Knight v. John Knox Manor, Inc.

92 So. 3d 111, 2012 WL 887481, 2012 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 68
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedMarch 16, 2012
Docket2100782
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 92 So. 3d 111 (Knight v. John Knox Manor, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Knight v. John Knox Manor, Inc., 92 So. 3d 111, 2012 WL 887481, 2012 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 68 (Ala. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

BRYAN, Judge.

Richard Knight (“Richard”) appeals from a judgment in favor of John Knox Manor, Inc. (“John Knox Manor”). We reverse and remand.

Factual Background and Procedural History

Richard’s mother, Susie Knight (“Susie”), began living in an independent-living apartment at a facility owned and operated by John Knox Manor (“the facility”) in 2003. Subsequently, she moved to an assisted-living unit at the facility. At some point before January 15, 2008, Susie required hospitalization and, when she was discharged from the hospital, she was moved into the nursing-home unit at the facility.

On January 15, 2008, shortly after Susie had been moved into the nursing-home unit, Richard met with Patricia Burnett, an employee of John Knox Manor who handles admissions to the nursing-home unit. The record indicates that, when Richard met with Burnett, Susie was incompetent to sign a contract, although the record does not contain any specific information regarding the cause of her incompetence [113]*113or its duration. No guardian or conservator had been appointed for Susie when Richard met with Burnett. Although Susie had executed a durable power of attorney (“the durable power of attorney”) appointing Richard her attorney-in-fact with the power to make health-care decisions for her and to pay for her health care if she should become incapacitated, Richard was not authorized to act on Susie’s behalf by the durable power of attorney when he met with Burnett on January 15, 2008, because the durable power of attorney conditioned the exercise of his powers as her attorney-in-fact on Susie’s incapacity being certified by two physicians and two physicians had not certified that she was incapacitated.

Burnett presented Richard with an admission contract (“the contract”), which John Knox Manor required Richard to sign as a “Responsible Party” as a condition of Susie’s admission to the nursing-home unit. On cross-examination, Burnett testified:

“Q. Was Mr. Knight required to sign the financial long-term care admission agreement in order for his mom to be admitted to the nursing home?
“A. Yes, sir, because she was not able.
“Q. The answer is yes?
“A. Yes, sir.
“Q. Did you explain to Mr. Knight that he wasn’t required to sign that agreement as a responsible party?
“A. No, sir, because I have never had anyone, you know. That was the policy. I didn’t know. That was it. I didn’t know. Someone had to sign it.
“Q. You didn’t tell him, no, Mr. Knight, you don’t have to sign this? Particularly the financial agreement, you did not tell him he did not have to sign that, did you?
“A. No, sir.”

In pertinent part, the contract provided:

“AGREEMENT OF PATIENT OR RESPONSIBLE PARTY:
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“6. To pay the basic room and board rate agreed upon with the facility, at specified intervals.
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“FINANCIAL AGREEMENT:
“The patient or responsible party agrees to pay $139.00 daily and the facility will accept this payment in full consideration for care and services rendered, as follows:
“TO BE PAID BY PATIENT OR RESPONSIBLE PARTY:
“1. Room, board, and nursing care $4,309.00
“2. Supplies varies
“3. Personal Laundry $45.00”

Richard signed the contract during his meeting with Burnett on January 15, 2008. The line for Richard’s signature was designated as the signature line for the “Resident/Sponsor/Responsible Party.” Burnett signed the contract on behalf of John Knox Manor.

Susie remained in the nursing-home unit at the facility until she died 22 months later. During the 22 months she was a resident in the nursing-home unit, Susie received monthly Social Security benefits, monthly retirement benefits from the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System, and monthly retirement benefits from the United States government; those benefits totaled $31,326.76.1 In addition, the record indicates that Susie received dividends totaling $23.89 from Wachovia Corporation [114]*114in 2008*' The record contains no evidence regarding whether she received any dividends in 2009.

The record indicates that on February 5, 2008, Richard sold 450 shares of stock in Wachovia Corporation owned by Susie; however, the record does not contain any evidence indicating the amount of the proceeds that resulted from the sale of those 450 shares. The record indicates that, on June 16, 2008, Susie owned 22.124 shares of stock in Wachovia Corporation and that those shares had a value of $410.57 on that date. In June 2008, Richard sold 70 shares of stock in MetLife, Inc., owned by Susie and received a total of $4,715.86. In September 2008, Richard surrendered two MetLife policies on Susie’s life and received the cash-surrender value of those policies, which totaled $4,194.14. The record also indicates that Susie owned three shares of stock in Navistar International Corporation while she was in the nursing-home unit, but the record does not contain any evidence indicating the value of those shares.

The record also indicates that, before she became a resident in the nursing-home unit, Susie had opened a bank account at Regions Bank in her name and the name of her granddaughter and that she had deposited an unspecified sum of money in that account to be used for her granddaughter’s education, that an unspecified amount of funds belonging to the granddaughter were subsequently deposited into that account, and that Susie’s name was taken off of the account after she became a resident in the nursing-home unit.

In addition, the record indicates that, in 1992, Susie opened a checking account at Wachovia Bank in her name and Richard’s name (“the Wachovia account”), that both her income and Richard’s income were deposited into that account, and that both her expenses and Richard’s expenses were paid with funds from that account.

Richard made the following payments to John Knox Manor for charges incurred by Susie:

March 6, 2008 $ 8,118.10
April 10, 2008 4,588.70
May 9, 2008 1,379.24
May 13, 2008 128.00
June 16, 2008 4,400.00
Aug. 15, 2008 2,100.00
Sept. 30, 2008 6,550.00
Dee. 3, 2008 2,550.00
Dec. 5, 2008 1,000.00
Feb. 25, 2009 1,000.00
March 23, 2009 2,500.00
Aug. 6, 2009 1,052.00
Aug. 6, 2009 7,347.06
Total $42,713.10

After Susie’s admission to the nursing-home unit, Richard applied twice for Medicaid to pay John Knox Manor’s charges; however, the Alabama Medicaid Agency denied both applications on the ground that Richard had failed to submit sufficient information.

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Bluebook (online)
92 So. 3d 111, 2012 WL 887481, 2012 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 68, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/knight-v-john-knox-manor-inc-alacivapp-2012.