Gould v. Gould

280 S.W.3d 137, 2009 Mo. App. LEXIS 131, 2009 WL 487182
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 27, 2009
DocketNo. WD 69563
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 280 S.W.3d 137 (Gould v. Gould) 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
Gould v. Gould, 280 S.W.3d 137, 2009 Mo. App. LEXIS 131, 2009 WL 487182 (Mo. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

JOSEPH P. DANDURAND, Judge.

Mary Gould appeals the decision of the Circuit Court of Clay County, Missouri, granting summary judgment in favor of Joan Gould and Patricia Gould on their action for breach of trust. On appeal, Mary Gould claims the trial court erred in: (1) granting Joan Gould and Patricia Gould’s motion for summary judgment because their claim was barred by the applicable statute of limitations; (2) denying her motion to dismiss Joan Gould and Patricia Gould’s petition because the petition showed their claim was barred by the applicable statute of limitations; (3) granting Joan Gould and Patricia Gould’s motion for summary judgment because they failed to address her affirmative defense of statute of limitations in their summary judgment motion; (4) granting summary judgment to Joan Gould and Patricia Gould as individuals because they were not proper parties to the lawsuit; and (5) awarding damages in the amount of $896,426.56 because the award failed to consider mitigation of damages and failed to distinguish between penalties and interest that accrued when Mary Gould was trustee and when Joan Gould was trustee. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

Background

On March 25, 1986, Sylvia Gould died testate, leaving three daughters — Mary Gould, Joan Gould, and Patricia Gould. [139]*139Pursuant to Sylvia Gould’s will, a trust (“the trust”) was created in which Mary Gould and Mercantile Bank of Kansas City were named as co-trustees. Mercantile Bank refused to serve as trustee, and Mary Gould became the sole trustee.

Sylvia Gould provided that Mary Gould, Joan Gould, and Patricia Gould would each receive $500.00 per month after reaching forty-five years of age. If any of her daughters were single, in bad health, or without employment at that time, the monthly amount was to be increased to $1000.00. After the death of Sylvia Gould’s last surviving daughter, $10,000.00 was to go to the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph and the remainder of her estate was to go to Sisters of St. Casmir Convent in Chicago, Illinois.

Sylvia Gould’s estate consisted primarily of twenty-two parcels of real estate, many of which were undeveloped. Mary Gould initially valued the real property at $271,325.00 and the personal property at $158,925.77. She filed an inventory in September 1986, and, based on her valuation, she did not file a federal estate tax return.

While acting as trustee of Sylvia Gould’s estate, Mary Gould received an offer to purchase one parcel of the real estate for $444,312.00. Mary Gould then had all of the real property professionally appraised. The appraisal showed the real property was worth an estimated $1,990,250.00, making the total net value of the estate $2,137,027.68. Mary Gould then filed an estate tax return on August 23, 1988, and on September 21, 1988, amended the estate inventory to reflect the correct value.

When Mary Gould filed the estate tax return, she took a “Charitable Remainder” deduction of $1,678,194.00 because the remainder beneficiary of the trust was the Sisters of Saint Casmir Convent. The effect of the deduction reduced the taxes owed on Sylvia Gould’s estate to zero. The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), however, disallowed the deduction, making taxes due in the amount of $463,662.36 and penalties and interest due in the amount of $139,159.00. Mary Gould did not pay the taxes, interest, or penalties. On October 7, 1993, the IRS asserted a tax lien on all of the trust assets.

On December 14, 1994, Joan Gould filed a petition to remove Mary Gould as trustee. Mary Gould was removed as trustee on June 29, 1995, and Joan Gould was appointed as successor trustee. The order was amended on March 22,1996.

The trust began making payments to the IRS on June 24, 1996, and it made its last payment on November 27, 2000. The trust paid a total of $1,562,653.55, with taxes in the amount of $666,227.00 and interest and penalties in the amount of $896,426.55.

Joan Gould and Patricia Gould1 filed a Petition for Breach of Trust against Mary Gould on March 13, 2006. They asserted that Mary Gould breached her fiduciary duty as trustee by failing to timely file tax returns and pay taxes on behalf of the trust. The Petition stated the claim on behalf of the trust and on behalf of Joan and Patricia' Gould, as individual beneficiaries of the trust. Mary Gould filed a Motion to Dismiss based upon the running of the statute of limitations. Her Motion to Dismiss was denied. Mary Gould then filed an Answer raising an affirmative defense that the statute of limitations barred this cause of action — she did not identify a [140]*140specific statute of limitations in her Answer.

On June 8, 2007, Joan and Patricia Gould filed a Motion for Summary Judgment. In response, Mary Gould renewed her Motion to Dismiss. The trial court never ruled upon Mary Gould’s renewed motion.

On October 25, 2007, Joan and Patricia Gould filed a Second Motion for Summary Judgment. Mary Gould filed her response to the summary judgment motion on November 14, 2007, and additional suggestions in opposition to the motion on December 17, 2007.

On December 19, 2007, the trial court granted Joan and Patricia Gould’s Motion for Summary Judgment. The trial court did not address Mary Gould’s affirmative defense of statute of limitations. In its order granting summary judgment, the trial court found that “[a]s the result of [Mary Gould’s] failure to comply with Rule 74.04, all 45 of [Joan and Patricia Gould’s] Uncontroverted Facts are deemed admitted.” The facts that were deemed admitted included the following: “As the result of [Mary Gould’s] failure to timely file the required federal estate tax return and respond to tax deficiencies, the trust incurred penalties and interest in the amount of $896,426.55.” Accordingly, the trial court entered judgment for Joan and Patricia Gould in the amount of $896,426.55.

On January 11, 2008, Mary Gould filed a Motion to Vacate, Reopen, Correct, Amend or Modify the Judgment, or in the Alternative, for New Trial or Reconsideration. In this motion, Mary Gould argued that summary judgment was inappropriate because Joan and Patricia Gould’s claim was barred by the applicable statute of limitations. The trial court heard argument on Mary Gould’s motion or, February 27, 2008. The trial court reaffirmed its grant of summary judgment on April 2, 2008.

Mary Gould filed a Notice of Appeal on April 11, 2008.

Standard of Review

In reviewing a grant of summary judgment, “[o]ur review is essentially de novo.” ITT Commercial Fin. Corp. v. Mid-Am. Marine Supply Corp., 854 S.W.2d 371, 376 (Mo. banc 1993).2

Discussion

Statute of Limitations

In Points One, Two, and Three of her appeal, Mary Gould contends that Joan and Patricia Gould’s claim for breach of trust was barred by the applicable statute of limitations.

In Point One, Mary Gould claims that the trial court erred in granting Joan and Patricia Gould’s motion for summary judgment because their claim was barred by the applicable statute of limitation. Mary Gould argues that the proper statute of limitation is RSMo Section 456.10-1005,3 which discusses trustee liability and limits on actions against a trustee. Section 456.10-1005.3 states:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
280 S.W.3d 137, 2009 Mo. App. LEXIS 131, 2009 WL 487182, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gould-v-gould-moctapp-2009.