Russ Ex Rel. Schwartz v. Russ

2007 WI 83, 734 N.W.2d 874, 302 Wis. 2d 264, 2007 Wisc. LEXIS 414
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 3, 2007
Docket2005AP2492
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 2007 WI 83 (Russ Ex Rel. Schwartz v. Russ) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Russ Ex Rel. Schwartz v. Russ, 2007 WI 83, 734 N.W.2d 874, 302 Wis. 2d 264, 2007 Wisc. LEXIS 414 (Wis. 2007).

Opinions

N. PATRICK CROOKS, J.

¶ 1. This appeal is before the court on certification from the court of appeals, pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 809.61 (2003-04)1. Johnnie Russ (Johnnie) appeals from an order of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, Judge Daniel A. Noonan presiding, dismissing Johnnie's complaint against her son, [269]*269Elliott Russ (Elliott), with prejudice. The complaint, which was filed on Johnnie's behalf by her guardian, Marion Schwartz (Schwartz), alleged that Elliott breached his fiduciary duty as Johnnie's agent under a power of attorney (POA), and that he engaged in conversion of funds from a joint checking account that he and Johnnie opened prior to the execution of the POA document.

¶ 2. Johnnie appealed the circuit court's dismissal of her complaint, and the court of appeals certified the following three issues to this court:

(1) Whether the fiduciary duty of a POA agent, pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 243.10, prevents the agent from using the principal's funds for the agent's personal use when such funds have been deposited into a joint checking account, inasmuch as joint account holders do not owe each other any duty under Wis. Stat. § 705.03, and whether a POA constitutes "clear and convincing evidence of a different intent" under § 705.03?
(2) Whether a POA document may be reformed on grounds of mutual mistake, based on: (1) extrinsic evidence of the principal's intent; (2) the lack of an accounting requirement in the POA; or (3) the fact that the principal and agent lived in the same household in a familial relationship, to effectively overcome the fiduciary duty inherent in the POA?
(3) Whether a POA principal may be equitably estopped from enforcing the agent's fiduciary duty not to self-deal because the principal and agent lived in the same household in a familial relationship?

¶ 3. We hold that a joint checking account established under Wis. Stat. § 705.03 prior to the execution of a POA creates a presumption of donative intent, and that the transfer of funds from such joint account by an agent acting under a POA, but for the agent's own use, creates a presumption of fraud, unless the POA explic[270]*270itly authorizes self-dealing.2 We further hold that when, as in the present case, these two conflicting and inconsistent presumptions coincide, the circuit court is free to make a determination based on the facts and the credibility of the witnesses, as the circuit court did here. We are also satisfied that, while the circuit court here reformed the POA document on the basis of mutual mistake, and held that equitable estoppel barred Johnnie's claim, that such an approach should not be undertaken in future cases. Rather, a circuit court should decide conflicts between Wis. Stat. § 705.03 and the fiduciary duties imposed by a POA executed under Wis. Stat. § 243.10, in the manner discussed herein.

HH

¶ 4. Johnnie was bom in 1926. In 1985, she suffered a stroke and had health problems thereafter.3 In 1992, Johnnie moved in with her son, Elliott, and his wife, Doris Russ (Doris), where she remained for the next nine years. That same year, Johnnie and Elliott opened a joint bank account into which they agreed to deposit all of Johnnie's income,4 which consisted of [271]*271monthly social security benefits, City of Milwaukee ^pension payments, and a small amount of oil royalties.

¶ 5. On February 26,1999, without the assistance of an attorney, Johnnie executed a durable Wisconsin Basic Power of Attorney for Finances and Property,5 pursuant to Wis. Stat. §§ 243.10 and 243.07, designating Elliott as her agent. It is undisputed that the entire document was read aloud at the time of execution. Johnnie granted Elliott all the powers on the first page of the form, authorizing him to, among other things, pay her bills and manage her bank accounts. However, she left the second page blank, choosing not to authorize Elliott to be compensated for his services or to have general authority, which would allow him to make gifts. She also did not obligate Elliott to provide her with a periodic accounting.

¶ 6. After executing the POA, the parties continued living together as they had before, maintaining their previous financial arrangement. In March of 2001, due to her deteriorating health, Johnnie was admitted to a hospital, and later a nursing home. On October 10, 2002, the circuit court declared Johnnie incompetent, appointed Schwartz as Johnnie's guardian, and terminated the durable POA.

¶ 7. On March 10, 2003, Schwartz filed this suit on Johnnie's behalf. Johnnie sought recovery of funds that Elliott withdrew from the joint account between March 1999 and April 2002, while he was her POA agent,6 for expenses related to himself, his business, [272]*272and his wife. Johnnie alleged that by using the joint account, which contained her funds, for his own ex-, penses, Elliott breached his fiduciary duty as her POA agent. During the contested period, $45,172.44 of Johnnie's funds were deposited into the joint account. The parties stipulated that, between February 1999 and October 2002, the total amount of checks written from the joint account for the benefit of Elliott was $34,379.91.

¶ 8. In the circuit court, Johnnie argued that Elliott's use of her funds from the joint account constituted self-dealing. She maintained that any authority to self-deal had to be written into the POA, and that because the POA did not authorize Elliott to make gifts or be compensated, it did not permit him to self-deal. Elliott argued that because the funds in a joint account belong to all account holders under Wis. Stat. § 705.03, he was entitled to spend the money, regardless of his role as Johnnie's POA agent. He also argued that any money he used for his own benefit was offset by the value of the care he had provided Johnnie.

¶ 9. On August 2, 2004, Milwaukee County Circuit Court, Judge Daniel A. Noonan presiding, granted Johnnie's motion for summary judgment, and ordered a hearing on damages. Judge Noonan concluded that Wis. Stat. § 705.03 did not alter Elliott's fiduciary duty to Johnnie as her POA agent to put her interests above his own in matters related to the agency. Specifically, he ruled that Elliott had a fiduciary duty to prevent Johnnie's funds from being deposited into a joint account to which another party had access.

¶ 10. On April 26, 2006, at a hearing on damages, the circuit court altered the August 2nd decision by setting aside the summary judgment and dismissing Johnnie's claim on the merits.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Carla Henke v. Clarence E. Klawitter
2023 WI App 60 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2023)
Lindsey Dostal v. Curtis Strand
2023 WI 6 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2023)
Lee E. Chapman
E.D. Wisconsin, 2021
Tim J. Fruit v. Bonnie J. Fruit
Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2020
State v. Phyllis M. Schwersenska
Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2020
Gilbert v. Johnson
W.D. Wisconsin, 2020
State v. Johnalee A. Kawalec
Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2019
Estate of Brent J. Roppe v. Jon L. Roppe
Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2019
State v. Bryzek
2016 WI App 48 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2016)
Melissa Anderson v. Thomas Aul
2015 WI 19 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2015)
St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co. v. THE VIKING CORP.
539 F.3d 623 (Seventh Circuit, 2008)
Taurus IP, LLC v. Daimlerchrysler Corp.
519 F. Supp. 2d 905 (W.D. Wisconsin, 2007)
Russ Ex Rel. Schwartz v. Russ
2007 WI 83 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2007 WI 83, 734 N.W.2d 874, 302 Wis. 2d 264, 2007 Wisc. LEXIS 414, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/russ-ex-rel-schwartz-v-russ-wis-2007.