Carpenter v. Newman

853 So. 2d 1002, 2002 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 867, 2002 WL 31888173
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedDecember 30, 2002
Docket2010425
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 853 So. 2d 1002 (Carpenter v. Newman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carpenter v. Newman, 853 So. 2d 1002, 2002 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 867, 2002 WL 31888173 (Ala. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

MURDOCK, Judge.

Walter Carpenter appeals from a judgment of the Mobile Probate Court fining him $250 for contempt of court, setting aside an earlier judgment that had awarded him $9,362 as a reimbursement for the payment of funeral and other expenses for Gladys Marie Zirlott, deceased, and entering a new judgment in the amount of $7,112 on his reimbursement claim.

Gladys Marie Zirlott died on October 16, 1999. She was survived by (i) her daughter, Shirley Carpenter, who was married to Carpenter (the Carpenters are residents of the State of Texas), (ii) one or more children of her deceased son, Gerald Slay, and (iii) at least one sibling, a brother, John D. Locke. Jordan Slay was a child of [1004]*1004Gerald Slay; she was a minor at the time of the proceedings below. It was also alleged that Gerald Slay had another child, Carol Lynn Slay, but there is no indication in the record as to her age or whereabouts at the time of the proceedings below. Guardians ad litem were appointed to represent the interests of Jordan Slay and Carol Lynn Slay in Zirlott’s estate.

Approximately seven months after Zir-lott’s death, letters of administration on Zirlott’s estate were granted to Anna Belle Newman, who was the general administrator of Mobile County.1 Thereafter, Carpenter filed a motion requesting that Zir-lott’s estate reimburse him for Zirlott’s funeral expenses and for other expenses as follows:

Pine Crest Funeral Home $7,852
Bond for Administratrix $ 100
Retainer for Estate’s Attorney $1,000
Caretaker for Zirlott’s home $ 410
Total $9,362

The $7,852 payment to Pine Crest Funeral Home included various expenses for Zir-lott’s funeral service and burial and included $2,250 for the purchase of a casket. Following a hearing on Carpenter’s motion, the trial court entered a judgment on April 6, 2001, granting Carpenter’s reimbursement claim in the amount of $9,362.

On June 11, 2001, John W. Cowling, the guardian ad litem for Jordan Slay, filed a Rule 60(b), Ala. R. Civ. P., motion alleging that, during the hearing on Carpenter’s reimbursement claim, Carpenter had misrepresented whether he had received assistance in paying the expenses for which he was seeking reimbursement. Specifically, Cowling alleged that Zirlott, at the time of her death, had $4,351 on deposit in a joint bank account with her brother, John D. Locke, and that Locke had recently informed Cowling of the existence of the joint account. Cowling also alleged that Locke had considered the account funds to have belonged to Zirlott, that Locke had closed the account after Zirlott’s death, and that he had given the proceeds of the account to the Carpenters to assist with Zirlott’s funeral expenses. Cowling requested that the trial court set aside its April 6, 2001, judgment based upon the “new evidence” of Carpenter’s alleged “fraud upon the court” and that it set a hearing to determine whether Carpenter should be reimbursed for any of his claimed expenses.

The trial court held a hearing on Cowling’s Rule 60(b) motion on October 11, 2001, and received ore tenus evidence. Newman testified at the October 2001 hearing that Locke told her that he had given the proceeds of the joint bank account to the Carpenters to assist with the funeral expenses. Further, Carpenter admitted that Locke had given either him or his wife the bank account proceeds several months after Zirlott’s funeral.2

On October 26, 2001, the trial court entered a judgment that stated, in pertinent part:

“3. At the April 4, 2001 hearing John W. Cowling ... asked Carpenter questions concerning what assets [Zirlott] had at the time of her death. Specifical[1005]*1005ly, Cowling inquired as to whether [Zir-lott] had any bank accounts.
“4. Carpenter responded negatively.
“5. It is now undisputed that [Zir-lott] had a bank account with her brother, John Locke, as a co-party. Carpenter knew of this account at the time of the April 4th hearing and he did not disclose it upon questioning.[3] More importantly, Carpenter did not disclose that Mr. Locke had paid over $4,300 from said bank account to Carpenter’s wife, because Mrs. Carpenter was believed to be [Zirlott’s] closest living relative at the time of her death.
“6. Upon review of the transcript of the April 4th hearing the Court was reminded of how uncooperative and contrary Carpenter was during his testimony. The same could be said of his testimony on October 11th.
“7. The nature of the proceeds in [Zirlott’s] bank account has not been established. No testimony or argument has been presented as to whether the funds in said bank account belonged to Mr. Locke following [Zirlott’s] death. The Court has not, and does not in this Order, consider or make a determination on said issue.
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“9. Upon close review of the transcript of [the April 4] hearing and comparison of said testimony contained in the transcript of the October 11th hearing, the Court is of the opinion and therefore concludes that Carpenter knowingly offered false and misleading testimony to the Court in regard to [Zir-lott’s] bank account and should be held in contempt of Court for the same.”

The trial court fined Carpenter $250 as a sanction for his alleged contempt.

The trial court also made the following findings regarding its April 6, 2001, judgment, in which it had awarded Carpenter his expense-reimbursement claim:

“12. Cowling also requested that the Court reconsider its [April 6, 2001, judgment] in regard to the funeral expenses alleged to have been incurred by Carpenter, for which he seeks reimbursement.'
“13. It is obvious that the Carpenters were not familiar with [Zirlott’s] financial affairs. Carpenter testified that he did not consult with Mr. Locke ... until following [her] funeral.
“14. It is undisputed that [Zirlott] had a casket insurance policy that would have covered the expense of the casket used to bury [her].
“15. Carpenter has offered no explanation for why the Carpenters did not make at least a cursory inquiry regarding [Zirlott’s] financial affairs before making the funeral arrangements. Carpenter’s testimony suggests callous disregard of the interests of [Zirlott’s] other heirs, because the Carpenters assumed that all of [Zirlott’s] assets belonged to Mrs. Carpenter, since she was the sole surviving child of [Zirlott],
“16. Carpenter has offered no explanation for why the Carpenters did not make a claim on the casket policy during the applicable claim time period or take appropriate action to enable the wife of [Zirlott’s] deceased son [to] take action to recover the proceeds of said policy.
[1006]*1006“17. The Court is of the opinion, and therefore concludes, that it is appropriate for the Court to reconsider its [April 6, 2001, judgment] in regard to the al-lowability of the Carpenter’s claim for reimbursement of [Zirlott’s] funeral expenses.
“18.

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Related

Rebecca Wright Dreading v. James Daniel Dreading.
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860 So. 2d 1275 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
853 So. 2d 1002, 2002 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 867, 2002 WL 31888173, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carpenter-v-newman-alacivapp-2002.