Barnett v. Rogers

400 S.W.3d 38, 2013 WL 2181269, 2013 Mo. App. LEXIS 626
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 20, 2013
DocketNo. SD 31958
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 400 S.W.3d 38 (Barnett v. Rogers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barnett v. Rogers, 400 S.W.3d 38, 2013 WL 2181269, 2013 Mo. App. LEXIS 626 (Mo. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

DON E. BURRELL, J.

Cheryl Barnett (“Petitioner”) sought to remove her brother, Roy Rogers, Jr., (“Trustee”), as trustee of the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Rogers Trust (“the Trust”) and obtain awards of compensatory and punitive damages for Trustee’s alleged breach of his fiduciary duties to the Trust. After a bench trial, the trial court denied relief.1

In a single point relied on, Petitioner — a beneficiary of the Trust — claims

[t]he trial court erred when it failed to remove [Trustee] as trustee of [the Trust] and allow the Trust recovery for the losses it sustained because of a breach of [Trustee]’s fiduciary duties in that [Trustee] failed to administer the trust in good faith in the interests of the beneficiaries, he failed to administer the Trust as a prudent person, he failed to take reasonable steps to enforce the [41]*41claims of the trust, he failed to keep adequate records, and he failed to keep the beneficiaries reasonably informed.

Because the trial court was not obligated to believe Petitioner’s evidence in support of her claim that Trustee breached his fiduciary duties, we affirm.

Applicable Principles of Review and Governing Law

In reviewing the judgment in a court-tried case, we follow the principles set forth in Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30, 32 (Mo. banc 1976): we will “affirm the trial court’s judgment unless it is not supported by substantial evidence, it is against the weight of the evidence, or it erroneously declares or applies the law.” In re Estate of Blair, 317 S.W.3d 84, 86 (Mo.App. S.D.2010). “The trial court’s judgment is presumed correct, and [the appellant has] the burden of proving it erroneous.” Strobl v. Lane, 250 S.W.3d 843, 844 (Mo.App. S.D.2008).

We review questions of law de novo, Blair, 317 S.W.3d at 86, but “[w]e defer to the trial court’s determination of witness credibility and recognize that the court is free to accept or reject all, part or none of the testimony presented.” Id. “We [also] accept as true the evidence and inferences favorable to the prevailing party and disregard all contrary evidence.” Watermann v. Eleanor E. Fitzpatrick Revocable Living Trust, 369 S.W.3d 69, 75 (Mo.App. E.D.2012). When a judgment is entered in favor of a party without the burden of proof, it “need not be supported by any evidence.” Warren v. Thompson, 862 S.W.2d 513, 514 (Mo.App. W.D.1993). Finally, in “a judge-tried case, all fact issues upon which no specific findings were made by the trial court shall be considered as having been found in accordance with the result reached, and the judgment will be upheld on any reasonable theory supported by the evidence.” Weatherwax v. Redding, 953 S.W.2d 162, 167 (Mo.App. S.D.1997).

Facts and Procedural Background

In 1967, television star Roy Rogers opened a museum (“the Museum”) in California to display a collection of his western artifacts and memorabilia (“the collection”). In 1981, Roy Rogers and his wife, Dale Evans Rogers, established (and later amended) the Trust for the benefit of their family, naming themselves and Trustee as the initial trustees.2 The collection was placed into the Trust, and the Trust owned other property, including music and film rights. Roy Rogers passed away in 1998. Before her death in 2001, Dale Evans Rogers decided that some particular assets, including two preserved horses (Trigger and Buttermilk), a preserved dog (Bullet), and two saddles, would be gifted by the Trust to the Museum. After his mother’s death in February 2001, Trustee remained as the Trust’s sole trustee. Trustee was also an equal beneficiary of the Trust, along with Petitioner, and their other five siblings (“the beneficiaries”). The Trust permitted the payment of a reasonable fee to Trustee for serving in that role, but Trustee never received such a fee.

The Museum was organized as a not-for-profit corporation at least as early as 1994. Tax documents admitted into evidence as Petitioner’s Exhibits N, O, and Z reflected that the purpose of the Museum included [42]*42the “provision of education on the western United States, and the work and life of cowboys.” Trustee served as the Museum’s president both before and after the death of his parents.

From June 2000, the Museum was to provide a source of revenue to the Trust under an amended license agreement (“the license”) that permitted the Museum to display the collection in exchange for a $7,000 monthly payment to the Trust. The amended license agreement was signed by both Trustee and his mother in their capacity as trustees. They also signed the same agreement on behalf of the Museum, with Trustee acting as President and Dale Evans Rogers as Vice President. The Museum operated a gift shop, and a royalty was paid to the Trust for items sold in the gift shop that bore the names of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Rogers. Additionally, certain items from the collection were consigned to the gift shop for sale, and “[a] portion of the sale” was paid to the Trust.

In 2003, the Museum was moved to Branson from California after its attendance began to drop. To install the Museum in the new location, the Trust extended a line of credit to the Museum (“the line of credit”) that permitted the Museum to make withdrawals of up to $600,000 during 2003. The line of credit was secured by a promissory note and a $450,000 security interest in the preserved animals and saddles. The Museum used approximately $425,000 of the $600,000 line of credit to make the move. The Museum was to make monthly payments on the principal, with interest, such that the outstanding balance would be retired within 120 months. During that time, the Museum’s board of directors consisted of the six beneficiaries and seven other individuals. When the Museum moved to Branson, Trustee moved with it, and Petitioner resigned from the board.

Trustee paid $2,000 per month from the Trust to each beneficiary, an amount that approximated each beneficiary’s pro-rata share of the Museum’s payments for the license and line of credit.3 Trustee thought that making the monthly $2,000 payment to the beneficiaries “was pretty much [his] call[,]” but he tried to keep it going. In addition, Trustee paid the beneficiaries “one-sixth of whatever the [T]rust brought in, profit-wise, that particular quarter[.]”

For a time, the Museum “[d]id very well” in Branson. But by 2006, gas prices were going up, and attendance began decreasing. Based on Trustee’s discussions with other business people in the Branson area, he believed that the downturn was cyclical. As a result, he did not worry about the declining attendance at first, and none of the Museum’s board members expressed an opinion that the Museum should be closed.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
400 S.W.3d 38, 2013 WL 2181269, 2013 Mo. App. LEXIS 626, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barnett-v-rogers-moctapp-2013.