Swaffar v. Swaffar

938 S.W.2d 552, 327 Ark. 235, 1997 Ark. LEXIS 64
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedFebruary 10, 1997
Docket96-751
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 938 S.W.2d 552 (Swaffar v. Swaffar) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Swaffar v. Swaffar, 938 S.W.2d 552, 327 Ark. 235, 1997 Ark. LEXIS 64 (Ark. 1997).

Opinion

Donald L. Corbin, Justice.

Appellant, Eddie Linn Swaffar Jr., appeals the order of the Faulkner County Probate Court approving the final accounting and denying his claim for set-off in the administration of the estate of his father, Eddie Linn Swaffar Sr. Appellee, W.C. Swaffar, is Appellant’s uncle and executor of the estate. Our jurisdiction is pursuant to Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 1-2(a)(16) (as amended by per curiam July 15, 1996), as this case requires construction of a will. Appellant raises four points for reversal. We find merit to the first point and reverse and remand in part and affirm in part.

Facts and Procedural History

The decedent, Eddie Linn Swaffar Sr., died testate on April 8, 1989, of cancer after having survived severe burns he incurred in an accident at his welding shop in Conway, Arkansas. The decedent’s will named as executor Appellee W.C. Swaffar, the decedent’s brother, and placed all property of the estate into a trust for the benefit of the decedent’s two sons, Appellant and a minor named Brandon Heath Swaffar.1 The will provided that the elder son be the guardian of the minor son and that each son would receive an equal share of the trust as follows: Upon reaching age 30, each would receive one-fourth of the trust; at age 35, another one-fourth; and at age 40, the remaining half of the trust. The will also provided that Appellant had the right to five in the decedent’s home and “shall maintain said home in good repair and pay rent for the home and shop at $1,200.00 per month payable to the Trust.”

This case is marked by much conflict between Appellant and Appellee. The conflict existed almost from the very beginning when Appellee sought to have his brother’s will admitted to probate on April 12, 1989. No action was taken thereafter until September 11, 1989, when Appellant filed a petition to contest the will, to remove Appellee as executor, and to demand an inventory. The conflict continued through the next six years, and there was much activity in the case. To recite all the activity would unduly lengthen this opinion. We do, however, mention some of these actions as they become relevant to our discussion of the merits of this appeal.

In July 1995, Appellee filed a final accounting accompanied by a petition for approval of the final accounting, final distribution, and for discharge as personal representative. Appellant filed objections to the final accounting and asserted a claim of set-off against any alleged debts against the estate. After a hearing on January 5, 1996, the probate court entered an order denying Appellant’s objections and claim for set-off and approving the final accounting. This appeal is from that order.

Certificates of Deposit

Appellant’s first point for reversal concerns two certificates of deposit that Appellee listed on a document as items not included in the estate. Appellee admitted that his attorneys helped him prepare this document and that it was filed at some point in the probate proceedings. This document was admitted as Appellant’s Exhibit One during the hearing on Appellant’s objections to the final accounting and lists one certificate of deposit at First National Bank payable to W.C. Swaffar in the amount of $54,986.40. The document lists the other certificate of deposit as being at First State Bank, payable to Brandon Swaffar or W.C. Swaffar in the amount of $40,180.84. The record does not disclose how or when these certificates of deposit were purchased, although Appellant alleges that they were purchased by Appellee with cash he obtained from the decedent. Of some significance to Appellant is the fact that this document also fists a fife insurance policy in the amount of $10,000.00 with Brandon as beneficiary. Also of significance to Appellant is Appellee’s testimony that the certificate of deposit in Appellee’s name was also in the name “Eddie Lynn Swaffar,” but failed to distinguish between the junior Swaffar or the senior Swaffar. Appellant argues these two facts are evidence that the decedent intended to make equal cash gifts to his two sons somewhere in the range of $50,000.00 each.

Appellant objected to the final accounting on the basis that it did not include these two certificates of deposit as property of the estate. Appellee testified at the January 1996 hearing that the certificates of deposit were held jointly with rights of survivorship in the names of the decedent and himself and Brandon and himself, respectively. As previously mentioned, Appellee admitted that the certificate of deposit bearing his name and the decedent’s did not identify “Eddie Linn Swaffar” as either the junior or the senior Swaffar. On the basis of this testimony and other evidence indicating that the decedent was a successful businessman, the probate court ruled that the decedent purchased the certificates of deposit intentionally the way he did and that he would not substitute his judgment for the decedent’s. The probate court said, “If he [the decedent] knew that a part of it was going to Brandon, and a part of it was going to his brother, that was his choice. And absent any proof to the contrary why it should not be, I’m leaving it there.” (Emphasis supplied.)

On appeal, Appellant contends the probate court’s ruling is contrary to the law and evidence presented. Appellant’s argument in support of this contention is twofold. First, he argues that it was Appellee’s burden to prove that the certificate of deposit bearing Appellee’s name was a gift from the decedent to Appellee. In support of this argument, Appellant relies on McDermott v. McAdams, 268 Ark. 1031, 598 S.W.2d 427 (Ark. App. 1980). Second, Appellant argues that the proof presented by Appellee did not establish that either certificate of deposit was a joint tenancy and therefore subject to ownership by anyone other than the decedent. In support of this argument, Appellant relies on Jones v. Robinson, 297 Ark. 580, 764 S.W.2d 610 (1989).

Appellee responds that Appellant’s argument is barred because it was not timely raised below and because the record on appeal does not demonstrate error. First, Appellee contends that Appellant is barred from raising this issue now according to Ark. Code Ann. § 28-52-106 (1987) because he did not file an objection to the certificates of deposit until the final accounting. Appellee implies strongly that the document was filed as part of the initial accounting, and, therefore, Appellant would have had to file an objection within sixty days pursuant to section 28-52-106. The record, however, does not confirm that the document was filed as part of or along with the initial account. Likewise, the record does not confirm that the document was filed with the initial inventory or with any of the annual accountings. In short, the record does not disclose that the document was ever filed. Thus, we are left only with Appellee’s testimony that the document listing the certificates of deposit was indeed filed at some point during the probate proceedings. Under such facts and circumstances, we will not apply section 28-52-106 to bar Appellant’s objections. Second, Appellee contends that our review is barred because Appellant has not produced a record on appeal that demonstrates error.

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Bluebook (online)
938 S.W.2d 552, 327 Ark. 235, 1997 Ark. LEXIS 64, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/swaffar-v-swaffar-ark-1997.