Manary v. Anderson

164 Wash. App. 569
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedOctober 31, 2011
DocketNo. 65821-2-I
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 164 Wash. App. 569 (Manary v. Anderson) 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
Manary v. Anderson, 164 Wash. App. 569 (Wash. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

Cox, J.

¶1 A testator or testatrix may dispose of nonprobate assets by will, provided the disposal complies with the Testamentary Disposition of Nonprobate Assets Act (Act).1 Such a disposition is effective, notwithstanding the rights of any beneficiary designated before the date of the will.2

¶2 Here, Homer Greene and Eileen Greene, husband and wife, executed a revocable living trust in 1995. They simultaneously funded the trust by conveying by deed their interests in their residential real property to themselves as trustees under this trust. The trust initially named three beneficiaries.

¶3 Eileen predeceased Homer in 1998.3 In 1999, Homer amended the trust in ways that we describe later in this opinion.

¶4 Homer executed his last will and testament on November 5, 2004. It bequeathed Homer’s interest in the residential real property to Edwin Anderson.

[572]*572¶5 At issue in this quiet title action is the right to Homer’s one-half interest in the residential real property that was a subject of both Homer’s will and the Greenes’ prior revocable living trust. The trial court granted summary judgment to Jeffrey Manary, the named second successor trustee for the Greenes’ 1995 revocable living trust. Because the Act controls, Anderson, to whom Homer bequeathed his interest in the property in his 2004 will, is the rightful owner. We reverse and remand with instructions.4

¶6 Under the terms of the Greenes’ 1995 trust, Homer and Eileen retained possession and full management of the residential real property and had the right to occupy it rent free. Upon the first spouse’s death, the surviving spouse was entitled to remain on the property rent free. But the survivor was to create an irrevocable Family Trust for the deceased spouse’s community property interest in the couple’s property and his or her separate property. The surviving spouse’s interest in the community property was to be transferred to a Survivor’s Trust where the surviving spouse retained all rights of revocation, amendment, modification, and withdrawal. At the surviving spouse’s death, the assets in both the Family Trust and the Survivor’s Trust were to pass to the beneficiaries identified in the original 1995 trust.

¶7 Eileen predeceased Homer in December 1998, and Homer became the sole trustee. Although the trust stated that he was to place Eileen’s interest in their community property and her separate property into the Family Trust, he did not establish that trust. Instead, he left all assets in the original trust.5

¶8 In August 1999, Homer amended the trust beneficiaries, naming his sister, Alice Manary, the sole beneficiary. [573]*573There appears to be a dispute between the parties over the effect of this amendment. But those issues are not currently before us, and we express no opinion about them.

¶9 At the same time that Homer amended the trust to name his sister as the sole beneficiary, he also named her as the successor trustee and his nephew, Jeffrey Manary, as second successor trustee. There does not appear to be any dispute between the parties as to Jeffrey Manary’s status as either second successor trustee or as a proper party in this appeal.6

¶10 A few years before Homer’s death, Anderson moved onto the residential real property and became Homer’s caretaker. On November 5, 2004, Homer executed his last will, which bequeathed his interest in this property to Anderson.

¶11 Homer died in January 2007. The court appointed Anderson as the personal representative of his estate.

¶12 After Homer’s death, Anderson remained on the property. Alice Manary, as successor trustee under the trust, commenced this quiet title action against Anderson, seeking to eject him and to establish her right to the property. Anderson counterclaimed, seeking to quiet title in himself. Alice Manary passed away, and Jeffrey Manary succeeded her as the plaintiff.

¶13 On cross motions for summary judgment, each party claimed a right to Homer’s interest in the property. Anderson based his claim on the Act. Manary based his claim on the provisions of the 1995 trust. The trial court granted Manary’s motion, quieting title in him.

¶14 Anderson appeals.

[574]*574TESTAMENTARY DISPOSITION OF NONPROBATE ASSETS

¶15 Anderson argues that the trial court erred, as a matter of law, in granting summary judgment in favor of Manary. Anderson asserts that he is entitled to prevail under the Act. We agree.

¶16 An order granting summary judgment should be affirmed if no genuine issue of material fact remains and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.7 Summary judgment orders are reviewed de novo, taking the evidence and all reasonable inferences from it in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.8

¶17 Here, there are no genuine issues of material fact for trial. The main issue is legal: whether the Act applies to Homer’s 2004 testamentary disposition of his interest in the residential real property.

¶18 The fundamental objective in construing a statute is to ascertain and carry out the legislature’s intent.9 “Statutory interpretation begins with the statute’s plain meaning.”10 The plain meaning “is to be discerned from the ordinary meaning of the language at issue, the context of the statute in which that provision is found, related provisions, and the statutory scheme as a whole.”11

¶19 In determining the plain meaning of a statute, the court “must not add words where the legislature has chosen [575]*575not to include them . . . .”12 If the statute is unambiguous, the court’s inquiry is at an end.13

¶20 RCW 11.11.020(1) provides:

Subject to community property rights, upon the death of an owner the owner’s interest in any nonprobate asset specifically referred to in the owner’s will belongs to the testamentary beneficiary named to receive the nonprobate asset, notwithstanding the rights of any beneficiary designated before the date of the will.[14]

¶21 RCW 11.11.010(8) defines an “owner” as “a person who, during life, has beneficial ownership of the nonprobate asset.” RCW 11.11.010(10) defines a “testamentary beneficiary” as “a person named under the owner’s will to receive a nonprobate asset under this chapter. . . .”

¶22 There is no dispute that Homer was an “owner” under the Act. He had beneficial use of the residential real property during his life under the terms of the 1995 trust. Likewise, Homer’s interest in this property is “specifically referred to” in his will by its tax parcel number and street address. It is also undisputed that Anderson is the “testamentary beneficiary” under the Act.

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Related

Manary v. Anderson
292 P.3d 96 (Washington Supreme Court, 2013)
MANARY v. Anderson
265 P.3d 163 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2011)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
164 Wash. App. 569, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/manary-v-anderson-washctapp-2011.