In Re Valma M. Hanson Revocable Trust No. 103-83-1

779 N.E.2d 1218, 2002 Ind. App. LEXIS 2141, 2002 WL 31831769
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 18, 2002
Docket45A05-0202-CV-55
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 779 N.E.2d 1218 (In Re Valma M. Hanson Revocable Trust No. 103-83-1) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana 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 Valma M. Hanson Revocable Trust No. 103-83-1, 779 N.E.2d 1218, 2002 Ind. App. LEXIS 2141, 2002 WL 31831769 (Ind. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinions

OPINION

KIRSCH, Judge.

Barry C. Bergstrom, Trustee of the Val-ma M. Hanson Revocable Trust ("Trust"), brings this interlocutory appeal of the trial court's order denying his motion to dismiss the action filed by Elizabeth Hanson and Bonnie Kucezkowski ("Petitioners") wherein they allege that Bergstrom had violated the terms of the Trust in his administration thereof. The issue Bergstrom presents upon appeal is whether the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On December 2, 1988, in Illinois, Valma Hanson executed an instrument that established the Trust. Hanson named herself as the original Trustee, but later she named Bergstrom as Trustee by amendment in 1992. Article Five of the Trust instrument directed the Trustee to pay the various taxes payable upon her death. Article Eight created a separate "Trust B" and directed that after her death, Trust B of the "Trust as then constituted" was to be divided and distributed pursuant to the provisions of "Schedule 'C' " of the Trust. Appellant's Appendix at 24. Schedule C, as amended in 1992, stated that the "Trust Estate as provided in Article Eight shall be divided and distributed" upon her death "as follows: 1. SPECIFIC DEVISE OF REAL ESTATE" then held in the Trust Estate was bequeathed to Bergstrom, and "2 .... the balance of the assets included in the Trust Estate as constituted" was to be divided according to specified percentages among nine individuals1 and one church. Appellant's Appendix at 47. The Trust instrument also specified that the "Trust Agreement and the trusts created hereby shall be construed, regulated and governed by and in accordance with the laws of the State of Illinois." Appellant's Appendix at 38.

On March 31, 1992, Hanson executed a last will and testament. In Article I of her will, she bequeathed all of her personal property to Bergstrom. In Article II, she exercised her testamentary power of appointment over the principal assets that were held in Trust A from her late husband's revocable trust to appoint Berg-strom and bequeath those assets to him. In Article III, the will provided the "GIFT [1220]*1220OF RESIDUE TO TRUST," whereby "all the residue of [her] estate" was "give[n] and devise[d]" to Trust B of her Trust. Appellant's Appendix at 85. The will named Bergstrom as executor thereof. Also, the will stated that Hanson was "a resident of Lake County, Indiana," and the will was to be "construed and interpreted under the laws of the State of which I am now a resident." Appellant's Appendix at 85, 88.

Hanson died on December 1, 1998. Indiana inheritance tax and Federal estate tax returns were filed, and the taxes and expenses were paid from the residuary assets of Trust B. Bergstrom allocated the payment of the taxes and expenses exclusively to the non-real estate assets in Schedule C and did not assess a contribution against the balance of the assets in Trust B, which included the devise of realty to Bergstrom. After Bergstrom had distributed to himself the real estate held by Hanson at the time of her death and paid the taxes and expenses, no property was available for those identified to receive the specified percentage shares of "the balance of the assets" in Trust B. Appellant's Appendix at 47.

On behalf of the residuary beneficiaries other than Bergstrom, the instant petition was filed, asserting that as Trustee, Berg-strom had violated the terms of the Trust by failing to apportion the federal estate tax and Indiana inheritance tax against all the property in Trust B.2 Petitioners asked that the Trust be docketed concerning "all issues with respect to the accounting and distribution of assets within the Trust," Appellant's Appendiz at 16, while also seeking the removal of Bergstrom and payment of attorney's fees.

Bergstrom filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the petition failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Specifically, Bergstrom contended that (1) the terms of the Trust authorized the payment of death taxes to be made at his discretion as Trustee, and (2) Indiana's statute on the apportionment of federal estate taxes was "inapplicable ... because the trust agreement specifies the application of Illinois law, which has no similar rule on apportionment." Appellant's Appendix at 72. The trial court denied Berg-strom's motion to dismiss, finding that the petition "states a claim on which relief can be granted because the Trust Agreement, as amended, should not be interpreted to permit payment of all death taxes from the residuary of the Trust." Appellant's Appendix at 7-8.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

Indiana Trial Rule 12(B)(6) provides for a motion that asserts the action should be dismissed because it fails "to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." Such a motion "test[s] the legal sufficiency of the claim, not the supporting facts." C & E Corp. v. Ramco Indus., Ime., 717 N.E.2d 642, 643 (Ind.Ct.App.1999). "A motion to dismiss is proper if it is apparent that the complaint states a set of facts and cireumstances which, even if true, would not support the relief requested." Time Warner Entm't Co. v. Whiteman, 741 N.E.2d 1265, 1270 (Ind.Ct.App.2001).

Bergstrom argues that the motion to dismiss should have been granted because the Trust instrument itself authorized his discretion in the payment of estate and inheritance taxes. The provision he relies [1221]*1221upon is Article Five of the Trust, which as amended, reads as follows:

DISCRETIONARY PROVISIONS FOR TRUSTEE TO DEAL WITH SETTLORS ESTATE AND MAKE PAYMENTS OF DEBTS AND TAXES. A
After the Settlor's death, the Trustee, if in its discretion it deems it advisable, may pay all or any part of the Settlor's funeral expenses, legally enforceable claims against the Settlor or her estate, - reasonable expenses of administration of her estate, any allowances by court order to those dependent upon the Settlor, any estate, aimheritance, succession, death or similar taxes payable by reason of the Settlor's death, together with any interest thereon - or other additions thereto, without reimbursement from the Settlor's executor or administrator, from any beneficiary of insurance upon the Settlor's life, or from any other person. All such payments, except of in- . terest, shall be charged generally against the principal of the Trust Estate includable in the Settlor's estate for Federal estate tax purposes and any interest so paid shall be charged generally against the income thereof, provided, however, any such payments of estate, inheritance, succession, death or similar taxes shall be charged against the principal constituting Trust B and any interest so paid shall be charged against the income thereof.

Appellant's Appendix at 39-40 (emphasis added).

Petitioners argue that because this Trust provision specifically directs that taxes are payable generally from the principal of Trust B, and the real estate distributed to Bergstrom was a part of the principal of the Trust, that real estate must not be excluded from being subject to the payment of a share of the estate taxes3

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In Re Valma M. Hanson Revocable Trust No. 103-83-1
779 N.E.2d 1218 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2002)

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779 N.E.2d 1218, 2002 Ind. App. LEXIS 2141, 2002 WL 31831769, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-valma-m-hanson-revocable-trust-no-103-83-1-indctapp-2002.