in Re Massie Family Trust

CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 19, 2016
Docket326069
StatusUnpublished

This text of in Re Massie Family Trust (in Re Massie Family Trust) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
in Re Massie Family Trust, (Mich. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

STATE OF MICHIGAN

COURT OF APPEALS

In re MASSIE FAMILY TRUST.

CHERYL PLANTENGA and CATHERINE UNPUBLISHED HORNBOGEN, May 19, 2016

Petitioners-Appellees,

v No. 326069 Marquette Probate Court LINDA JUZENAS Trustee for MASSIE FAMILY LC No. 14-032775-TV TRUST,

Respondent-Appellant.

Before: GLEICHER, P.J., and SAWYER and M. J. KELLY, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

As Clare Boothe Luce penned, “No good deed goes unpunished.” That adage fits our facts. Acting as successor trustee for a trust created by her mother and stepfather, Linda Juzenas valiantly preserved the trust’s sole asset—a house—ensuring that it did not fall into ruin or tax foreclosure. Juzenas failed to notify her co-secondary beneficiaries of her efforts. Based on this oversight, the probate court surcharged Juzenas $1,650.81, the sum of a property tax delinquency and homeowner’s insurance premium Juzenas paid from her own pocket, and $150, petitioners’ filing fee.

The other secondary beneficiaries suffered no harm as a result of Juzenas’s failure to notify and were graced with an inheritance that likely was enriched by Juzenas’s endeavors. Under these circumstances, the probate court abused its discretion in charging Juzenas for the tax and insurance obligations. We therefore reverse that portion of the lower court’s order.

The lower court did correctly reject the bid of the trust’s attorney for certain attorney fees and costs and we affirm that portion of the probate court’s decision. However, the court miscalculated the attorney-fee figure and we remand to allow the court to make the required correction.

-1- I. BACKGROUND

Walter and Yvonne Massie established a living trust—the Massie Family Trust—on February 1, 1995. They named themselves the primary beneficiaries of the trust and the original trustees. As “secondary beneficiaries” the Massies named their five individual children from previous marriages. Yvonne’s daughter, Linda Juzenas, was named as the successor trustee. The only asset placed in the trust was the couple’s Marquette home.

Yvonne suffered from Alzheimer’s Diseases and entered a nursing home in 2006. The following year, Walter died in a boating accident. In a letter dated January 12, 2009, the trust’s attorney, Robert Anderson, advised the attorney for Walter’s three children, William McDonald, that “Yvonne has resigned as a Trustee, but continues to be the primary beneficiary.” Anderson forwarded McDonald a copy of the trust document, Walter’s will bequeathing everything to Yvonne, and the beneficiary forms for Walter’s life insurance policies, which also flowed to Yvonne. Anderson advised McDonald that the only asset in the trust was the house and its contents and that the couples’ children “have contingent rights.” “When Yvonne passes, I will help Linda sell the home and distribute the proceeds and contents to the five beneficiaries,” Anderson concluded.

Following Walter’s death, Yvonne gave Juzenas power of attorney to manage her personal assets (her Social Security and pension income and the proceeds of Walter’s life insurance policies) and control her personal affairs. Through this power of attorney, Juzenas applied for Medicaid benefits for her mother to pay for the nursing home bills. To qualify for Medicaid, Yvonne could not possess more than $2,000 in liquid assets. Accordingly, Juzenas used Walter’s life insurance policies to make repairs on the Massie house.

Anderson advised Juzenas that she could not sell the Massies’ house until after Yvonne’s death or Yvonne would be rendered ineligible for Medicaid. Aware that the taxes and insurance needed to be paid and the house maintained but that Yvonne lacked the financial means to meet these obligations, Juzenas secured a renter, Yvonne’s nephew Joshua Ploof. Ploof lived in the home, performed home repairs and regular maintenance, and paid the utilities. He resided in the home from June 2009 through June 2013, and paid Juzenas $200 monthly to cover the tax and insurance burden. Juzenas believed that she conducted this business in her role as Yvonne’s power of attorney. The Massies’ home belonged to the trust, however, not solely to Yvonne. Accordingly, Juzenas actually managed the home in her dual roles as trustee and holder of Yvonne’s power of attorney.

On July 1, 2013, McDonald sent Anderson a letter indicating that he was “uncertain” about the future of the trust and wanted additional information for his clients. McDonald “explained to [petitioners] that there should have been regular accountings for this trust since at least 2009 when Linda became trustee.” McDonald noted, “It is also my client’s understanding that the house has been occupied by someone other than Yvonne Massie. They have never received any information about that occupancy, nor have they been provided any information about rental income or expenses.” McDonald referenced “some interest on the part of one of the family members in purchasing the residence” and urged Juzenas to secure an appraisal “so that decisions can be made.”

-2- Despite that sale of the house would prejudice Yvonne, Juzenas secured an appraisal that valued the home at $135,000. In a letter dated September 9, 2013, Anderson notified McDonald of this appraisal and that Patricia Ploof, Yvonne’s sister, was an interested purchaser.

In a March 13, 2014 letter, McDonald threatened to pursue removal of Juzenas as trustee and to stall the sale of the Massie home unless Juzenas provided “information about the past history of the trust affairs.” Yvonne died on March 24, 2014. One week later, Anderson informed McDonald that the “sale of the home, the Trust’s only asset[,] is close to completion, and the sale proceeds may be available for distribution in the near future.” Anderson contended that it had been unnecessary to draft trust accountings for 2009 through 2013 because the house was the only asset and it could not be sold in those years. Rather, all financial activity related to Yvonne’s personal funds. Juzenas had secured a new tenant for the house in October 2013, and placed the tenant’s $700 monthly rent “into a personal account and has not used any of the funds.” Juzenas used her own funds to continue making property tax and insurance payments and intended to take reimbursement out of the sale proceeds. On July 1, 2014, after this suit was initiated, Anderson also forwarded a trust accounting to McDonald.

Dissatisfied with Anderson’s responses, Walter’s children filed a petition to remove Juzenas as the trustee on April 17, 2014. They alleged that Juzenas breached her duties by failing to provide an accounting to the trust beneficiaries, respond to the beneficiaries’ inquiries regarding the nature and extent of the trust’s assets, file appropriate tax returns, and maximize income for the trust. Petitioners eventually withdrew their request to have Juzenas removed from her position but sought other relief for Juzenas’s “deficient” communications and “operating . . . ‘outside of the books.’ ”

Ultimately, the probate court determined that petitioners were “qualified trust beneficiaries” who were entitled to ongoing notification about trust administration so they could protect their interests. Juzenas breached that duty by waiting a full year after petitioners’ request to provide a trust accounting. The court also determined that Juzenas filed the trust’s income tax return five weeks late. The court reasoned:

This is not a case of fraud or extreme self-dealing on the part of a trustee. The Court does not find that the trustee had any specific intent to deplete the assets of the trust to the detriment of the beneficiaries. Rather it appears to this Court that the trustee acted in a negligent manner in handling the trust property and in responding to the inquiries of the qualified trust beneficiaries.

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in Re Massie Family Trust, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-massie-family-trust-michctapp-2016.