In Re Estate of Hall

731 A.2d 617, 1999 Pa. Super. 119, 1999 Pa. Super. LEXIS 948
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 20, 1999
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 731 A.2d 617 (In Re Estate of Hall) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Estate of Hall, 731 A.2d 617, 1999 Pa. Super. 119, 1999 Pa. Super. LEXIS 948 (Pa. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

LALLY-GREEN, J.:

¶ 1 Appellant, Estate of Craig M. Hall, Deceased, appeals from the July 27, 1998 order entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County. We affirm.

¶2 The trial court set forth the facts as follows:

[Craig M. Hall (Hall)], worked for [Biddle and Co. Insurance Brokers, Inc. (Biddle) ]. Pursuant to a July 1, 1988 stock purchase agreement between [Biddle] and [Hall], he acquired 3,230 shares of Biddle stock. The agreement specified the terms by which Biddle could repurchase the stock. There is no dispute over the value of this block of stock; however, [Hall] subsequently acquired additional shares, and it is the price to be paid for these that is the basis of the instant controversy.
At the hearing before the [trial court] on December 17, 1996, Maryanne Daly, Biddle’s vice president and secretary, authenticated [Biddle’s] articles of incorporation, ... section 17.2 of which provided:
The holder of any shares of the common stock of the corporation shall not sell, assign, pledge or otherwise dispose of the same, nor shall such shares be transferable upon the books of the corporation, unless and until the holder shall have first given thirty days’ written notice to the corporation of the holder’s intention so to dispose of his shares; and during said period of thirty days the corporation shall have the right to purchase such shares, ... at a price equal to the book value thereof determined in accordance with the usual accounting practice of the corporation, of such shares as of the date of said written notice; and upon the refusal or failure of the corporation to purchase said shares, ... the said shares ... shall be offered for sale to the shareholders in proportion to their respective holdings and upon the refusal or failure of the said shareholders to purchase the said shares .... the same may be sold to persons not shareholders....
[Biddle’s Bylaws, Article XVII § 17.2.] Section 17.3 stated:
Upon the death of any shareholder, the personal representative of said shareholder shall sell to the corporation, and the corporation shall purchase, as many ... of the shares previously owned by the deceased shareholder as the corporation is legally able so to purchase, at the book value thereof, as defined in section 17.2 hereinabove, at the date of death of said shareholder. Payment for the said shares by, and delivery thereof to, the corporation shall be accomplished within one year of the date of death of the shareholder, and may be accomplished by the giving of a promissory note, for which the shares shall be collateral, the maturity of, and the interest on, which note shall be determined by mutual agreement between the corporation and the personal representative....
[Id. at § 17.3.]
Ms. Daly testified that the restriction set forth in Section 17.2 was placed on each stock certificate. She stated that, at the time of his death, [Hall] owned 9,690 shares of Biddle *620 stock, which represented 30% of the outstanding shares.... Of the 9,690 shares owned by [Hall], one block of 3,230 ... were purchased by him from Bertha M. Fortney, under a stock purchase agreement dated October 1, 1992.
Mark Miller, executive vice president and treasurer of Biddle, testified that he worked for Biddle from 1985 through 1988, and from November of 1992 to the present. He testified that [Hall] obtained his original 3,230 shares of stock at the time Biddle purchased the assets of the Carnett Agency, Inc., an insurance agency of which [Hall] was the sole stockholder. Mr. Miller participated in the negotiations to buy back the shares owned by Bertha Fortney after she left Biddle’s employ. He testified that [Hall] had put up $50,000 in February of 1992 in exchange for a promise that he would be issued additional shares of Biddle stock. However, [Biddle] had a negative net worth during this period and was not in a position either to buy Ms. Fortney’s shares or to sell shares to [Hall]. Therefore, a deal was structured whereby Biddle paid Ms. Fortney $25,-000 over an 18-month period for her 3,230 shares, which shares were then issued to [Hall],
Mr. Miller testified that he and [Hall] often discussed the restrictions on the transfer of Biddle stock, as set forth in its articles of incorporation. He said [Hall] often expressed concern over the lack of a shareholder’s agreement setting forth the formula for determining the book value of the stock he had acquired subsequent to the original 3,230 shares (which were covered by an agreement.) ... He stated that [Hall] had made several different proposals on the valuation question. Biddle made no proposals of its own....
Mr. Miller testified that [Hall], as a member of Biddle’s board, received copies of ... financial documents [which indicated that the company had a negative equity].
Under cross examination, ... Mr. Miller was questioned about a letter dated January 27, 1992, from Frederick Tucker, president of Biddle, to [Hall], confirming a previous conversation concerning the latter’s purchase of 6,460 shares of stock for investment of $50,-000. The letter stated, in part:
3. Corporate Valuation at Retirement or death will be one time gross commissions, using the previous calendar year as the valuation year.
4. The pay-out will be over a period of no less than 10 years, but could be as long as 15 years.
5. A promissory note will be signed to confirm the receipt of the funds until a final agreement is developed. At that time the promissory note dated 1/27/92 will be returned.
[Letter from Tucker to Hall, 1/27/92.]
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Counsel for Biddle also introduced a letter from [Hall] to Frederick Tucker dated September 30, 1992, in which [Hall] proposed that a stockholder’s agreement be put in place covering, inter alia, the valuation of the corporate stock.... [Mr. Miller] testified that he discussed [the formula proposed in the letter] with [Hall] and told him it was incorrect. Mr. Miller stated that [Hall] continued to make other suggestions for valuing the stock after the September 30, 1992 letter. The witness testified that he and [Hall] bandied the issue about on a frequent basis, in part because Mr. Miller was himself contemplating becoming a shareholder.
[Appellant] presented the testimony of Alice Hall, [Hall’s] widow and the executrix of his estate. She identified a promissory note signed by Frederick A. Tucker, as President of Biddle & Company and dated January 27, 1992, in favor of Craig Hall in the amount of $50,000. The note specified repayment *621 “with interest on the ... unpaid principal at the rate of seven and sixty-five on [sic] hundredths percent (7.65%) per annum from the date thereof ...” She also identified a check dated January 28, 1992, written on an account titled in the names of Craig Hall and Alice Hall in the amount of $50,000 payable to Biddle & Company....

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Bluebook (online)
731 A.2d 617, 1999 Pa. Super. 119, 1999 Pa. Super. LEXIS 948, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-estate-of-hall-pasuperct-1999.