Preview:

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT P. Gregory Cross Muncie, Indiana Sara E. Shade Muncie, Indiana

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE Stan G. Wyrick Muncie, Indiana

______________________________________________________________________________

FILED
of the supreme court, court of appeals and tax court

In the

Sep 09 2010, 11:21 am

Indiana Supreme Court
_________________________________ No. 18S04-1002-CV-118 IN RE: THE ESTATE OF HARRY L. RICKERT, CAROLE BAKER, PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF HARRY L. RICKERT, DECEASED, v. KETA TAYLOR,

CLERK

Appellant (Petitioner Below),

Appellee (Respondent Below). _________________________________ Appeal from the Delaware Circuit Court, No. 18C01-0605-EU-118 The Honorable Marianne Vorhees, Judge _________________________________

On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 18A04-0812-CV-746 _________________________________ September 9, 2010 Boehm, Justice. A holder of a power of attorney is a fiduciary and therefore any transaction in which the holder uses a power of attorney to transfer assets to the holder is presumed invalid. The NonProbate Transfer Act creates a presumption that joint ownership of a bank account is intended to transfer the account to the survivor(s) at the death of an owner. We hold that the Act's presumption of intent to transfer does not overcome the fiduciary's duty to prove that the account was properly established as a joint account. The holder in this case used the power to establish

joint accounts with herself, and did not overcome the presumption that the accounts were not validly established as joint accounts. Facts and Procedural History Harry Rickert and his wife, Novella, had no children. When Novella suffered a stroke in 1990, Rickert hired Keta Taylor to assist him in caring for her. After Novella's death in 1991, Taylor continued to provide general housekeeping duties and care for Rickert until his death in May 2006 at the age of 93. In 1992, Rickert executed a will that divided his residuary estate equally among four nieces and nephews, and Carole Baker, whom Rickert described in his will as one "loved as if she were [the Rickerts's] daughter." According to some witnesses Rickert could sign his name but was otherwise illiterate. In 1997 Rickert gave Taylor a general power of attorney, and six months later he executed a codicil to his will adding Taylor as a sixth residuary beneficiary. In 1999, a second codicil named Baker as personal representative of his estate. At that time he told Baker that his estate was worth about $600,000 and that each beneficiary would receive approximately $100,000 when he died. Between 1999 and 2006, Rickert's health declined. He required more constant care and was attended by Taylor on weekdays and by other hired caregivers on the weekends. The evidence is undisputed that by 2005 Rickert could no longer make decisions for himself, but it is not clear how long that was the case before then. According to Baker and Ervin Rickert and Walter Washburn, two of Rickert's nephews, Rickert lost the ability to make conscious decisions for himself sometime around 2000, but Taylor disputes that and the record includes no medical evidence. A Mutual Federal Savings Bank employee testified that when she dealt with Rickert prior to 2002 it was her opinion that he understood the terms of the accounts that he and Taylor opened. At Rickert's death his probate estate was valued at approximately $147,000, including real estate, furniture and household goods, corporate stocks, cash, and the proceeds of insurance policies payable to the estate. Baker also identified $404,000 in non-probate assets. Specifically, a number of bank certificates of deposit (CDs) had been purchased in Rickert's name as joint owner with Taylor and others. Ind. Code

Download Matter of the Estate of Harry L. Rickert.pdf

Indiana Law