In Re Estate of Stevens

971 P.2d 58
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedApril 9, 1999
Docket22631-6-II
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 971 P.2d 58 (In Re Estate of Stevens) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington 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 Stevens, 971 P.2d 58 (Wash. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

971 P.2d 58 (1999)
94 Wash.App. 20

ESTATE OF George C. STEVENS, Deceased.

No. 22631-6-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

January 8, 1999.
Publication Ordered February 5, 1999.
As Amended April 9, 1999.

*59 Henry Haas, McGavick Graves, Beale & McNerthney, Tacoma, WA, for Appellant.

Rene J. Remund, Armstrong, Vanderstoep, Remund, Chehalis, WA, David D. Cullen, David D Cullen, Olympia, WA, David K. Palmer, Cullen Law Office, Olympia, WA, for Respondent.

HOUGHTON, C.J.

Maxine Curtis appeals the trial court's denial of her motion to vacate a default order entered against her. We affirm.

FACTS

George C. Stevens (Stevens) was a single man, without children or descendents, who traveled the country in a motor home, but retained his residence in Thurston County. Bob Stevens, James Stevens and Ruth Lauer are Stevens' brothers and sister. They are the only takers of Stevens' intestacy property under Washington law.

Salley Stevens, Barbara Stevens-Hill, Carol Ann Stevens-Kruize, and Rita Stevens are daughters of Bob Stevens, and, thus, were Stevens' nieces. Andrea Hill and Donald Hill are the children of Barbara Stevens-Hill, and were Stevens' grandniece and grandnephew.

Maxine Curtis, Kathy Purcell, Sarah Rosolek, and Kathleen Powell Knight were Stevens' friends. Shriners Hospital for Children is a nonprofit corporation.

*60 On or about March 7, 1994, Stevens executed and acknowledged the George C. Stevens Trust in Maricopa County, Arizona. The trust had been prepared by an attorney in another state, Dwight F. Bickel, and was mailed to Stevens to execute. Stevens executed two originals of the trust, both as grantor and trustee. Although Stevens acknowledged the trust document, no other witnesses signed the trust. Kathleen Powell Knight and Rita K. Stevens later executed one original of the trust as successor co-trustees, but not in each other's presence.

The George C. Stevens Trust was a revocable living trust, which named Stevens as its initial trustee but designated Kathleen Powell Knight and Rita K. Stevens as successor trustees. The trust further provided in paragraph 6.2:

[]If a Successor Co-Trustee shall be unable or unwilling to serve as Co-Trustee when required to do so, or having assumed such office shall thereafter cease to, or for any reason become unable to, act as Co-Trustee, an Alternate Successor Co-Trustee shall automatically succeed to the office of Co-Trustee to fill the vacancy in the same manner, and with like powers and authority, as provided herein with respect to the originally designated Successor Co-Trustee

....

The trust named Bob Stevens as the first Alternate Successor Co-Trustee.

"Schedule `A'" was attached to the trust but was neither signed nor initialed by Stevens. The schedule contained a list of property transferred to the trust by Stevens. The list included, "All household furnishings, goods, and appliances, and all jewelry and personal effects, or other personal property of any nature and wherever situated (except motor vehicles) now owned by Grantor."

"Schedule B,' "also attached to the trust, provided a cash gift to Kathleen Powell Knight. This provision was in Stevens' handwriting and was signed but not witnessed. It provided, "One percent of final net worth after all expenses & taxes are paid, for promptly setteling [sic] this matter as approved by Rita K. Stevens co-trustee." The trust also contained a document titled "Schedule `C,'" which named the beneficiaries entitled to the remainder of the trust estate.

On July 18, 1996, Stevens died while traveling with Rita Stevens. On or around July 19, 1996, Kathleen Powell Knight wrote to Bob J. Stevens, relinquishing her appointment as successor co-trustee. Knight had never performed any duties as a co-trustee of the George C. Stevens Trust.

After Stevens' death, Bob Stevens and Rita Stevens collected Stevens' papers and property from Stevens' motor home. While reviewing Stevens' records, they found two bound copies of the trust. The Schedule "C" on both copies was the same.

On or about July 30, 1996, Bob Stevens received a second letter from Knight, requesting certain documents. Her letter stated that she needed to review them for completeness, although she did not say what she thought might be incomplete. On August 7, 1996, Rita Stevens sent Knight copies of the death certificate, will, and trust. At the time Rita Stevens sent Knight the copies, she had no information of any other Schedule "C."

Rita Stevens and Bob Stevens heard nothing from Knight until about September 4, 1996, when her attorney contacted their attorney, disputing the contents of Schedule "C." Knight asserted that the valid Schedule "C" was actually the "Bickel Schedule C," which was found with a copy of the trust held by the attorney that created the trust, and was materially different from the Schedule "C" found in Stevens' motor home. Knight claimed that (1) the shares of Maxine Curtis, Kathy Purcell, Sarah Roselek, and herself should be increased from "0.5% to 10%"; (2) the shares of nieces Rita Stevens, Salley Stevens, and Carol Ann Stevens-Kruize should be reduced from "20% to 10%"; (3) the share of niece Barbara Stevens-Hill should be reduced from "10% to nothing"; and (4) the share of the Shriners Hospitals for Children should be increased from 8% to 10%.

Sixty percent of the distribution is the same under both the Surviving Schedule C and the Bickel Schedule C. Under the Surviving Schedule C, however, the disputed *61 forty percent passes to Stevens' nieces, whereas under the Bickel Schedule C, two percent passes to the Shriners Hospitals and the remaining 38 percent passes to friends of Stevens, including Knight and Curtis. The beneficiaries are the same on both schedules, with the exception of Barbara Stevens-Hill who is not a beneficiary under the Bickel Schedule C.

Two disinterested witnesses, Reed and Saffarrans, remember Stevens showing them the Surviving Schedule C. Knight, however, a beneficiary of the trust, asserted that the Bickel Schedule C was the valid schedule.

To resolve the dispute, Bob Stevens and Rita Stevens filed a Petition for Interpleader in Thurston County Superior Court. Before beginning the interpleader, Rita Stevens informed the beneficiaries of the dispute and of her intention to file an interpleader action.

On February 7, 1997, Rita Stevens, as co-trustee and co-personal representative, filed a petition for Distribution of Net Income During Administration to approve distribution of 1996 income to beneficiaries whose shares were undisputed. In her petition, Rita Stevens stated that Schedule C was in dispute and that she anticipated asking the court for guidance in the near future. The petition also outlined the different distribution percentages each beneficiary would receive under the Surviving Schedule C and under the Bickel Schedule C. Curtis acknowledged that she received this petition in February 1997.

On March 3, 1997, Bob Stevens and Rita Stevens filed their Petition of Interpleader and Declaratory Relief. In the petition, paragraph 14 stated that Curtis will receive only .5 percent of the remainder of the trust; paragraph 17 stated that the witnesses to Stevens' will saw Schedule C and their recollection of its distribution is consistent with the Surviving Schedule C; and paragraph 26 stated that Knight asserted that the Bickel Schedule C was valid.

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Bluebook (online)
971 P.2d 58, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-estate-of-stevens-washctapp-1999.