Steinhardt v. Steinhardt

445 So. 2d 352
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJanuary 24, 1984
Docket78-1187, 81-606, 81-1078 and 81-1160
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 445 So. 2d 352 (Steinhardt v. Steinhardt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Steinhardt v. Steinhardt, 445 So. 2d 352 (Fla. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

445 So.2d 352 (1984)

Arthur STEINHARDT, Appellant,
v.
Milton E. STEINHARDT and Esther Steinhardt, His Wife, Appellees.
Milton E. STEINHARDT and Esther Steinhardt, His Wife, Appellants,
v.
Betty D. LEHMAN and Julian Lehman, Appellees.
Betty D. LEHMAN and Julian Lehman, Appellants,
v.
Milton E. STEINHARDT and Esther Steinhardt, His Wife, Appellees.

Nos. 78-1187, 81-606, 81-1078 and 81-1160.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

January 24, 1984.
Rehearing Denied March 7, 1984.

*354 Horton, Perse & Ginsberg and Mallory Horton, Miami, for Arthur Steinhardt.

Podhurst, Orseck, Parks, Josefsberg, Eaton, Meadow & Olin and Joel D. Eaton, Miami, for Milton E. & Esther Steinhardt.

Sinclair, Louis, Siegel, Heath, Nussbaum & Zavertnik and Paul Siegel and Bayard Heath, Horton, Perse & Ginsberg and Mallory Horton, Miami, for Betty and Julian Lehman.

Before HUBBART and DANIEL S. PEARSON and JORGENSON, JJ.

HUBBART, Judge.

This is an appeal and cross-appeal from a final judgment which imposed a resulting trust on certain property and confirmed a prior dismissal at trial of constructive trust claims relating to certain other property. The judgment was entered in an action brought below by members of a certain family to impose a constructive or resulting trust upon the property held by one member of the family and his wife. A cost judgment entered thereafter is also appealed. For the reasons which follow, we conclude that all these claims should have been dismissed at trial at the conclusion of the plaintiffs' evidence. We accordingly affirm in part and reverse in part.

I

On November 1, 1973, the instant lawsuit was filed below. The complaint, as later amended, sought the imposition of a constructive trust on all the assets held by the defendants Milton Steinhardt and his wife Esther Steinhardt, which property, it was alleged, had been entrusted to the defendant Milton Steinhardt to manage for the benefit of his family, the plaintiffs herein. The suit was brought by the blood relatives and in-laws of the defendant Milton Steinhardt, to wit: Arthur Steinhardt (brother), Betty Lehman (sister), Julian Lehman (brother-in-law; husband of Betty Lehman), Ruth Steinhardt (sister-in-law; widow of deceased brother Julius Steinhardt), and Steven Steinhardt, Sandra Margolesky, Shirley Villazon (nephew and nieces; children of deceased brother Julius Steinhardt and sister-in-law Ruth Steinhardt). The plaintiffs sought a constructive trust as the heirs of the deceased patriarch of the family Morris Steinhardt, and in their individual capacities as well, in the following proportions: 25 percent to the plaintiff Arthur Steinhardt, 25 percent to the plaintiff Betty Lehman, 25 percent to the plaintiffs Ruth Steinhardt, Steven Steinhardt, Sandra Margolesky and Shirley Villazon, and 25 percent to the defendants Milton and Esther Steinhardt. An accounting was also sought of all monies due the plaintiffs under the asserted constructive trust.

The complaint also sought the imposition of a resulting trust for the benefit of the plaintiffs Betty Lehman and Julian Lehman on properties held by the defendants in a development known as the Palm Beach White House, an alleged offshoot of the family businesses. Specifically, the complaint alleges that the defendant Milton Steinhardt orally agreed to pay to each of the plaintiffs Betty Lehman and Julian *355 Lehman 2 1/2 percent of the income from the 99-year ground rental leases of a condominium project developed and owned by the defendants and known as the "Palm Beach White House," that the plaintiff Betty Lehman was to receive title to an apartment in the complex, and that the plaintiff Betty Lehman was to receive 2 1/2 percent interest in any future developments of the defendant. The complaint further alleges that the defendant Milton Steinhardt breached all these agreements and prays for the imposition of a resulting trust and an accounting to enforce these agreements.

The defendants filed answers in this cause denying the material allegations of the complaint and setting up certain affirmative defenses: laches, statute of limitations, statute of frauds, res judicata and collateral estoppel. A defense motion for summary judgment was denied below and affirmed by this court on an interlocutory appeal taken under Fla.R.App.P. 4.2(a) (1962). Steinhardt v. Lehman, 338 So.2d 64 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976). Upon remand, following certain amendments to the complaint and an additional answer thereto, the case finally proceeded to non-jury trial below. The trial court received eighteen days of testimony and argument in a series of truncated hearings beginning in March 1977 and ending in December 1980.

At the conclusion of the plaintiffs' case in chief, the trial court dismissed the constructive trust claims filed herein on the ground that such claims were barred by res judicata and laches. The trial court, however, denied a defense motion to dismiss the resulting trust claim. The defendants then presented their evidence relating to this claim and a brief rebuttal was thereafter presented by the plaintiffs. At the conclusion of all the evidence, the trial court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, stating "I am satisfied that there is a resulting trust in the Palm Beach White House to Betty and Julian Lehman." A written order was subsequently entered which imposed a resulting trust upon the Palm Beach White House in the amount of 2 1/2 percent each for the benefit of the plaintiffs Betty and Julian Lehman, and ordered an accounting of sums due to the plaintiffs under this resulting trust. Lengthy hearings were thereafter conducted on the accounting phase of this case. Ultimately, a final judgment was entered confirming the above court rulings and ordering the payment of certain sums of money as part of the accounting on the resulting trust. A cost judgment was subsequently entered against the defendants herein.

Numerous appeals and cross-appeals have been filed in connection with this case, all of which have been consolidated. The defendants Milton Steinhardt and Esther Steinhardt appeal the final judgment insofar as it imposes a resulting trust on the Palm Beach White House and orders an accounting thereon. The plaintiffs Betty Lehman and Julian Lehman appeal the final judgment insofar as it confirms the prior dismissal at trial of their constructive trust claims; the plaintiff Arthur Steinhardt appeals a prior written order dismissing his constructive trust claim, which order was a final judgment as to him. Prior appeals lodged by the plaintiffs Ruth Steinhardt, Steven Steinhardt, Sandra Margolesky and Shirley Villazon have previously been dismissed by this court for lack of prosecution. Interlocutory appeals have also been taken from the cost judgment by the plaintiffs Betty Lehman and Julian Lehman and by the defendants Milton Steinhardt and Esther Steinhardt.

II

We turn first to the constructive trust claims of the plaintiffs Arthur Steinhardt, Betty Lehman and Julian Lehman, which claims were dismissed by the trial court at the conclusion of the plaintiffs' evidence at trial. We have no difficulty in concluding that the trial court was eminently correct in dismissing these claims.

A

First, it is plain that "clear and convincing evidence" was not presented below, as required by law, to establish a prima facie case for the imposition of a constructive *356 trust in favor of the above-stated plaintiffs in their individual capacities. See, e.g., Brown v. Vining, 334 So.2d 647 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976); Carberry v. Foley,

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Bluebook (online)
445 So. 2d 352, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/steinhardt-v-steinhardt-fladistctapp-1984.