Matter of Estate of Freeburn

620 P.2d 773, 101 Idaho 739, 1980 Ida. LEXIS 514
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 8, 1980
Docket13038
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 620 P.2d 773 (Matter of Estate of Freeburn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Matter of Estate of Freeburn, 620 P.2d 773, 101 Idaho 739, 1980 Ida. LEXIS 514 (Idaho 1980).

Opinion

McFADDEN, Justice.

Appellants are children of the decedent Orville Freeburn by a prior marriage, namely, William Bruce Freeburn, James Henry Freeburn and Elizabeth Ann Free-burn (hereinafter Freeburn children). Respondent Lena Mae Freeburn is the administratrix and personal representative for the estate of Orville Freeburn, deceased, and *740 the surviving spouse of the decedent. Appellant Freeburn children are challenging the district court’s estate closing order modifying an earlier order approving the final accounting and decree of distribution for the estate of Orville Freeburn. The district court modification of its earlier order was made necessary by the court’s decision in the predecessor to this appeal, Freeburn v. Freeburn, 97 Idaho 845, 555 P.2d 385 (1976) (Freeburn 1). We affirm the estate closing order of the district court.

The facts initially giving rise to this appeal are set out and discussed with considerable particularity in Freeburn 1, at 97 Idaho 846-47, 555 P.2d 386-387, and need only be briefly reviewed. The dispute there concerned the status as separate or community property of the Hollywood Inn Motel, located in Lewiston, Idaho. This property was purchased by Orville Freeburn in August of 1963 while married to Lena Mae Freeburn. Orville used the proceeds from an unsecured promissory note executed in September of 1963 to make the $30,000 down payment on the motel. The balance of the installments on the escrow contract were to be paid by the community. The amount due under the unsecured promissory note was repaid one week after execution with proceeds from a loan secured by Orville’s separate property. The separate property securing this loan was sold in 1965 and Orville used the proceeds to purchase Spencer’s Restaurant, which is adjacent to the Hollywood Inn Motel. His wife, Lena Mae Freeburn, disclaimed by written instrument any community property interest she may have had in the restaurant.

Orville Freeburn died intestate in January 1969, in Nez Perce County.

On December 4, 1974, the administratrix and personal representative of decedent’s estate, Lena Mae Freeburn, filed an amended petition for final settlement and distribution of the estate. The petition set forth all assets of the estate and included an accounting for sums received and disbursed during administration of the estate. Also incorporated in the petition were descriptions of decedent’s property. The description classified the Hollywood Inn Motel as community property.

The Freeburn children objected to the proposed final accounting and distribution of the estate, arguing that the motel was part of decedent’s separate estate and that various aspects of the administratrix’s accounting were improper. The district court rejected these contentions, entering its order approving the final accounting and decree of distribution on December 19,1974.

On appeal the court affirmed the district court’s conclusion that the motel was community property in its entirety. Freeburn 1, supra, at 97 Idaho 849-850, 555 P.2d at 389-90. The court also found that the various aspects of the administratrix’s accounting were proper, but with one exception: decedent’s separate estate should have been awarded a right of reimbursement for the separate funds ($30,000) used to satisfy the unsecured note serving as the down payment on the motel. 97 Idaho at 850, 555 P.2d at 390. This court remanded the case to the district court, directing it to modify the order approving the final accounting and decree of distribution to provide for returning the sum of $30,000 to decedent’s separate estate, with the distribution of this sum between the surviving spouse Lena Mae Freeburn and the Freeburn children to be in the respective proportions of one-third and two-thirds. We note that the motel was sold during the pendency of the appeal in Freeburn 1. The sale took place in December of 1975.

Pursuant to the court’s decision in Free-burn 1 the administratrix made application on December 12, 1977, to the district court for the entry of an order modifying the final accounting and decree of distribution. The accounting submitted by the administratrix reflected the status of decedent’s estate from December 1974 until the date of the application. During this time period, the decedent’s separate real property, Spencer’s Restaurant, was sold by the administratrix for a cash price which was divided one-third to the surviving spouse and two-thirds to the Freeburn children. The administratrix deposited in the dece *741 dent’s separate estate $30,000 from her share, as surviving spouse, of the proceeds from the sale of the restaurant. This sum was included in the accounting as part of decedent’s separate estate.

Having acquired sufficient funds to reimburse the estate of Orville Freeburn as required by Freeburn 1, the administratrix caused the necessary adjustments to be made in the inheritance tax liability by reason of the addition of $30,000 to decedent’s separate estate. The accounting further reflected expenditures to the Idaho State Tax Commission and the Internal Revenue Service in payment of tax on rent from the restaurant and earnings from funds in savings deposits. Expenditures for accountant fees and attorney fees in connection with the management of the decedent’s estate were also included within the accounting.

On January 12, 1978, the district court entered an order modifying the order approving the final accounting and decree of distribution for the estate of Orville Free-burn. However, a subsequent accounting and petition for distribution were made necessary by reason of proceedings arising from the objections of the Freeburn children to the January 12, 1978, order. Thus, on May 5, 1978, the administratrix again filed another accounting and petition for distribution with the district court. The accounting and petition for distribution brought the financial accounting up to date, included the sum of $30,000 as reimbursement to decedent’s separate estate as required by Freeburn 1, and included said sum in the annexed schedule for distribution. The application also reflected the fact that the accounting filed December 17, 1977, inadvertently had charged and listed as disbursements in April of 1975, state income tax and federal income tax payments in the amount of $3,798.33 over the amount to be properly charged against the estate. The error was discovered and a correction was made by crediting the Free-burn children in the sum of $1,266.11 each.

A hearing was held on the above accounting and petition for distribution on May 25, 1978, at which time the Freeburn children appeared and moved for a continuance to file objections. Continuance to June 1, 1978, was granted on the condition that the expenses of the administratrix and fees of her attorney resulting from the continuance would be assessed against the Freeburn children at the conclusion of the June 1, 1978 hearing.

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Bluebook (online)
620 P.2d 773, 101 Idaho 739, 1980 Ida. LEXIS 514, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matter-of-estate-of-freeburn-idaho-1980.