Cynthia Clark-Silberman v. Richard M. Silberman and Susan A. Wang

78 N.E.3d 708, 2017 WL 2644717, 2017 Ind. App. LEXIS 262
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 20, 2017
DocketCourt of Appeals Case 71A05-1607-TR-1740
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 78 N.E.3d 708 (Cynthia Clark-Silberman v. Richard M. Silberman and Susan A. Wang) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cynthia Clark-Silberman v. Richard M. Silberman and Susan A. Wang, 78 N.E.3d 708, 2017 WL 2644717, 2017 Ind. App. LEXIS 262 (Ind. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

Kirsch, Judge.

After Harold A. Silberman (“Harold”) died in 2013, litigation ensued between his wife, Cynthia Clark-Silberman (“Cynthia”), and his two adult children from a former marriage, Richard A. Sil-berman (“Richard”) and Susan A. Wang (“Susan”), concerning Harold’s estate and his revocable trust agreement. As is relevant here, Richard and Susan filed a Petition to Set Aside Trust Amendments and Petition for Damages. After a seven-day combined trial on the trust litigation and the pending will contest, the trial court issued findings and conclusions, ruling against Cynthia in all respects. Cynthia appeals only the trial court’s determination that she converted funds that were in a safe deposit box, raising two issues that we consolidate and restate as: whether the trial court erred when it determined that Cynthia’s act of removing $46,182 in cash from the safe deposit box constituted conversion and that Richard and Susan were entitled to an award of treble damages.

We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History 2

Harold and Cynthia married on February 23, 1991. Each had been married before, and each had children from the prior marriage. About two years after they married, Cynthia moved out of their residence and to Indianapolis, and she filed for dissolution, although they later reconciled. Sometime prior to moving out, Cynthia had found Harold’s estate papers on his desk and noticed that, in the event of his death, his plan was to give his one-half of the marital residence to his children, which *710 made Cynthia feel “hurt” that he was not giving it to her. TV. Vol. 3 at 171-172.

Harold died on May 5, 2013. Prior to his death, Harold had been suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (“COPD”), due to a lifetime of smoking, and other significant health problems including heart disease. Harold also suffered from depression and chronic anxiety disorder. While at home on or about, January 24, 2013, Harold fell and was admitted to the intensive care unit of Memorial Hospital in South Bend for end-stage COPD. Harold spent much of the remainder of his life in the hospital or at a rehabilitation center.

During his life, Harold was a driven and successful business man, who could be demanding and difficult. One business venture was a ticket brokering business, involving the purchase and re-sale of sporting event tickets (“the Ticket Business”) generally and, in particularly, Notre Dame football tickets. 3 Harold also had a number of investment funds and accounts. Harold generally consulted with long-time friend and business partner, Geoffrey Newman (“Geoff’), and with childhood friend, Irv Rosenberg (“Irv”), on business matters. Irv was also Harold’s attorney.

Irv prepared estate planning documents for Harold. Among other things, Irv prepared a Financial Springing Power of Attorney, dated November 15, 1995, which named Cynthia, Richard, and Susan as co-fínancial attorneys-in-fact and named Geoff as the final arbiter of disagreements between Harold’s fiduciaries. Appellees’App. Vol. 2 at 67. Irv later prepared the Harold A. Silberman Revocable Trust (“Trust”), which Harold executed on October 8, 2002. The Trust named Cynthia, Richard, and Susan as co-trustees. Irv also prepared Harold’s Last Will and Testament (“Will”), which Harold executed on July 21, 2009. Cynthia,' Richard, and Susan were named co-personal representatives. In the Will, Harold gifted to Richard and Susan a Philippe Patek gold watch that Harold had received from his father. Irv also prepared a First Amendment to Trust (“First Amendment”), dated October 8, 2002, and executed on July 21, 2009. Under the First Amendment, Cynthia, Richard, and Susan remained co-trustees, but Cynthia’s share in the estate was increased from $300,000 to a one-third share of the estate, with Richard and Susan also each getting a one-third share. 4 On July 21, 2009, Harold also executed a Health Care Power of Attorney, which named Cynthia, -Richard, and Susan as co-health care personal representatives.

On December 29, 2012, Irv prepared an Asset Purchase, Independent Contractor, and Non-Compete Agreement (“Purchase Agreement”), in which the Ticket Business was sold to a third party. The Purchase Agreement identified Harold and Cynthia as “Sellers” of the business. Appellant’s App. Vol. 3 at 21. The agreed purchase price was $125,000, payable in one installment of $62,500 and two later installments of $31,250. In the event that Harold died before all payments were made, any remaining installment payments would be paid to Cynthia at a fifty percent reduction since the goodwill of the business was personal to Harold. The first *711 installment, received in December 2012, was deposited in Harold’s trust account and then transferred in January 2013 to a joint account held by Harold and Cynthia. After Harold died, Cynthia received the two remaining installment payments of $15,625 each on May 15, 2013 and September 15, 2013.

Cynthia testified that, in December 2012 or early January 2013, Harold told her that his estate planning documents were located in a filing cabinet in the basement, and he told her she could look at them. She obtained and reviewed the estate planning documents and was unhappy about only receiving a one-third share of Harold’s estate, stating that it made her feel “sick to her stomach” and “crushed.” Tr. Vol. 3 at 112-113. She felt that he should have “explained this stuff to me” before then and that Harold’s plan to give her one-third and each of his children one-third was treating her like a child. Id. at 113. She also was concerned about serving as a co-trustee or co-personal representative with Richard, Sometime after Harold was hospitalized, Cynthia spoke to her friend Pat LeMaire (“Pat”) about her concerns, and Pat offered to have her husband, Denis Glick (“Denis”) review the documents; Denis had been an attorney in California, but was disbarred in 1992. Pat and Denis did not speak to Harold, but they prepared: (1) an “Amendment” to the Trust (“Third Amendment”) which changed the successor co-trustees from Cynthia, Richard and Susan to just Cynthia as the sole successor trustee; and (2) an “Amendment” to Harold’s Will (“Codicil”), providing that the proceeds of the Ticket Business were to go to Cynthia. Appellee's App. Vol. 2 at 138,140.

Harold fell and was hospitalized near the end of January 2013. On February 6, Cynthia went to PNC Bank (“PNC”), where Harold had a safe deposit box, titled in the names of Harold, Richard, and Susan. Richard and Susan each had keys to the box. PNC was not willing to allow Cynthia access to the box without a power of attorney. At Cynthia’s request, Pat and Denis prepared a financial power of attorney (“Financial POA”), naming Cynthia as the sole attorney-in-fact; Cynthia took the Financial POA to Harold in the hospital on February 6, and he signed it. Cynthia returned to PNC on February 7, where she presented the Financial POA. After Denis spoke to a manager, PNC allowed Cynthia to open the box, from which she removed cash in the amount of $46,182 and the Philippe Patek gold watch. 5

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78 N.E.3d 708, 2017 WL 2644717, 2017 Ind. App. LEXIS 262, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cynthia-clark-silberman-v-richard-m-silberman-and-susan-a-wang-indctapp-2017.