Rapela v. Green

2012 UT 57, 289 P.3d 428, 2012 WL 3931182
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 11, 2012
DocketNo. 20100915
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 2012 UT 57 (Rapela v. Green) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rapela v. Green, 2012 UT 57, 289 P.3d 428, 2012 WL 3931182 (Utah 2012).

Opinion

Justice PARRISH,

opinion of the Court:

INTRODUCTION

T 1 In this case we are asked to review whether the district court properly denied beneficiary Willow Rapela's request to remove Mark Green as trustee of the Michael G. Kampros Family Trust (Trust). After Michael G. Kampros's death, Mr. Green and Sophie Gibson became trustees of the Trust. Ms. Rapela, Mr. Kampros's daughter and the successor trustee, requested removal of Mr. Green and Ms. Gibson pursuant to section 7T5-T-706(2)(d) of the Utah Uniform Trust Code (Utah Trust Code). The district court granted her request with respect to Ms. Gibson, but declined to remove Mr. Green. The district court held that Mr. Green had more experience and better qualifications than Ms. Rapela to manage the Trust's assets. As a result, the district court concluded that Mr. Green's removal would not serve the best interests of the Trust's beneficiaries. Ms. Rapela appeals this conclusion. We affirm and hold that the district court correctly denied Ms. Rapela's request to remove Mr. Green as trustee.

BACKGROUND

11 2 Michael G. Kampros created the Trust and executed a will on April 18, 1998. Mr. Kampros's will provided for specific gifts, and his residuary estate poured over to the Trust. The Trust identified Mr. Kampros's children and their issue as beneficiaries. Ms. Rapela is the sole surviving child of Mr. [430]*430Kampros.1 She has one adult child and one minor child.

T 3 The Trust was revocable during Mr. Kampros's lifetime but became irrevocable upon his death. During his lifetime, Mr. Kampros appointed himself trustee of the Trust. Upon his death, the Trust provided that Mr. Green and Ms. Gibson, serving jointly, or the survivor serving alone, would serve as successor trustees. It further provided that, in the event that both Mr. Green and Ms. Gibson ceased to serve as trustees, Ms. Rapela would serve as successor trustee.

T 4 Mr. Kampros selected Mr. Green and Ms. Gibson as trustees because of his relationship with them and because of their experience with the business interests that comprised the largest part of his estate and the Trust. In particular, Ms. Gibson is Mr. Kampros's sister, who had worked as the bookkeeper at Club 90, a significant Trust asset, since 1982. Mr. Green and Mr. Kamp-ros were business partners. Mr. Green advised Mr. Kampros on real estate investments and coinvested with Mr. Kampros in several limited liability companies (LLCs).

T 5 Mr. Kampros died on November 11, 2009. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Green and Ms. Gibson filed an application to commence informal probate of Mr. Kampros's will Ms. Rapela filed a separate lawsuit in which she requested removal of Mr. Green and Ms. Gibson as trustees pursuant to section 75-7-706(2)(d) of the Utah Trust Code. The parties agreed by stipulation to consolidate the two cases.

T 6 The district court heard the parties' arguments regarding removal during a one-day bench trial. Ms. Rapela asked the district court to consider evidence alleging that Mr. Green's relationship with Mr. Kampros had deteriorated prior to Mr. Kampros's death. Ms. Rapela claimed that the alleged deterioration showed a substantial change in cireumstances. The district court declined to consider the evidence; it held that a substantial change of cireumstances, as contemplated by section 706(2)(d), could occur only after Mr. Kampros's death.

T 7 After the hearing, the district court issued findings of fact and conclusions of law. The district court first considered whether to remove Ms. Gibson from her role as trustee. It found that she violated her fiduciary duty to the Trust by removing chairs from Club 90 for her personal use. The district court also recognized "obvious and open hostility" between Ms. Gibson and Ms. Rapela. As a result, it found that removal of Ms. Gibson as trustee best served the interests of the Trust's beneficiaries.

T 8 Second, the district court evaluated whether to remove Mr. Green. It considered Ms. Rapela's claim that Mr. Green had a conflict of interest with the Trust. Specifically, Mr. Green and the Trust both had ownership interests in the same LLCs. The district court concluded that "[wlhatever conflict of interest exists is more hypothetical than actual, given the lack of evidence that any reasonable trustee would elect to sell [the LLCs] assets at this point in time."

T 9 Next, the district court considered whether Ms. Rapela should replace Mr. Green as trustee. It found Ms. Rapela to be mature, intelligent, and a suitable trustee. The district court then compared Ms. Rapela to Mr. Green. It found that Mr. Green's experience with the Trust assets made him a more capable trustee. In particular, the district court found that Mr. Green "has demonstrated good judgment, ... has a wealth of experience and particularly experience with respect to some of the most difficult assets of the trust, and ... [he] is significantly more qualified to deal with these assets." As a result, the district court reasoned that Mr. Green was the most qualified trustee to act in the best interest of all of the Trust's beneficiaries.

T 10 Based on its findings, the district court removed Ms. Gibson, but did not remove Mr. Green. It removed Ms. Gibson because of her breach of fiduciary duty to the Trust and the hostility between her and Ms. Rapela, but it found that removal of Mr. Green would not serve the Trust's best inter[431]*431ests. It therefore permitted Mr. Green to remain as the sole trustee for the Trust.

€ 11 Ms. Rapela filed a timely appeal to challenge the district court's denial of her request to remove Mr. Green. We have jurisdiction pursuant to section 78A-8-102(8)(j) of the Utah Code.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

« 12 Ms. Rapela asks us to review the district court's denial of her request to remove Mr. Green as trustee under section 706(2)(d) of the Utah Trust Code. Before a district court may remove a trustee, three prongs must be satisfied. See UTax Cop® § 75-7-706(2)(d). Each prong requires the district court to make underlying factual findings and then draw a legal conclusion regarding whether the prong has been satisfied. On appeal, Ms. Rapela has challenged only the district court's conclusions of law for the three prongs. 2 We review the district court's conclusions of law, including [its] interpretations of statute, for correctness." Weiser v. Union Pac. R.R. Co., 2010 UT 4, 29, 247 P.3d 357. Once section 706(2)(d)'s three prongs have been satisfied, the ultimate decision to remove a trustee lies within the district court's sound discretion and we review the district court's decision for an abuse of discretion. See UTAH CODE § 75-7-706(2)(d) (stating that "[the [district] court may remove a trustee if" the three prongs of section 706(2)(d) have been satisfied).

ANALYSIS

T 13 Ms. Rapela contends that the district court improperly denied her request to remove Mr. Green as trustee pursuant to seetion 706(2)(d) of the Utah Trust Code. Seetion 706(2)(d)3 provides:

The court may remove a trustee if ... [1] there has been a substantial change of cireumstances or removal is requested by all of the qualified beneficiaries, [2] the court finds that removal of the trustee best serves the interests of all of the beneficiaries and is not inconsistent with a material purpose of the trust, and [8] a suitable cotrustee or successor trustee is available.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2012 UT 57, 289 P.3d 428, 2012 WL 3931182, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rapela-v-green-utah-2012.