In RE ESTATE OF ROTH v. Roth

238 N.E.2d 607, 96 Ill. App. 2d 292, 1968 Ill. App. LEXIS 1180
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJune 20, 1968
DocketGen. 67-132
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 238 N.E.2d 607 (In RE ESTATE OF ROTH v. Roth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois 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 ROTH v. Roth, 238 N.E.2d 607, 96 Ill. App. 2d 292, 1968 Ill. App. LEXIS 1180 (Ill. Ct. App. 1968).

Opinion

MR. JUSTICE SEIDENFELD

delivered the opinion of the court.

This is a citation proceeding by the Administrator, John Roth, for the recovery of the proceeds of four savings accounts alleged to have been the property of Anna C. Roth, hereinafter referred to as the decedent. After hearing, the court entered an order directing the respondent, Henry R. Roth, decedent’s son, to pay over to the estate the sum of $11,805.16, plus increments. It is from this order that respondent appeals.

The respondent contends that he is the owner of the monies in the joint accounts by reason of an absolute gift of the funds by the decedent prior to her death. However, the respondent contends that in the alternative, in the event there is no inter vivos gift, the evidence establishes a trust of the funds not subject to the claim of the petitioner.

The decedent, Anna C. Roth, died intestate on August 17, 1964, leaving as her survivors, six children, including the respondent and petitioner. Her husband predeceased her having died in 1956. The decedent, by reason of her husband’s death, received certain joint tenancy property by which she created four accounts in three Savings & Loan Associations in Aurora. It is undisputed that all sums used to create these accounts were monies solely and only of the decedent.

The accounts were in the names of Anna C. Roth or Henry R. Roth, or John Roth as joint tenants with right of survivorship. The passbooks were issued and the Savings & Loan Agreements were signed by all the parties. While the agreements were not in identical language, each contained, in substance, the usual language including the right of withdrawal in each of the parties, and survivorship.

In the Home Building & Loan Association, Account No. J690 was opened on March 11, 1957, with a deposit of $15,000 and Account No. 0-3460 was opened on January 2, 1960 with a deposit of $7,500. On March 2, 1957, Account No. 0-6613 was opened in the Improvement Federal Savings Association with a deposit of $8,450. On March 21, 1960, Account No. 16909 was opened in the Aurora Savings & Loan Association with a deposit of $689.31.

On May 2, 1964, the respondent withdrew the balance of Account No. J690 in the amount of $2,016.19. On Jufy 18, 1964, he withdrew from Account No. 0-3460, the balance of $7,668.75, and on the same date he withdrew from Account 0-6613, the balance of $611.65. On July 23, 1964, the respondent withdrew from Account No. 16909, the amount of $139.09, leaving a balance of $5. This account showed a balance of $1,508.57 as of November 22, 1966, representing additional deposits of $50 each made by Frank Roth, a child of the deceased, as payments on a note owed to the deceased.

In 1956, the decedent suffered a heart attack. At that time, the respondent, who is the only unmarried child of six children of the decedent, left St. Joseph’s College, where he was then studying in the seminary, to take care of his mother. From the year 1956 to the date of her death, the only child of the six to take care of the decedent and to reside with her was the respondent. In 1958, the respondent took sole possession of the passbooks and when the subsequent accounts were opened, the respondent had possession of those passbooks.

In 1957, the decedent expressed the intent that the funds in the joint accounts were to be used for her if she needed it when she was sick or if she otherwise needed the funds for her support during her lifetime, and upon her death the proceeds were to be divided equally among her children by the surviving joint depositors to make sure there would be no necessity to probate the funds in her estate. She desired such an arrangement whereby the funds would be immediately accessible to the children in order to avoid lengthy probate proceedings. The estate of the decedent’s husband had been in probate a number of years and the decedent wished to avoid such a complication.

The testimony as to decedent’s intention in opening the accounts did not vary materially. John Roth testified that decedent stated that her purpose in setting up the account was:

“So when she died, we were supposed to see the money was equally divided among the heirs . . . among her children.”

Henry Roth testified that when the accounts were first created, “it was just a matter of convenience.” Both sons testified that when the accounts were created, the withdrawals from the accounts were to be used for their mother’s expenses during her lifetime.

However, in 1962, there was testimony that the decedent expressed a different intention as to the joint accounts when she visited her son, Carl Roth, in Florida. In the late spring or early summer of 1964, the deceased consulted her attorney for the preparation of a will which, however, was never executed. In discussing her assets with the attorney, the deceased never mentioned the joint accounts but spoke only of her property as being interest in real estate. The deceased’s attorney testified that the deceased stated she had “special affection” for the respondent because he stayed home on her behalf and cared for her. At this time, the balance of the joint accounts was approximately $10,000. At the time of her hospitalization which preceded her death, the decedent allegedly told the respondent, “You get that money out of the bank and hold on to it or he is going to grab everything and you won’t have a roof over your head,” and it is acknowledged that when the decedent referred to “he” she was referring to John Roth, the petitioner. She further stated, “that I want the boys to get the money and I want Henry and Carl to have the money and have the home.”

The deceased from the day of her heart attack in 1956 until the date of her death of August 17, 1964, remained continuously unemployed receiving income from a pension and monthly rentals. During this period, the respondent alone made withdrawals determining the amount of any withdrawal which was given to the deceased for her use.

There is no claim of fraud or conversion of any of the funds which the respondent withdrew prior to May 2, 1964, and therefore, the amount in dispute is $11,805.16, plus increments.

The court’s order found that the four accounts in the Savings & Loan Associations were executed in joint tenancy and were set up as a matter of convenience; that by reason of the respondent residing with his mother for many years, he stood in a fiduciary relationship with his mother, and that the burden of proof is on the respondent, Henry R. Roth, to establish a gift inter vivos to him by clear and convincing proof; that all monies belonged to the decedent when the accounts were established and that the respondent had failed to meet the burden of proof of a gift inter vivos to himself and by reason thereof the monies in the joint tenancy accounts belong to the estate; and ordered the respondent to pay over the monies together with increments to the administrator.

The creation of joint accounts in regard to banks and savings and loan associations is expressly governed by statute, to wit, 111 Rev Stats 1955, c 32, § 770, as amended, which contains broad and comprehensive provisions for the creation of rights of survivorship in the case of capital accounts.

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Bluebook (online)
238 N.E.2d 607, 96 Ill. App. 2d 292, 1968 Ill. App. LEXIS 1180, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-estate-of-roth-v-roth-illappct-1968.