Schatten v. Glassman

628 N.E.2d 666, 257 Ill. App. 3d 102, 195 Ill. Dec. 202, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 1844
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 10, 1993
Docket1-92-2771
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 628 N.E.2d 666 (Schatten v. Glassman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Schatten v. Glassman, 628 N.E.2d 666, 257 Ill. App. 3d 102, 195 Ill. Dec. 202, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 1844 (Ill. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE McNAMARA

delivered the opinion of the court:

Respondents, Eli Glassman, individually and as executor of the estate of his deceased mother, Sarah Glassman, and his sister, Rita Mosky, appeal from an order of the trial court, dated July 23, 1992, denying their motion to vacate a judgment order entered May 1, 1992, in favor of petitioner, Esther Siegel Schatten, another daughter of decedent. In its May 1 order, the trial court upheld the terms of what it deemed to be an oral settlement agreement reached by the parties on April 7, 1992, and spread of record on that date, which resolved disputed issues pertaining to the decedent’s estate. Respondents contend that the May 1 judgment is against the manifest weight of the evidence. Respondents further contend that, even if the April 7 settlement agreement was enforceable, the trial court nevertheless erred in entering judgment on that agreement where grounds for rescission were disclosed to the court prior to the entry of judgment. Petitioner has filed a cross-appeal challenging the trial court’s refusal to allow her to raise objections to the amount and quality of the letter of credit filed by respondents during the pendency of this appeal.

The relevant facts are as follows. The decedent died on May 18, 1986, leaving three children, Eli, Rita and Esther. After the decedent’s death, Esther sued Eli, individually and as executor of the decedent’s estate, and Rita in various causes of action filed in the probate and chancery divisions of the circuit court of Cook County. Among the causes of action were a will contest proceeding and a recovery citation proceeding in which Esther sought to have Eli and Rita return to the decedent’s estate approximately $800,000 worth of Nuveen investments and 10 years of distributions on those investments.

On April 7, 1992, the parties entered into settlement negotiations regarding the pending causes of action. The discussions culminated in an oral settlement agreement, the terms of which were formally spread of record on that date. The parties left for a later date the creation and execution of a mutually agreeable release. An order was entered on April 7 continuing the matter to April 28, 1992, for the purpose of "reduc[ing] to writing the settlement agreement so spread of record.” The trial court contemplated that on April 28, a formal written agreement reflecting the terms agreed to by the parties on April 7 would be submitted for its approval.

The terms of the April 7 agreement included the following: (1) that as and for the settlement of all her claims, petitioner would be paid, within 21 days, the amount of $250,000, free of any tax obligation — interest and penalties inclusive — that the estate or respondents may incur, and that said payment would include the specific bequest to petitioner under the decedent’s will; (2) that property commonly referred to as "Margate Terrace” would be immediately placed for sale, with an appropriate, .disinterested broker to be agreed upon, and that "every reasonable effort” would be made to sell the property at a price of at least $400,000; (3) that petitioner would receive a one-quarter interest, net after normal commissions, closing costs and prorations, from the sale of the Margate Terrace property, and would be responsible for paying her own capital gains tax on her portion of the distribution; (4) that respondents’ appeal of the Margate Terrace property issues would be dismissed; (5) that the chancery action brought by petitioner against respondents would be dismissed; (6) that petitioner would remain manager of the Margate Terrace property at her current management fee of $400 per month until such time as the property was sold; (7) that the respondents would hold petitioner harmless for any taxes, interest and penalties owed by the estate or respondents arising from the failure to file proper State and Federal tax returns; and (8) that after respondents paid petitioner the agreed amount of $250,000 and complied with the other terms of the agreement, petitioner would not adversely interfere with their efforts to dispose of any remaining tax issues or with the estate’s resolution of any claims made by the heirs.

Respondents and petitioner each individually acknowledged before the trial court their full agreement with the settlement terms and expressed their understanding that once they left the courtroom the settlement was final and could not be modified.

On the following day, on April 8, petitioner delivered to respondents a suggested long form agreement and release, attempting to incorporate the provisions spread of record the previous day. When she received no response, petitioner on April 23, 1992, filed a motion for entry of judgment on the April 7 agreement. In that motion, petitioner expressed her concern that respondents would not fulfill their obligation to pay her $250,000 by April 28, as agreed. On April 23, respondents tendered to the court a draft of their settlement document, as well as a response to petitioner’s motion. In their response, respondents argued that petitioner’s motion was "premature,” and was at best an "improper attempt to obtain the 'cash portion of the settlement’ prior to the finalization of other equally significant aspects of the overall settlement agreement.” Petitioner’s motion was continued to April 28.

On April 28, the parties informed the court that they did not yet have a settlement agreement document signed by them to tender for its approval. An order was entered continuing the matter to May 1. Counsel for the parties continued to negotiate for several hours on April 28 in an effort to arrive at a mutually agreeable written settlement document. On that afternoon, counsel for petitioner disclosed to counsel for respondents that petitioner had sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on June 3, 1991, wherein she alleged that respondents had wrongfully failed to report for estate and gift tax purposes the transfer of the Nuveen investments to them from the decedent’s estate prior to the latter’s death, for which they paid no consideration. In that letter, petitioner sought a reward from the IRS for the original information provided to it regarding respondents’ alleged wrongdoing.

Petitioner had previously filed a "memorandum in support of impeachment of Eli Glassman” as part of her efforts to protect the decedent’s estate and to remove Eli from estate supervision. That memorandum described Eli as having participated in the filing of a wrongful estate tax return and as not having mitigated that wrongful conduct by filing an amended return or paying an additional tax. Further, in 1991, petitioner filed a "petition for order of issuance of citation on Eli Glassman, executor, to show cause why he should not be removed as executor of the [Glassman] estate,” alleging that Eli’s misdeeds "thereby incurred potentially large interest charges and penalties assessable by reason of the failure to report these assets of the gross estate.” Petitioner alleged that the additional taxes due from the estate were $237,000.

At the May 1 hearing, respondents advised the trial court that they first learned of petitioner’s letter to the IRS on April 28. Respondents argued that her failure to disclose the letter earlier constituted bad-faith conduct, and consequently nullified the settlement that had been reached by the parties. Respondents expressed particular concern over the reward petitioner had requested from the IRS.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
628 N.E.2d 666, 257 Ill. App. 3d 102, 195 Ill. Dec. 202, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 1844, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schatten-v-glassman-illappct-1993.