Boyd v. Boyd

57 So. 3d 1169, 2010 La.App. 1 Cir. 1369, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 181, 2011 WL 839410
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 11, 2011
Docket2010 CA 1369
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 57 So. 3d 1169 (Boyd v. Boyd) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boyd v. Boyd, 57 So. 3d 1169, 2010 La.App. 1 Cir. 1369, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 181, 2011 WL 839410 (La. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

HIGGINBOTHAM, J.

| gDefendant, the trustee and co-beneficiary of his parents’ living trust, appeals a trial court judgment holding him in contempt and assessing him with a fine for failing to timely furnish an accounting to plaintiff, his sister and co-beneficiary of the trust. Defendant also appeals various reimbursements and disbursements that the trial court ordered to be paid to plaintiff from his attorney’s client trust account. For the following reasons, wé reverse in part and affirm in part.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Vernon E. Boyd, Sr. and Dorothy Daspit Boyd (collectively referred to as the “set-tlors” or the “parents”) were married and *1172 survived by two children, John Brent Boyd (the “defendant”) and Linda Grace Boyd (the “plaintiff’). 1 By an authentic act executed on April 24, 2001, the parents created a revocable trust known as The Vernon E. and Dorothy Daspit Boyd Living Trust (hereafter referred to as the “Parents’ Trust” or the “common trust”). The property conveyed by each settlor was an undivided community interest. According to defendant, the parents’ Parkwood Drive residence in Baton Rouge, which was eventually sold for approximately $104,000.00, was the only asset of the Parents’ Trust. 2 However, plaintiff maintains that the Parents’ Trust also included a Saloman Smith Barney (SSB) account consisting of approximately $75,000.00 worth of stock and mutual fund investments. The record on appeal contains a copy of the trust instrument that was introduced into evidence at the first hearing in this case, but the Istrust instrument unfortunately does not include a list or description (referred to as “Schedule A” in the trust instrument) of the trust property that had been incorporated into and attached to the original trust instrument.

The Parents’ Trust was created as one trust until the death of either settlor, when it automatically divided into two trusts with each trust owning an undivided one-half interest of the assets owned by the original common trust. The term of the Parents’ Trust was the joint lifetimes of the original settlors. Vernon died on April 30, 2001; therefore, pursuant to the specific provisions in the Parents’ Trust, the original common trust automatically became two separate trusts at Vernon’s death. One trust was referred to as the first-to-die trust, the ‘Vernon E. Boyd, Sr. Trust,” which became irrevocable by the terms of Paragraph 2.04 of the Parents’ Trust. The other trust was referred to as the survivor’s trust, the “Dorothy Daspit Boyd Living Trust,” which remained revocable until Dorothy’s death, as specifically provided by the terms of Paragraph 2.04 in the Parents’ Trust.

Vernon and Dorothy were the initial income beneficiaries in the common trust, but when Vernon died, Dorothy succeeded to Vernon’s original undivided income beneficiary interest. Upon Dorothy’s death on June 14, 2007, the Parents’ Trust provided in Paragraph 3.01 that plaintiff and defendant were to succeed to equal separate property interests as the seeond-ary/successor income beneficiaries. Plaintiff and defendant were also designated as the original principal beneficiaries of the Parents’ Trust, with equal interests. Additionally, the Parents’ Trust designated defendant as the original trustee, and plaintiff as the successor trustee.

Thus, when Vernon died on April 30, 2001, just a few days after the Parents’ Trust was created, Dorothy became the income beneficiary for both |4Vernon’s irrevocable first-to-die trust and her own revocable survivor’s trust. As trustee, defendant expended income from both trusts to provide for Dorothy’s living expenses at home and later at the Southside Gardens Assisted Living facility, until Dorothy’s death on June 14, 2007. A dispute between plaintiff and defendant arose over the funds in the trusts and the expenditures made by defendant. Plaintiff complained that defendant provided minimal information to her after she questioned the financial affairs and status of the trusts. Plaintiff filed suit against defendant on November 8, 2007, requesting that defen *1173 dant be ordered to furnish an accounting pursuant to LSA-R.S. 9:2088, covering the period from Vernon’s death on April 30, 2001, to the current date. The trial court ordered the accounting as requested. in open court on January 14, 2008, and signed the interlocutory judgment on April 1, 2008. 3

Plaintiff filed a first supplemental and amending petition on January 9, 2009, alleging that defendant had failed and refused to furnish an accounting complying with the trial court’s April 1, 2008 judgment. Plaintiff requested that the trial court hold defendant in contempt of court for breach of his fiduciary duties, that the trial court find sufficient grounds for the removal of defendant as trustee for his intentional withholding of | ¿information requested by a beneficiary, and that the trial court appoint plaintiff as the successor trustee. Plaintiff further requested that defendant be ordered to pay damages, essentially asserting that defendant had not properly accounted for and had inappropriately disbursed or disposed of trust assets without plaintiffs knowledge or consent.

After three separate hearing days, 4 the trial court assigned written reasons on January 29, 2010, and signed a judgment on February 25, 2010, holding defendant in contempt of court for failing to timely furnish an accounting as previously ordered by the court. The trial court fined defendant $500.00 and ordered him to pay an additional $100.00 per day from the date of signing of the judgment for every day that he fáiled to file the appropriate accounting as ordered by the court. Additionally, the trial court ordered defendant to reimburse plaintiff $25,360.64 for inappropriate expenditures, as well as plaintiffs share of rental income. Finally, the trial court ordered defendant’s attorney to disburse one-half of the proceeds from the sale of the settlors’ residence that was previously owned by the common trust, and ordered defendant to either account for $14,000.00 in payments made by plaintiff for the purchase of the settlors’ vehicle or pay one-half of that sum to plaintiff. Defendant filed a suspensive appeal from the trial court’s February 25, 2010 judgment.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

On appeal, defendant raises seven assignments of error contending that the trial court legally erred in that: (1) plaintiffs action is perempted under LSA-R.S. 9:2334; (2) plaintiff had no right of action for an accounting [ (,on Dorothy’s trust until the time of her death; (3) defendant was not required to reimburse plaintiff for payments made to Dorothy; (4) no consideration was made for distributions made to plaintiff; (5) defendant was' not required to *1174 account for or reimburse plaintiff for car payments when the car was not part of the trust; (6) defendant should not have been held in contempt of court or fined for failing to furnish an accounting; and (7) no consideration was made in the reimbursement amount for the trust funds expended for Dorothy’s support.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
57 So. 3d 1169, 2010 La.App. 1 Cir. 1369, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 181, 2011 WL 839410, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boyd-v-boyd-lactapp-2011.