IN RE ESTATE OF JOHN W. CLEMENT, DECEASED. FLORIDA CONFERENCE ASSOCIATION OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS, APPELLANT,
v.
GLADYS THELMA CLEMENT, AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND INDIVIDUALLY, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1990-10-12
No. 89-03233
LEHAN and FRANK, JJ., concur.
568 So. 2d 1297 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1990) Caution
Cited by 6 cases

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Synopsis

The Florida Conference Association of Seventh-Day Adventists appealed a summary judgment that awarded joint bank accounts to the decedent's wife, Gladys Thelma Clement. The court affirmed the judgment as to most accounts but reversed as to five Barnett Bank certificates of deposit, holding that without explicit survivorship language, the accounts should be included in the estate.


Holding

The court affirmed that most accounts properly passed to Mrs. Clement as valid survivorship joint accounts with no evidence of duress, fraud, or undue influence. However, the court reversed as to the five Barnett Bank certificates of deposit, holding that survivorship language is required to create a survivorship account and that the notation 'or Gladys Clement' on a document signed only by the decedent does not establish survivorship; therefore, those accounts should be included in the estate.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court may grant summary judgment when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

[2] The opening of a bank account in the name of the decedent or another person does not, by itself, create a survivorship account.

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Key Quotes

“some language of survivorship is required to invoke the presumption of survivorship and that the opening of an account in the name of the decedent or another person does not create a survivorship account”

Establishes the legal standard requiring explicit survivorship language to create a joint survivorship account

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Facts & Procedural History

John W. Clement died on May 4, 1988, leaving a will dated December 9, 1987, naming the Florida Conference Association as a residuary beneficiary and h…

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Opinion of the Court
SCHOONOVER, Chief Judge.

SCHOONOVER, Chief Judge.

The appellant, Florida Conference Association of Seventh-Day Adventists, challenges a summary judgment entered in fa vor of the appellee, Gladys Thelma Clement, individually, and as personal representative of the estate of John W. Clement. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

John W. Clement died on May 4, 1988, leaving a last will and testament dated December 9, 1987. The appellant was a residuary beneficiary under the terms of the will which named the decedent’s wife, Gladys Thelma Clement, as the personal representative. The will was admitted to probate on May 9, 1988, and letters of administration were issued to Mrs. Clement on the same day.

On August 17, 1988, the appellant filed a petition to compel the personal representative to account for assets of the estate. The petition challenged the inventory filed by Mrs. Clement on June 14, 1988, and contended that the bank, savings and loan association, and credit union accounts which were transferred into joint accounts between the date of the decedent’s will and his death were assets of the estate and should have been included in the estate inventory. The petition alleged that all or some of the accounts were not valid joint tenancies with right of survivorship or tenancies by the entirety. The petition also alleged that some or all of the accounts were transferred by the deceased as a result of duress, fraud, or undue influence on the part of Mrs. Clement. The appellant did not challenge the validity of Mr. Clement’s will.

After the discovery process was completed, the trial court denied the appellant’s motion for partial summary judgment and granted the appellee’s motion for summary judgment disposing of all of the issues presented in appellant’s petition. The trial court held that all of the accounts in question were joint accounts with right of sur-vivorship, and because there was no evidence of duress, fraud, or undue influence, that the accounts passed to Mrs. Clement upon Mr. Clement’s death. This timely appeal followed.

Except for the five Barnett Bank certificates of deposit in the name of the deceased or Mrs. Clement, the trial court properly held that the accounts passed to Mrs. Clement at the time of Mr. Clement’s death. The court properly determined that the accounts were joint accounts which created a survivorship right and that there was no issue of material fact concerning the existence of duress, fraud, undue influence, or contrary intent. §§ 658.56, 665.-063, Fla.Stat. (1987). The summary judgment was, therefore, proper in connection with those accounts. Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.510(c).

The trial court erred, however, in holding, pursuant to sections 658.56 and 665.063, that the five Barnett Bank certificates of deposit (11973648, 11971866, 11968368, 11964348, 11978046) belonged to Mrs. Clement rather than the estate. The only evidence relied upon by the appellee to establish that these accounts were surviv-orship accounts was a document signed only by Mr. Clement. This document does not refer to survivorship status and states only: “or Gladys Clement.” In Harrison v. Huber, 463 So. 2d 1190 (Fla. 2d DCA), cause dismissed by, 469 So. 2d 749 (Fla.1985), this court held that some language of survivorship is required to invoke the presumption of survivorship and that the opening of an account in the name of the decedent or another person does not create a survivorship account. Although our sister court in Rosencrans v. Eden, 538 So. 2d 970 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989), disagreed with our decision in Harrison, we adhere to it and, accordingly, reverse that part of the summary judgment holding that these accounts passed to Mrs. Clement upon the death of Mr. Clement. These accounts should be included in the estate.

Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for proceedings consistent herewith.

LEHAN and FRANK, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • In re Est. OF Lettie v. Combee, 583 So. 2d 708 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991)
    …Fla. (codified at § 657.035, Fla.Stat. (1987)). . This is not a case in which parol evidence is admissible to establish the joint account with right of survivorship. Compare Harrison v. Huber, 463 So. 2d 1190 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985), and In re Clement, 568 So. 2d 1297 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990) with Rosecrans v. Eden, 538 So. 2d 970 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989). In this case, there is a clear and unambiguous written contract to invoke the statutory presumption.…
  • In re the Est. OF H.H. Herring v. Henderson, 670 So. 2d 145 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996)
    …resumption of joint tenants with right of survivorship would clearly arise. 4. The Respondent’s Motion for Directed Verdict is hereby granted, based on the authority of Harrison v. Huber, 463 So. 2d 1190 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985), In re Estate of Clement, 568 So. 2d 1297 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990), and In re Estate of Heyes, 515 So. 2d 377 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987), therefore, the Estate of H.H. Herring, deceased, owns the Certificate of Deposit.... In reaching this decision, the Court disapproves of Rosecrans v. Eden, 538 So. 2d…
  • Merkle v. Bernie J. Cannata, 642 So. 2d 811 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994)
    …y held the opening of an account with the decedent’s name “or” another person without more does not create a survivor-ship account. Harrison v. Huber, 463 So. 2d 1190 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985), dismissed, 469 So. 2d 749 (Fla.1985); In re Estate of Clement, 568 So. 2d 1297 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990). Accordingly, we hold the trial court incorrectly found the accounts opened in the name of the decedent or the appellee without more created a presumption of survivorship. We therefore reverse that portion of the trial court’s fi…

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