In Re The Estate Of Lillian Cora Johnson. Marion Joss v. Michelle Campbell

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJuly 9, 2018
Docket76652-0
StatusUnpublished

This text of In Re The Estate Of Lillian Cora Johnson. Marion Joss v. Michelle Campbell (In Re The Estate Of Lillian Cora Johnson. Marion Joss v. Michelle Campbell) 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 The Estate Of Lillian Cora Johnson. Marion Joss v. Michelle Campbell, (Wash. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

FILED COUlIT OF APPEALS Div I STATE OF VIASHINGTOH

2018 JUL -9 All 8:38

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

IN RE ESTATE OF LILLIAN CORA JOHNSON, No. 76652-0-1

Deceased

MARION JOSS, by and through her attorneys-in-fact, HAROLD and SANDRA JOSS, DIVISION ONE Appellants,

V.

MICHELLE CAMPBELL, UNPUBLISHED OPINION

Respondent. FILED: July 9, 2018

SPEARMAN, J. — Where the owner of a bank account has designated

another person as joint tenant with right of survivorship, there is a statutory

presumption that, upon the death of one co-owner, funds in the account pass to

the surviving co-owner. This presumption may only be overcome by clear and

convincing evidence of contrary intent at the time the account was created.

Lillian Johnson designated a relative, Michelle Campbell, as joint tenant

with right of survivorship in 2010 and again in 2012. In 2012, Johnson designated

another relative, Marion Joss, as payable on death beneficiary. Johnson died in

2014 and the accounts passed to Campbell. Joss brought this action asserting No. 76652-0-1/2

that she was the righfful beneficiary of the accounts under several theories. But

Joss failed to produce evidence establishing a prima facie claim. The trial court

did not err in granting summary judgment to Campbell. We affirm.

FACTS

Lillian Johnson was the eldest of five sisters and had a large extended

family. She stayed in touch with many relatives. Johnson's sister, Marion Joss,

often visited her. A second cousin, Michelle Campbell, also visited Johnson.

Johnson did not drive and she relied on her husband for transportation.

When Johnson's husband died in 2009, Campbell began providing much of her

transportation. Johnson sometimes performed errands on foot, but Campbell

regularly took her grocery shopping and to appointments. Joss gave Johnson

rides when Campbell was unavailable. At the time Johnson was widowed, she

was 88 years old, Joss was 87, and Campbell was 60.

In April 2010, Johnson suffered a stroke and spent ten days in a

rehabilitation facility. Johnson's medical record from this time state that she had a

"waxing and waning of confusion." Clerk's Papers(CP) at 33. The records also

describe Johnson as alert, competent to execute directives, and able to self-

manage medications. Staff in the rehabilitation facility encouraged Johnson to

execute a power of attorney. Johnson named Campbell attorney in fact and

made Joss the alternate. Following her discharge, Johnson continued to live

independently.

In May 2010, Johnson met with an attorney, Karl Flaccus, to discuss her

estate. Flaccus's notes from the meeting include an estate planning

2 No. 76652-0-1/3

questionnaire and a separate page listing the names of Johnson's sisters and

Campbell's name and address. According to the questionnaire, Johnson

intended to name her four sisters as beneficiaries. Flaccus drafted a will in favor

of Johnson's sisters. Flaccus did not hear from Johnson again. There is no

evidence that Johnson signed the will. Nor did the will dispose of the accounts at

issue in this case.

In September 2010, Johnson added Campbell as a joint tenant with right

of survivorship(JTWROS)to her Bank of America accounts. The signature card

describes the accounts as "the property of each co-owner as joint tenants with

right of survivorship and payable to either co-owner or to the surviving co-

owner(s) if a co-owner dies." CP at 366. Johnson and Campbell both signed the

signature card. Campbell later stated that she did not recall being added to

Johnson's accounts in 2010 and did not understand the significance. The record

contains no other evidence concerning this transaction.

In April 2012, Johnson, Campbell, and Joss went to Bank of America

together. Johnson and Campbell executed new signature cards again naming

Campbell as JTVVROS. As in 2010, the forms describe the accounts as the

property of each co-owner and payable to the surviving co-owner if one co-owner

dies. Johnson, Campbell, and Joss executed a form making Joss the payable on

death (P.O.D.) beneficiary. Campbell and Joss both stated that they did not read

the forms, no one explained them, and they did not understand the significance

of the JTVVROS and P.O.D. designations.

3 No. 76652-0-1/4

Johnson suffered another stroke in May 2014. Johnson was unable to

speak for herself and Campbell made various decisions about her care. Johnson

died in June 2014.

Campbell accessed the Bank of America accounts for the first time during

Johnson's final illness. At that time, the accounts totaled about $430,000.

Campbell wrote a check for $38 to pay Johnson's electricity bill. She later paid for

Johnson's funeral from the Bank of America accounts.

After Johnson's death, Campbell, Joss, and other relatives learned that

Johnson's bank accounts passed to Campbell as JTVVROS. One of Johnson's

nieces, Linda Claughton, believed this was a mistake. Based on the close

relationship between Johnson and her sisters, Claughton believed Johnson

intended the bank account to pass to Joss. One of Johnson's nephews, Bruce

Fletcher, stated that he believed it "would make sense" for the accounts to go to

Joss. CP at 137.

Family members discussed the accounts with a Bank of America

employee, Dena Bainbridge. Bainbridge froze the accounts. She stated that

Johnson once "mentioned that she wanted to make sure her sister Marion [Joss]

was taken care of" and it was obvious to her that Johnson intended the accounts

to go to Joss. CP at 140. Bainbridge's Bank of America manager later required

her to unfreeze the accounts.

In September 2014, Bank of America informed Campbell that the accounts

belonged to her and she began to draw on them. A short time later, the court

appointed Claughton and Fletcher to administer Johnson's estate. Claughton and

4 No. 76652-0-1/5

Fletcher began investigating Campbell's expenditures. Campbell transferred the

funds from Bank of America to her personal accounts at Chase Bank. Claughton

and Fletcher filed a complaint asserting that, by transferring the funds out of

Bank of America, Campbell had committed theft. The sheriffs office placed a

freeze on Campbell's Chase accounts.

Joss provided a statement to a detective in the sheriffs office. The

detective questioned Joss about Johnson's mental capacity in the years

preceding her death. In response to a question as to whether Johnson needed

help with bills and finances after she was widowed, Joss stated "No, Lillian

[Johnson] was an intelligent person. She, finally in the last few years of her life

she had a couple of strokes. She recovered fairly well from the first one [in 20101,

the second one [in 2014] kind of did her in. . ." CP at 742. The detective stated

"Ok, so, you think.. . she would be able to take care of her own finances[?]" Id.

Joss replied "Oh, yeah." Id. Specifically as to events in 2010, Joss stated "I didn't

know and I didn't worry about it. Lillian was a very independent person and she

like[d] to give the orders and so forth, so I kept my nose out of it." Id. Joss further

stated that "Lillian was a very bossy person and I didn't worry about her. Like I

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