, the petitioner transferred to the executor the sum of $11,520 in cash above described relying on the executor's representation that, although the petitioner was the legal owner, such transfer was necessary 'for tax purposes before the balance of said cash after taxes could be transferred back to petitioner as legal owner.' The administrator is now in possession of the cash and is holding it as an asset of the estate. The petition further alleges that without the knowledge and consent of the petitioner the executor improperly and wrongfully listed the five U. S. Treasury bonds as assets of the estate in the inventory dated and filed January 16, 1958; that on September 16, 1958, the petitioner delivered to the executor the sum of $9000 in cash, the matured value of the bonds, on the representation of the executor that since the bonds had been inventoried in the estate they must be turned over to the executor 'for tax purposes, and the balance after taxes would be turned back to petitioner', and the further representation that the executor would have to account for all assets listed in the inventory and deliver them to the administrator pendente lite; that the sum of cash in the amount of $9000 being the proceeds of the bonds is now in the possession of the administrator. The petition then alleges that the statement of Ralph S. Williamson, acting as executor of the estate, was false and untrue and made willfully, maliciously and wantonly in order to obtain custody and control of the property and list them as assets of the estate so that Ralph S. Williamson would benefit as sole beneficiary of the rest and residue under the will of May H. Williamson, deceased. The petitioner further alleges that he is and was at all times mentioned in the petition the legal and rightful owner and had legal title to the savings account, the savings certificate and the cash and is entitled to possession of them.
There are two principal questions presented on this appeal. One is whether the probate court has jurisdiction under Sec. 473.357 to determine title to the kind of property described in the petition. If the probate court has jurisdiction, the remaining question is whether the petition states a claim upon which relief can be granted.
Section 473.357 was originally enacted as a part of the new probate code effective January 1, 1956, and as amended, Laws 1959, S.B. 141, Sec. 1, reads as follows:
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