Scott ex rel. Scott v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.

947 S.W.2d 530, 1997 Mo. App. LEXIS 1144
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 24, 1997
DocketNo. 71243
StatusPublished

This text of 947 S.W.2d 530 (Scott ex rel. Scott v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Scott ex rel. Scott v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., 947 S.W.2d 530, 1997 Mo. App. LEXIS 1144 (Mo. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

RHODES RUSSELL, Presiding Judge.

The wife and daughter (collectively “family”) of Wilmot Scott (“protectee”) appeal from the trial court’s order and judgment dismissing a petition against State Farm Fire & Casualty Company (“surety”) on the bond issued to the former conservator of protectee’s estate. We find Michael Flynn’s (“conservator”) seizure of a money market account held by wife and protectee, as tenants by the entirety, was not a compulsory counterclaim that should have been filed in a pending interpleader action. The trial court’s dismissal was proper, however, in that there was no final determination that the money market account was not an asset of protectee’s estate, nor was there evidence of conservator’s refusal to make restitution. In addition, the trial court properly dismissed family’s remaining claims. Family lacked standing to assert those claims on behalf of protectee’s estate. We affirm.

The parties have appealed issues in this matter to our court on four previous occasions. In Scott v. Scott,1 882 S.W.2d 295 (Mo.App.1994), the appointment of conservator was held void for absence of service on protectee. The conservator, however, had previously withdrawn $94,603.32 from a money market account held jointly by protectee [532]*532and Ms wife and deposited it into protectee’s estate. On January 11, 1994, approximately one month after conservator removed the funds from the money market account, pro-tectee died.2 In Scott v. Flynn,3 946 S.W.2d 248, 252-52 (Mo.App. E.D. 1997), our court found that the money market account was held by protectee and wife as tenants by the entirety.

Following his removal, conservator filed an interpleader action in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County seeking to determine who was entitled to the funds withdrawn from the money market account. In the interpleader action, conservator interpleaded family, surety, and the estate of protectee.

Family brought tWs suit against the insurance company as the surety on the bond issued to conservator. In their petition, family alleged that conservator knew or should have known that his appointment was a nullity, that he breached statutory duties under § 475.130 RSMo 19944, and breached fiduciary duties with respect to protectee’s property. Specifically, family alleged that conservator breached these duties by: failing to take possession of all of protectee’s property; failing to collect all debts due to protectee; failing to file a timely and proper inventory of protectee’s property; not accounting for all of protectee’s property coming into conservator’s possession; not obtaining proper authorization for the expenditure of funds; retaining stock of a closely held corporation; engaging in frivolous litigation; and, improperly seizing property owned by protectee and wife as tenants by the entirety in violation of § 475.322. Family recited in their petition that they brought “this action individually and as interested parties in protectee’s estate and for and on behalf of the estate of the protectee.”

Surety filed a motion to dismiss containing several grounds, as follows: 1) The petition fails to state a claim upon wMch relief can be granted; 2) the family’s petition is a compulsory counterclaim to the interpleader action pending; and, 3) family cannot raise claims on behalf of protectee because conservator had no fiduciary or statutory duties toward family. Surety’s motion to dismiss was sustained by the trial court. The trial court dismissed family’s claim that conservator improperly took money held in tenancy by entirety because, in the trial court’s opinion, the claim was a compulsory counterclaim to the interpleader action. As to the remainder of family’s allegations, the trial court dismissed these claims for a lack of standing, holding that family’s claims could only be asserted by protectee’s decedent estate acting through Ms personal representative. This appeal follows.

In their sole point, family argues that the trial court erred in granting surety’s motion to dismiss their claim for conservator’s alleged conversion of the money market account in that the claim was not a compulsory counterclaim to the interpleader action, but at most, was a cross-claim. Further, family contends that the trial court erred in dismissing their remaining claims- in that they had standing to assert those claims against insurance company as the surety for conservator.

On review, we give the petition its broadest intendment, treat all factual allegations as true, construe all allegations liberally and in the plaintiffs favor, and then we determine if there is any ground upon which the plaintiff may be entitled to relief. Frison v. City of Pagedale, 897 S.W.2d 129, 132 (Mo. App.1995).

Family cites Jacobs v. Corley, 732 S.W.2d 910 (Mo.App.1987), for the proposition that their claim that conservator improperly seized the money market account was not a compulsory counterclaim to the interpleader action. In Jacobs, a company filed an inter-pleader action to determine who was entitled to a cash portion of a settlement. Two potential claimants were named as co-defendants in the interpleader action. Both claimants filed numerous cross claims against each other. One claimant later filed a subsequent suit against the other claimant. In response, the other claimant filed a motion to dismiss [533]*533contending that claimant was precluded under Rule 55.32 from litigating the issues in a separate action because the claimant failed to raise them in the previous interpleader action. The trial court granted the motion to dismiss. Id. at 911-12. On appeal, our court reversed the trial court holding that the claims filed by the co-defendants in the previous interpleader action were permissive cross-claims, despite the claimant’s contention that the claims in the interpleader action were compulsory counterclaims and failure to raise them there precluded raising them in the current action. Id. at 914.

Here, as in Jacobs, it is evident that family and surety were co-parties in the interpleader action filed by conservator. Both parties were co-defendants. As succinctly stated in Jacobs, a counterclaim is brought against an opposing party. Id. Since family and surety were not opposing parties in the interpleader action, the trial court erred in dismissing family’s claim that conservator improperly took money held in tenancy by the entirety on the basis that the claim was a compulsory counterclaim to the interpleader action. Although surety argues that Scott IV should apply here, that case is distinguishable. In Scott IV, our court affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of family’s claim of conversion against conservator as a compulsory counterclaim. Op.-. However, in Scott IV, unlike the situation here, conservator and family were opposing parties in the interpleader action.

We find, however, other grounds on which to affirm the trial court’s dismissal. On appeal, an appellate court may sustain the action of the trial court upon any ground which supports defendant’s motion to dismiss, whether or not the trial court relied upon that ground. If the trial court correctly dismissed the petition, the ground upon which the dismissal was based is immaterial.

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Related

Scott v. Flynn
946 S.W.2d 248 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1997)
Gilliam v. Hopkins
472 S.W.2d 436 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1971)
J. M. Morris Construction Co. v. Mid-West Precote Co.
613 S.W.2d 180 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1981)
Jacobs v. Corley
732 S.W.2d 910 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1987)
Farm Bureau Town & Country Insurance Co. v. Angoff
909 S.W.2d 348 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1995)
Scott v. Scott
882 S.W.2d 295 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1994)
State Ex Rel. Gnekow v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co.
163 S.W.2d 86 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1942)
State ex rel. Community Heating & Air Conditioning Co. v. Schwartz
452 S.W.2d 243 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1970)
Estate of Lemaster v. Hackley
750 S.W.2d 692 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1988)
Frison v. City of Pagedale
897 S.W.2d 129 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1995)

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Bluebook (online)
947 S.W.2d 530, 1997 Mo. App. LEXIS 1144, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/scott-ex-rel-scott-v-state-farm-fire-casualty-co-moctapp-1997.