Jacobs v. Vaillancourt

634 So. 2d 667, 1994 WL 66904
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 2, 1994
Docket92-04085, 93-00365
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 634 So. 2d 667 (Jacobs v. Vaillancourt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jacobs v. Vaillancourt, 634 So. 2d 667, 1994 WL 66904 (Fla. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

634 So.2d 667 (1994)

Richard L. JACOBS, Appellant,
v.
Judith L. VAILLANCOURT, individually and as trustee, and Robin A. Vaillancourt, Appellees.

Nos. 92-04085, 93-00365.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

March 2, 1994.
Rehearing Denied March 31, 1994.

*668 George F. Wilsey, Fisher and Wilsey, P.A., St. Petersburg, for appellant.

Joseph W. Fleece, III and James D. Eckert, Belcher, Fleece & Eckert, and Richard T. Earle, Jr., Earle and Earle, St. Petersburg, for appellees.

SCHOONOVER, Judge.

The appellant, Richard L. Jacobs, challenges a final judgment upholding the validity of certain instruments executed by him and his deceased wife Cecil, a/k/a Cecile F., Jacobs. Mr. Jacobs has also, by a separate appeal, challenged final orders directing that certain attorney's fees and costs be charged against a trust created by Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs. We have consolidated these appeals, and because we find that the trial court did *669 not commit reversible error in any of its rulings, we affirm in all respects.

Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs were married in 1951. At the time of their marriage, Mrs. Jacobs had a daughter from a previous marriage. This daughter, Judith, is the wife of Robin Vaillancourt the attorney who prepared the instruments which are being challenged in this action.

During the course of the Jacobs' marriage, they had acquired an estate worth more than $700,000. Most of the estate was titled in their names as an estate by the entireties or as joint tenants with the right of survivorship.

Although there was conflicting evidence concerning many of the events which led up to the institution of this action, the trial court found certain facts existed, and we find sufficient evidence to support those findings. On Friday, November 8, 1991, Mrs. Jacobs was released from the hospital having been diagnosed with terminal cancer. At that time, it was not certain that she would live through the weekend. Early Sunday morning, November 10, 1991, at Mrs. Jacobs' request, Robin Vaillancourt went to the Jacobs' home to discuss the Jacobs' estate plan with them. In general terms Mrs. Jacobs told Mr. Vaillancourt that she wanted her husband and herself to be taken care of during their lives, and then Judith, who was to be the trustee, should receive anything left over. When he was asked by Mr. Vaillancourt if he agreed to the proposed plan, Mr. Jacobs replied that Mr. Vaillancourt should do whatever Mrs. Jacobs wanted.

Mr. Vaillancourt spent most of the day researching, drafting, and locating secretarial help to complete the instruments he determined would be of benefit to Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs. He prepared an irrevocable inter vivos trust agreement naming Judith as trustee and providing income to the settlors, or the survivor of them, an irrevocable joint and mutual will pouring over Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs' assets into the irrevocable trust, and a deed conveying the marital home to the trust.

Mr. Vaillancourt then returned to the Jacobs' home and, in the presence of five witnesses, reviewed these documents with Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs. The documents were then properly executed by Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs, and later the trust agreement was signed by Mrs. Vaillancourt as trustee. While executing the documents, Mr. Jacobs indicated that he was doing it for his wife.

Later the same day, Mr. Jacobs told a friend that he intended to see his lawyer, have his wife declared senile, and have all of the documents that had been executed that day voided. The next day, Monday, November 11, 1991, he said that he had certain bearer bonds which he did not want anyone to know about and attempted to go to his safe deposit box. The bank was closed for Veteran's Day but he did enter his safe deposit box the next day, November 12, 1991.

A.G. Edwards prepared the stock transfer documents necessary to place the parties' stock into the irrevocable trust, and the instruments were executed at the Jacobs' home on November 14, 1991. While the documents were being executed, Mr. Jacobs indicated that he was signing them under duress. Mr. Vaillancourt told him that he did not need to sign the documents if he was not comfortable doing so. At that point, Mrs. Jacobs said "Richard, this is what we agreed to." Mr. Jacobs replied, "Yes, you're right," and signed the documents.

Mr. Jacobs consulted with an attorney prior to Mrs. Jacobs' death on December 6, 1991. He filed a complaint against Mr. Vaillancourt with The Florida Bar on December 9, 1991, and the instant action was commenced a short time thereafter.

Mr. Jacobs' amended complaint contained six counts. The complaint sought to void the trust, will, and deed on several grounds and also sought damages against Mr. and Mrs. Vaillancourt. Mr. Jacobs sued Mrs. Vaillancourt both individually and as trustee. The amended complaint sought damages for breach of fiduciary duty and also requested that the documents be set aside because they were, among other things, procured by duress, fraud, or undue influence, or because the decedent was not competent at the time they were executed.

*670 At the conclusion of the nonjury trial held in connection with this matter, the trial court found in favor of Mr. and Mrs. Vaillancourt on the damage claims and held that all of the documents were valid. Mr. Jacobs filed timely notices of appeal from the final judgment entered in this matter and the subsequent order awarding costs and attorney's fees.

In this appeal, Mr. Jacobs does not contest the trial court's denial of most of his claims, including the claim that he was under duress at the time he executed the documents. Mr. Jacobs contends that the instruments are voidable because they were obtained by Robin Vaillancourt without fulfilling his fiduciary duty to Mr. Jacobs. He also contends that the documents are voidable because of undue influence. We disagree with both contentions.

The appellant takes the position that the documents in question were obtained through the activities of Robin Vaillancourt acting in the furtherance of the interests of himself, his wife, and Mrs. Jacobs. Mr. Jacobs contends that because Mr. Vaillancourt did not fulfill his fiduciary duty to him, Mr. Jacobs is entitled to void the documents.

We agree that a fiduciary relationship existed. It is not necessary for us to hold that a fiduciary relationship is implied as a matter of law any time a family member asks an attorney who is related, directly or indirectly, to assist them. In this case, the evidence supports a finding of a fiduciary relationship as a matter of fact.

The term "fiduciary or confidential relation," is a very broad one. It has been said that it exists, and that relief is granted, in all cases in which influence has been acquired and abused-in which confidence has been reposed and betrayed. The origin of the confidence is immaterial. The rule embraces both technical fiduciary relations and those informal relations which exist wherever one man trusts in and relies upon another.

Quinn v. Phipps, 93 Fla. 805, 113 So. 419, 420-421 (Fla. 1927). See also Atlantic Nat'l Bank v. Vest, 480 So.2d 1328 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985), rev. denied, 491 So.2d 281 (Fla. 1986), and rev. denied, 508 So.2d 16 (Fla. 1987); Williams v. Hunt Bros. Constr., Inc., 475 So.2d 738 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985).

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634 So. 2d 667, 1994 WL 66904, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jacobs-v-vaillancourt-fladistctapp-1994.