Court reviews a grant of real property that was divided in a codicil to the decedent's will

IN RE: ESTATE OF JACK B. HILL, JANE ANN STEFFEY, EXECUTRIX (Tenn. Ct. App. June 19, 2012)

This appeal involves a dispute over the decedent's Codicil to his Will. The Codicil divided decedent's real property between decedent's daughter and Jeff W. Powell. When decedent was on his death bed he asked a lawyer to prepare the Codicil, which described where certain property lines between the parties would be drawn, and the Codicil essentially gave 45 acres to decedent's daughter and 55 acres to Powell. During the administration of the Estate, the parties employed a surveyor to survey the property lines for the purpose of preparing the respective deeds. The surveyor determined that the description of the boundaries in the Codicil gave Powell 80 plus acres and the decedent's daughter 19 plus acres.

Essentially, the Trial Court held that the descriptions created patent ambiguities, but he also concluded that even if the ambiguities were latent, extensive governance would be required to validate the Codicil, which is not appropriate. Accordingly, he voided the Codicil altogether. Powell has appealed.

We reverse the Trial Court and hold that the decedent's intent was to give his daughter 45 acres and Powell 55 acres, and we reinstate the Codicil with directions to the Trial Court to direct the surveyor to reconfigure the boundaries to carry out the intent of the testator.

Opinion available at:
https://www.tba.org/sites/default/files/hillj_061912.pdf

Court reviews a dispute involving a partial conservatorship

IN THE MATTER OF LYLE L. LAWTON (Tenn. Ct. App. June 18, 2012)

This appeal involves a conservatorship. After the parties announced in open court that they had reached an agreement on a partial conservatorship, the appellant ward stood up in court and asked to speak. The hearing was adjourned and subsequently the partial conservatorship was ordered in accordance with the agreement. The ward now appeals, arguing inter alia that the trial court erred in failing to hold an evidentiary hearing, failing to make the requisite findings, and failing to hear from the ward. We find no error and affirm.

Opinion available at:
https://www.tba.org/sites/default/files/lawtonl_061812.pdf

Court reviews whether a decedent's niece had standing to pursue the administration of the decedent's estate

IN RE THE DECEDANT ESTATE OF EDWARD LAVOY GLASSCOCK (Tenn. Ct. App. June 13, 2012)

This appeal arises from the denial of a petition filed by the niece of a decedent’s surviving spouse to have the decedent’s estate administered and to have a personal representative appointed. The probate court dismissed the niece’s petition for lack of standing holding that she could not proceed as next friend of her aunt because her aunt had previously appointed the decedent’s brother as her attorney-in-fact. The niece contends on appeal that she has standing to pursue the administration of the decedent’s estate in accordance Tenn. R. Civ. Proc. 17.03 because the attorney-in-fact for her aunt failed to initiate administration of the decedent’s estate. We affirm the dismissal of the petition.

Opinion available at:
https://www.tba.org/sites/default/files/glasscocke_061312.pdf

Court reviews the validity of a set of trust documents

BETTY C. GOFF CARTWRIGHT v. JACKSON CAPITAL, ET AL. (Tenn. Ct. App. June 5, 2012)

This appeal involves various claims by a beneficiary of several trusts against his sister and her husband, who serve as the trustee and co-trustee of some of the trusts. The defendants/trustees filed a motion for partial summary judgment, claiming that they had followed the terms of the trusts and paid the beneficiary all distributions to which he was entitled pursuant to the trust documents. In response, the beneficiary asserted that the trust documents were void either because they were fabricated, or because he executed them due to undue influence. The trial court granted the defendants’ motion for partial summary judgment, and the beneficiary voluntarily dismissed all of his remaining claims. The beneficiary appeals. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.

Opinion available at:
https://www.tba.org/sites/default/files/cartwrightb_060512.pdf

Opinion: Why You Must Have a Will

A Washington Post columnist explains what happened when her brother and grandmother died without having wills. Michelle Singletary knows excuses -- to expensvie, too much paperwork -- and points out why those things are not true.

Read the full story at the Knoxville News Sentinel's website.

Conservatorships Under Scrutiny

Concern over possible abuses in the conservatorship process is prompting some elderly advocates to call for reforms and model laws across the country that grant more rights to the individual and offer more protection. The Tennessean reports on one recent case where an 82-year-old Nashville woman lost all of her possessions in a conservatorship case.

State Rep. Gary Odom, D-Nashville, has filed a bill that would provide additional protection to people facing conservatorship, the newspaper reports. “We’ve got to make sure that people aren’t put into conservatorship without due process,” Odom says. His bill would set new notice requirements before a conservatorship could be imposed. It also would require additional medical proof, including sworn statements from three physicians, that an emergency conservatorship was justified.

Court reviews whether the Executor or the Survivor is entitled to the Deceased's bank accounts and CDs

G. PERRY GUESS, EXECUTOR OF THE ESTATE OF C. CHARLTON HOWARD v. ELIZABETH G. FINLAY (Tenn. Ct. App. April 16, 2012)

This case involves a dispute between G. Perry Guess (“the Executor”), 1 Executor of the Estate of C. Charlton Howard (“the Deceased”), and the Executor’s sister, Elizabeth G. Finlay (“the Survivor”), regarding the ownership of funds, following the death of the Deceased, in several bank accounts and certificates of deposit.

The trial court awarded the bank accounts to the Executor and the CDs to the Survivor. The Executor claims he is also entitled to the CDs while the Survivor argues that she should have received all of the funds.

We reverse that portion of the trial court’s judgment awarding the bank accounts to the Executor. We modify the judgment in favor of the Survivor so as to award to her all of the bank accounts as well as the CDs.

Opinion available at:
https://www.tba.org/sites/default/files/guessg_041612.pdf