Schwartz v. Schwartz

773 N.E.2d 348, 2002 Ind. App. LEXIS 1326, 2002 WL 1881073
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 16, 2002
Docket51A01-0108-CV-315
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 773 N.E.2d 348 (Schwartz v. Schwartz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Schwartz v. Schwartz, 773 N.E.2d 348, 2002 Ind. App. LEXIS 1326, 2002 WL 1881073 (Ind. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION

MATHIAS, Judge.

In 1994, Elaine Renoire (“Elaine”) was appointed the guardian of the estate and person of her grandmother, Mary Gertrude Fisher (“Gert”) by the Martin Circuit Court and was ordered to file an inventory and accounting later that same year. Gert was eventually moved into her daughter, Marianne Schwartz’s (“Marianne”), home in Marion County without court approval, and Marianne became her primary caregiver.

Elaine failed to file her first accounting with the trial court until 1998. At that time, John Schwartz (“John”), Gert’s son, objected to the accounting. Elaine then filed a motion for change of venue. John later filed a petition requesting that the *350 trial court remove Elaine as guardian of the estate. The motion for change of venue was denied, and the trial court granted John’s petition and removed Elaine as the guardian of the estate. Thereafter, both Elaine and Marianne filed petitions for compensation and reimbursement of expenses in the amounts of $122,399.64 and $312,000 respectively. The trial court granted the petitions, but not in the full amounts requested, awarding $35,000 to Elaine, and $65,000 to Marianne.

Elaine and Marianne filed notices of appeal and the appeals were consolidated for our review. John cross-appeals. We restate and reorder the issues on appeal as follows:

I. Whether, the trial court abused its discretion when it removed Elaine as guardian of the estate;
II. Whether Elaine’s and Marianne’s requests for compensation were time barred;
III. Whether there was an express agreement for compensation for services rendered between the guardianship and Elaine and Marianne sufficient to rebut the presumption that services for the care of a relative are rendered out of love and affection;
IV. Whether the trial court abused its discretion when it awarded compensation to Elaine and Marianne.
V. Whether the trial court abused its discretion when it awarded $35,000 to Elaine and $65,000 to Marianne for compensation for services rendered, and expenses incurred, which was significantly less than the amount of compensation they requested; and,
VI.Whether the trial court abused its discretion when it denied the motion for change of venue.

We affirm and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Facts and Procedural History

In February, 1994, Gert suffered debilitating injuries from a stroke while in Florida, which required hospitalization and a subsequent transfer to a nursing home. Marianne was initially appointed as Gert’s temporary guardian by the Martin Circuit Court. She later filed a petition requesting appointment as permanent guardian, to which John objected. On June 3, 1994, John and Marianne entered into an agreement which named Marianne’s daughter, Elaine, as Gert’s guardian. The trial court approved the agreement and appointed Elaine guardian of the estate and the person. Pursuant to the trial court’s order, Elaine was required to make quarterly accountings, 1 file an inventory within 60 days, obtain court approval prior to transferring Gert from the Martin County Nursing Center to another facility, and provide notice to John of all matters pertaining to the guardianship. Appellant’s App. p. 13.

Elaine filed an inventory within 60 days and also petitioned to have Gert transferred to a facility in Marion County because both she and Marianne resided there. 2 The petition was granted on August 4, 1994, and Gert was transferred to Brookview Special Care and Rehab facility in Indianapolis. Without seeking prior court approval, Gert was later transferred to Windsor Manor Nursing Home in November, 1994, because Elaine and Marianne felt that the care Gert was receiving at Brookview was inadequate. When issues regarding Gert’s care at Windsor *351 Manor arose, Marianne and Elaine determined that it would be in Gert’s best interest to move her into Marianne’s home in Beech Grove, Indiana. This move was also made without prior court approval.

When Gert was moved into Marianne’s home in July, 1995, Marianne assumed the role of primary caregiver for Gert. Initially, due to Gert’s dependence on a wheelchair and limited space in Marianne’s home, Gert lived in Marianne’s living room with a hospital bed and a bedside commode. In 1998, upon the advice of Gert’s occupational therapist, Trudy Martinez, Elaine petitioned the court for funds to add and alter rooms of Marianne’s house to provide, in part, a handicapped bathroom, enlarged doorways, and vinyl floors. However, renovations to Marianne’s home were commenced prior to the filing of the petition, and although the court never granted the petition, $37,000 was paid from the guardianship estate for improvements to Marianne’s home.

When Gert was moved to Marianne’s home, Elaine found nurses aides to come into the home to assist Marianne in taking care of Gert. Elaine primarily hired college and nursing students at rates , significantly lower than an agency would charge. However, Elaine, who was aware of the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) reporting laws, failed to report the payments to the IRS and the payments to the aides were not deducted from Gert’s income taxes.

Elaine did not file an accounting after the initial accounting was filed in 1994 until August 7, 1998. 3 On September 25, 1998, John filed an objection to the August 7, 1998, accounting. John also objected to Elaine’s petition to transfer venue, which was filed on November 12, 1999. Elaine filed another accounting on November 29, 1999. John then filed a motion requesting that the trial court remove Elaine as guardian of the estate. The trial court held a hearing on those matters on January 26, 2000.

After the hearing and additional briefing, the trial court issued an order on September 13, 2000. 4 The trial court found that Elaine mismanaged estate assets, failed to follow court orders, and failed to follow the law by avoiding payment of income taxes on aides she hired to assist in Gert’s care and by failing to comply with IRS reporting requirements. Appellant’s App. pp. 15-17. The trial court also determined that venue was proper in Martin County because “of the long and significant history” of the case, and

it would be inefficient to move this matter to Marion county because of the learning curve that would be involved for any new judge or court and the fact that half the parties drive from Atlanta to Martin County for any hearings and would merely have to drive further and would be inconvenienced to go further to Indianapolis.

Appellant’s App. pp. 17-18.

Additionally, the trial court ordered Elaine to reimburse the estate for the following assets it found were mismanaged:

a) $10,000.00 CD improperly gifted to [Marianne],
b) $37,000.00 improperly expended on [Marianne’s] house,

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773 N.E.2d 348, 2002 Ind. App. LEXIS 1326, 2002 WL 1881073, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schwartz-v-schwartz-indctapp-2002.