Robert K. Ward Living Trust ex rel. Schulz v. Peck

748 S.E.2d 606, 229 N.C. App. 550, 2013 WL 5184162, 2013 N.C. App. LEXIS 961
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedSeptember 17, 2013
DocketNo. COA13-125
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 748 S.E.2d 606 (Robert K. Ward Living Trust ex rel. Schulz v. Peck) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Robert K. Ward Living Trust ex rel. Schulz v. Peck, 748 S.E.2d 606, 229 N.C. App. 550, 2013 WL 5184162, 2013 N.C. App. LEXIS 961 (N.C. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

STROUD, Judge.

Plaintiff appeals order dismissing its action as “barred by the statute of limitationsf.]” For the following reasons, we affirm.

I. Background

Plaintiff, the Robert K. Ward Living Trust (“plaintiff’ or “the trust”), alleged in its complaint that defendant John J. Peck is an attorney who prepared various estate planning documents for Mr. Robert K. Ward, including the trust at issue. Mr. Ward was both the grantor and beneficiary of the trust which owned various properties that included real estate and businesses. On 10 December 2005, Mr. Ward died intestate, and under the terms of the trust, defendant Peck began serving as trustee from that time until he resigned as trustee on 7 June 2006. Mr. Bradley N. Schultz became the successor trustee and during his tenure, [551]*551on 12 July 2011, plaintiff filed a complaint against defendant Peck for improperly encumbering trust properties both before and after his resignation as trustee.

On 16 February 2012, plaintiff filed a motion for partial summary judgment, claiming “that based upon the pleadings and discovery, there is no genuine issue of any material fact” as to two of its claims. On or about 23 March 2012, plaintiff filed an amended complaint. Plaintiff alleged that during defendant Peck’s tenure as trustee, defendant Peck “in violation of Court Orders, and after notice of his alleged contempt,”1 recorded several deeds of trust against various properties owned by the trust; the last of this series of recordations occurred on 12 February 2007. Plaintiff also alleged that “[a]fter his resignation as Trustee, defendant Peck caused” several more documents to be recorded, including “an Assignment of the Lease Rents and Profits[,]” “Substitution[s] of Trustee” appointing defendant’s wife as the substitute, “an Irrevocable Assignment... [of] interest^]” deeds of trust, and cancellations of deeds of trust; the most recent of this series of recordations occurred on 2 December 2009. Based upon the alleged wrongful actions of defendant Peck, plaintiff made claims for (1) constructive fraud; (2) breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment; (3) fraud; (4) accounting and production of all files on loans, transactions, and payments; (5) quiet title and cancellation of deeds of trust and assignments; and (6) temporary restraining orders and injunctions.

On or about 17 April 2012, defendant Peck answered and made motions to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint for “failfure] to state a claim upon which relief can be granted” pursuant to North Carolina Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) and as barred by the “applicable Statute of Limitations.” On 20 July 2012, the trial court entered an order allowing defendant Peck’s motion to dismiss based upon the five year statute of limitations provided in North Carolina General Statute § 36C-10-1005 and dismissing plaintiff’s action upon finding that “Plaintiff’s action was filed more than five years after the Defendant resigned as successor Trustee and more than five years after Plaintiff, his predecessors in interest, [552]*552knew or should have known of the alleged violations of Defendant’s duties, the breaches of trust alleged in the Complaint.” The trial court also dismissed the remaining motions, including plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment, as moot. Plaintiff appeals.

II. Statute of Limitations

Plaintiff contends that the trial court erred in dismissing its action. We review a trial court’s decision to dismiss a complaint de novo. Horne v. Cumberland County Hosp. System, Inc.,_N.C. App._, _746 S.E.2d 13, 16 (2013) (“An appellate court reviews de novo a trial court’s dismissal of an action under Rule 12(b)(6).”); Taylor v. Hospice of Henderson Cty., Inc., 194 N.C. App. 179, 184, 668 S.E.2d 923, 926 (2008) (“We review a trial court’s decision to dismiss an action based on the statute of limitations de novo.’’). In conducting our de novo review, we note that plaintiff is suing defendant in essentially three separate capacities: as an individual; as trustee during his time as trustee of the trust; and as a former trustee of the trust. We will address each of these separately.

A. Defendant Peck as an Individual

While plaintiff’s complaint asserts that it is suing defendant Peck in both his individual capacity as well as his capacity as trustee, based on the allegations in the complaint, only one of plaintiff’s claims can be construed as an individual claim against defendant Peck. Plaintiff’s first claim for relief is for constructive fraud wherein plaintiff alleges that “[a]t all relevant times, the Defendant John Peck had a confidential relationship and fiduciary relationship with Mr. Ward and the Trust at issue.” Thus, the first claim was based upon defendant Peck’s actions as a trustee or former trustee since defendant Peck as an “individual” was not in any other sort of “confidential” or “fiduciary relationship” with plaintiff. Plaintiff’s second and fourth claims are also clearly against defendant Peck as a trustee as they are claims for “breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment” and “accounting and production of all files on loans, transactions, and payments[.]” (Original in all caps.) Plaintiff’s fifth claim for quiet title does not specifically implicate defendant Peck and plaintiff’s sixth claim requesting a “temporary restraining order and injunction[,]” (original in all caps), as to defendant Peck are based upon allegations for “trust account records[,]” again, implicating defendant Peck only in his capacity as trustee or former trustee.

The only remaining claim which could be considered as a claim against defendant Peck in his individual capacity is plaintiff’s third claim for fraud, but the allegations of this claim do not meet the required [553]*553elements of a fraud claim. See Whisnant v. Carolina Farm Credit, ACA, 204 N.C. App. 84, 94, 693 S.E.2d 149, 156-57 (2010) (“The essential elements of fraud are: (1) False representation or concealment of a past or existing material fact, (2) reasonably calculated to deceive, (3) made with intent to deceive, (4) which does in fact deceive, (5) resulting in damage to the injured party[.]”), disc. review denied, 365 N.C. 73, 705 S.E .2d 745 (2011). Plaintiff’s claim for fraud incorporated the factual allegations included in the other claims, which, as we have already noted, were against him as trustee, and also alleged that defendant Peck’s “fraudulent” conduct includes Peck’s failure to “provide [] original notes for inspection,... advise [] the name of the holders of those notes[,]” and violation of court orders. While defendant Peck may have committed wrongful conduct or even contempt of a court order entered in another lawsuit which is not before us in this appeal, these assertions alone do not meet the elements of fraud. See id. Merely reciting that defendant Peck made “material omissions . . . [and] intentional misrepresentations” without any indication of what those omissions and misrepresentations are will not support a claim for fraud. See id. Accordingly, the complaint does not state any valid claims against defendant Peck as an individual.

B.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
748 S.E.2d 606, 229 N.C. App. 550, 2013 WL 5184162, 2013 N.C. App. LEXIS 961, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robert-k-ward-living-trust-ex-rel-schulz-v-peck-ncctapp-2013.