Albright v. Button

155 S.W.3d 110, 2004 Tenn. App. LEXIS 477, 2004 WL 1615241
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedJuly 20, 2004
DocketE2003-01591-COA-R3-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 155 S.W.3d 110 (Albright v. Button) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Albright v. Button, 155 S.W.3d 110, 2004 Tenn. App. LEXIS 477, 2004 WL 1615241 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinions

OPINION

CHARLES D. SUSANO, JR., J.,

delivered the opinion of the court,

in which HERSCHEL P. FRANKS, P.J., joined. D. MICHAEL SWINEY, J. filed a separate concurring opinion.

This case involves the construction of a will. Lloyd A. Button, a widower (“the Deceased”), executed his last will and testament on April 1, 2002, while hospitalized at Parkwest Hospital in Knoxville. Under the heading “Conditional Bequest to Patricia Albright,” the Deceased left Ms. Al-bright his Loudon County residence, one of his automobiles, and “all ... tangible personal property,” except the property mentioned in a specific bequest in the will. The Deceased died one week later, on April 8, 2002, having never left the hospital.1 Ms. Albright sued the personal representatives of the Deceased’s estate (“the Personal Representatives”) seeking to establish her entitlement to the property left to her in the will. On cross motions for summary judgment, the trial court granted summary judgment to Ms. Albright. The Personal Representatives, who are the Deceased’s son2 and Shirley Reno, a residuary beneficiary under the will, appeal. We reverse and dismiss Ms. Albright’s complaint.

I.

The Personal Representatives contend on appeal that Ms. Albright is not entitled to summary judgment, but that they are. In general terms, they argue that the legacy to Ms. Albright is conditional and that the conditions were not satisfied. We find that the facts which are material to the resolution of the issue in this ease are undisputed. We hold that the Deceased’s will, when interpreted as required by well-established precedent, clearly delineates conditions for the gift to Ms. Albright, [112]*112which, through no fault of her own, were not satisfied.

II.

The pertinent provisions of the Deceased’s will are as follows:

5.1 Conditional Bequest to Patricia Albright: During my lifetime, PATRICIA ALBRIGHT (“Albright”) agreed to provide personal assistance and care-giving to me at my residence until my death because I did not want to become a patient in a nursing home. Albright agreed to provide the following services during my lifetime on an “as needed” basis:
(i) Attend to my needs, including preparation of nutritious, appropriate meals and snacks, house cleaning and laundry;
(ii) Assist me with grooming, bathing, dressing, and personal shopping, as needed;
(iii) Purchase, with funds made available by me, or assist me in purchasing clothing, toiletries, and other personal items for me as needed, taking into account my ability to pay for such items;
(iv) Monitor my physical and mental condition and nutritional needs on a regular basis in cooperation with health care providers;
(v) Arrange for transportation to health care providers and to the physician(s) of my choice, and also arrange for assessment, services and treatment by appropriate health care providers, including but not limited to, physicians, nurses, physical therapists, and mental health specialists as needed for me;
(vi) Assist me in carrying out the instructions and directives of my health care providers; and
(vil) In the event I became [sic] bedridden, reside with me at my residence for so long as I remained bedridden, even for the duration of my life, if necessary.
To the extent that Albright has consistently and faithfully provided the services described above, I give, devise, and bequeath to her my personal residence located at 121 Tigitsi Lane, Loudon, Tennessee, one of my automobiles of her choosing, and all of my remaining tangible personal property (after the bequest contained in Section 4.1 above).
5.2 Disposition of Conditional Bequest If Conditions Are Not Met: If PATRICIA ALBRIGHT failed to provide personal assistance and care-giving services to me during my lifetime in accordance with all the terms and conditions of Section 5.1 above, or if PATRICIA ALBRIGHT predeceases me, then the automobile and remaining personal property bequeathed to PATRICIA AL-BRIGHT as referenced in Section 5.1 above shall be distributed to my sister, DOROTHY MERRIMAN, and the bequest of my personal residence to PATRICIA ALBRIGHT shall lapse and my personal residence shall be distributed as part of my Residuary Estate.

(Capitalization, bold print, and underlining in original). Both sides agree that the gift to Ms. Albright is conditional. They sharply disagree regarding the Deceased’s intention with respect to the conditions and — as a natural consequence of that dispute — whether the conditions were satisfied prior to the death of the Deceased.

III.

Tenn. R. Civ. P. 56 addresses motions for summary judgment. In essence, the rule provides that a movant must demonstrate that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that the movant is enti-[113]*113tied to a judgment as a matter of law. Tenn. R. Civ. P. 56.04. All of the properly-established facts and reasonable inferences from those facts are to be viewed in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Byrd v. Hall, 847 S.W.2d 208, 210-11 (Tenn.1993). Summary judgment is only appropriate in those situations where a reasonable individual, in considering the facts and the reasonable inferences favorable to the nonmovant, could reach only one conclusion. Robinson v. Omer, 952 S.W.2d 423, 426 (Tenn.1997).

IV.

The facts in this case come to us by way of the affidavits of Ms. Albright, Ms. Reno, and J.B. Looper, another of the residual beneficiaries under the will, and the depositions of Ms. Albright, Ms. Reno, and the son of the Deceased. The ultimate issues for us are whether there are material facts in dispute; if not, whether Ms. Albright is entitled to summary judgment; and, if she is not, whether the Personal Representatives are entitled to summary judgment.

We begin our discussion by acknowledging that which is the central inquiry in a case involving the interpretation of a will: What did the testator/testatrix intend by the language used by him/her in the will? That intent controls unless to honor it would violate some rule of law or public policy. In re Walker, 849 S.W.2d 766, 768 (Tenn.1993). It is important to recognize that our inquiry is made within well-defined, somewhat-restrictive parameters. The Supreme Court, in the case of In re Walker, addressed this issue thusly:

[T]he testator’s intention must be ascertained from “that which he has written” in the will, and not from what he “may be supposed to have intended to do,” and extrinsic evidence of the condition, situation and surroundings of the testator himself may be considered only as aids in the interpretation of the language used by the testator, and “the testator’s intention must ultimately be determined from the language of the instrument weighed in the light of the testator’s surroundings, and no proof, however conclusive in its nature, can be admitted with a view of setting up an intention not justified by the language of the writing itself.”

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Related

Albright v. Button
155 S.W.3d 110 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
155 S.W.3d 110, 2004 Tenn. App. LEXIS 477, 2004 WL 1615241, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/albright-v-button-tennctapp-2004.