In Re Estate of Uzelac

2005 UT App 234, 114 P.3d 1164, 526 Utah Adv. Rep. 33, 2005 Utah App. LEXIS 291, 2005 WL 1243201
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedMay 26, 2005
DocketNo. 20040356-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 2005 UT App 234 (In Re Estate of Uzelac) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah 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 Uzelac, 2005 UT App 234, 114 P.3d 1164, 526 Utah Adv. Rep. 33, 2005 Utah App. LEXIS 291, 2005 WL 1243201 (Utah Ct. App. 2005).

Opinions

AMENDED OPINION1

BILLINGS, Presiding Judge:

¶ 1 Barbara Uzelac (Wife) appeals from a trial court order denying her certain property under an Ante Nuptial Agreement (the Agreement). We affirm in part and reverse and remand in part.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 On April 14, 1976, Wife and Louis J. Uzelac (Husband) were married. Prior to their marriage, Husband and Wife executed the Agreement, which provides, in relevant part:

In the event of the termination of this marriage by death or otherwise all of the real, personal or mixed property owned by each party prior to their marriage shall be the sole and separate property of him or her or their respective estates.
In the event that either party to this Agreement should sell, convert or exchange any of the property owned by him or her prior to the marriage, then the proceeds from such sale or exchange or such other real or personal property acquired from such sale shall be deemed subject to this Agreement, not as property acquired during the marriage, but as substitute property owned by the party prior to marriage.
The parties further agree that all property, whether real, personal or mixed acquired by the parties shall go to the survivor, in the event of the death of the other, or if otherwise terminated, shall be equitably divided as the parties may agree or as may be decreed by a court of competent jurisdiction.
In the event of the simultaneous death of the parties all property acquired by them during their marriage, be it real, personal or mixed shall be divided one-half to [Wife’s] estate and one-half to [Husband’s] estate.

¶ 3 After Husband and Wife were married, Husband prepared a will (Will), which directs that Husband’s estate is to be divided as follows: (1) all debts, expenses, and administration expenses are to be paid; (2) Husband’s two daughters are to receive equal shares of Husband’s property; (3) Wife is to receive property per the terms of the Agreement; and (4) Husband’s two granddaughters are to receive $5000.00 each. It is undisputed that both the Agreement and the Will are enforceable.

¶4 At the time Husband and Wife were married, Husband owned (1) two parcels of real property, on which Husband and Wife resided at the time of his death (Residence); (2) six water shares in Cottonwood Tanner Ditch Company; and (3) $52,012.42 in his bank account. During their marriage, both Husband and Wife kept numerous separate bank accounts and deposited most of the money they acquired during the marriage into their respective separate accounts.

¶ 5 On November 6, 1999, Husband died. At the time of his death, Husband had three “payable on death” (POD) accounts totaling $189,049.15 with his two daughters as beneficiaries, and one POD account totaling $12,790.00 with Wife as beneficiary. In addition, Husband had non-POD accounts totaling $75,876.85 and stocks worth $36,950.91. On December 7, 1999, the Will entered into probate.

[1167]*1167¶ 6 Wife received the $12,790.00 from the POD account to which she was a beneficiary; a life estate in the Residence pursuant to the Agreement; $4858.83 from Husband and Wife’s joint accounts; and $15,000.00 withdrawn from one of Husband’s accounts prior to his death and deposited after his death into the joint account. Husband’s two daughters received all other property owned by Husband at the time of his death, including the Residence subject to Wife’s life estate.

¶ 7 Wife challenged this distribution on numerous grounds, essentially arguing that under the Agreement she is entitled to all property Husband acquired during the marriage. After a bench trial, the trial court did not disturb the distribution, ruling that the Agreement provides that Wife is to receive only the property Husband and Wife acquired jointly and held together during the marriage. Wife appeals.

ISSUES AND STANDARDS OF REVIEW

¶ 8 First, Wife argues that she qualifies as a creditor under Utah Code sections 75-3-801 to -816, which give priority to her claims under the Agreement. See Utah Code Ann. §§ 75-3-801 to-816 (2000). Interpretation of statutes presents a question of law we review for correctness. See In re V.K.S., 2003 UT App 13, ¶ 7, 63 P.3d 1284.

¶ 9 Second, Wife argues that the trial court erred by interpreting the Agreement to provide that Wife receives only property Husband and Wife acquired together and held jointly during their marriage. We review a trial court’s interpretation of a contract for correctness. See Nova Cas. Co. v. Able Constr., Inc., 1999 UT 69, ¶ 6, 983 P.2d 575.

¶ 10 Finally, Wife argues that the trial court erred by ruling that Husband’s daughters had not waived their rights to certain personal property. Where the facts are undisputed, “the proper standard of waiver presents a legal question which is reviewed for correctness.” Pledger v. Gillespie, 1999 UT 54, ¶ 16, 982 P.2d 572.

ANALYSIS

I. Wife’s Status as a Creditor

¶ 11 Wife first argues that she is a creditor, as defined in Utah Code sections 75-3-801 to -816, which gives priority to her claims. See Utah Code Ann. §§ 75-3-801 to -816. The personal representative of Husband’s estate (PR) argues that any claim Wife may have had as a creditor is now barred by the one-year time limitation in Utah Code section 75-3-803. We agree with the PR.

¶ 12 Under section 75-3-803, a creditor must bring a claim, at the latest, “one year after the decedent’s death.” Id. § 75-3-803(l)(a). Because Wife filed her breach of contract claim over two years after Husband’s death, her claim falls outside the one-year limitation.

¶ 13 Wife argues that although she did not formally bring her claim for over two years, she did present her claim to the PR within the one-year limitation by providing the PR a copy of the Agreement. Section 75-3-804(l)(a) provides that a claimant need not commence a court action to comply with the one-year limitation, but rather “may deliver or mail to the personal representative, or the personal representative’s attorney of record, a written statement of the claim indicating its basis, the name and address of the claimant, and the amount claimed.” Id. § 75-3-804(l)(a). Further, the written statement of claim must at least describe “the general nature of the obligation,” as measured by the “notice pleading standard” under rule 8 of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure. Quinn v. Quinn, 772 P.2d 979, 980 (Utah Ct.App.1989) (quotations omitted) (citing Dementas v. Estate of Tallas, 764 P.2d 628, 630 (Utah Ct. App.1988)).

¶ 14 Merely providing the PR with a copy of the Agreement, which all parties have always agreed is binding, without explaining how the Agreement had been breached or the amount she was claiming as a creditor under the Agreement, does not begin to satisfy the requirements of notice pleading.

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Related

Nebeker v. Summit County
2014 UT App 244 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2014)
Uzelac v. Uzelac
2008 UT App 33 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2005 UT App 234, 114 P.3d 1164, 526 Utah Adv. Rep. 33, 2005 Utah App. LEXIS 291, 2005 WL 1243201, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-estate-of-uzelac-utahctapp-2005.