In Re The Estate Of Thomas Robinson Rudy Robinson, Res. v. Christine O. Mccalla, App. ( 2020 )

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
In the Matter of the Estate of:
THOMAS ROBINSON, No. 80110-4-I
Deceased. DIVISION ONE
RUDY ROBINSON, UNPUBLISHED OPINION
Respondent,
v.
CHRISTINE O. MCCALLA,
Appellant.
LEACH, J. — In this probate matter, Christine McCalla appeals a superior
court order removing her as the personal representative of her late father’s estate
and ordering her to pay damages to the estate. The record contains insufficient
evidence to support the amount of damages awarded for uncollected rent and for
decreased value or destruction of estate property. So, we reverse the judgment
for damages. In all other respects, we affirm.
FACTS
Thomas Robinson died testate in September 2018 survived by two
children, Christine McCalla and Rudy Robinson.1 Thomas’s will named Christine
1
Because some of the family members involved in this appeal share the
same last name, we use first names for clarity.
Citations and pincites are based on the Westlaw online version of the cited material.
No. 80110-4-I/2
as the personal representative of the estate, and if she were unable or unwilling
to serve, it designated Rudy as the successor personal representative.2
Thomas’s will granted “unrestricted nonintervention powers” to the personal
representative. Apart from specifically designated items of tangible property, the
will gave the Thomas estate in equal shares to the children.
At the time of Thomas’s death, he lived in the Seattle home purchased in
1970 with his late spouse. Christine lived across the street. Christine’s
daughter, Salina McCalla, had been living with Thomas for several years. After
Thomas’s spouse passed away, Salina cared for Thomas in the evenings and
weekends when his employed caregiver was off duty. Salina sometimes
accompanied Thomas to medical appointments or to the hospital. By mutual
agreement, Salina did not pay rent to Thomas.
The primary asset of Thomas’s estate was his home. After Thomas died,
Christine allowed Salina to continue to live in the home without paying rent to the
estate. After several months, in January 2019, Christine responded to Rudy’s
concerns about this arrangement. She claimed it was Thomas’s wish that Salina
remain in the home until it was sold. Christine also reported that after their
father’s death, Rudy had agreed that Salina should continue to live in the home
to protect it and its contents. Christine described some steps she had taken to
prepare the home for sale. Christine hired individuals to help pack her father’s
2
Thomas’s will uses the terms “executrix” and “executor.” In the context
of this case, these terms are interchangeable with the term “personal
representative”. These terms apply to the individual appointed to administer an
estate. RCW 11.02.005(4).
2
No. 80110-4-I/3
personal belongings and clean the home, identified a real estate agent to list the
home, and arranged for an appraisal of the home. She maintained that Salina
was looking for new housing.
In February 2019, Rudy submitted a creditor’s claim against Thomas’s
estate under chapter 11.40 RCW. As the factual basis for the claim, Rudy cited
Salina’s continued occupation of the home without paying rent. He also alleged
Salina’s two pit bulls had caused “significant damage to the stairs in the house.”
Rudy demanded that Salina move out, and he asserted that the estate had a
claim against her for rent from the date of Thomas’s death and for damage to the
property. Rudy estimated that the value of the claim was “$1,800/month for rent
and $25,000 in property damage.”
Christine, as personal representative, rejected the creditor’s claim. Rudy
then filed a “Petition on Rejected Claim and Complaint to Quiet Title” in superior
court. Rudy made claims of unjust enrichment and ejectment.3 Rudy relied on
the “facts and circumstances” alleged in his creditor’s claim to support his claims.
Rudy scheduled a hearing on his petition in the Probate Department of the King
County Superior Court.
In response, Christine asserted that the only damage caused by the dogs
had been repaired at her personal expense. She also stated her view that the
house needed to be occupied while she prepared it for sale.
Rudy also asserted a claim of quiet title related to the deed to Christine’s
3
home that her parents transferred to her in 2016.
3
No. 80110-4-I/4
In reply, Rudy asked the court to remove Christine as personal
representative of the estate. He also asked the court to require Christine to
reimburse the estate for uncollected rent and for the property damage caused by
the dogs. Rudy denied agreeing to allow Salina to continue to live in the home
without paying rent and alleged the dogs had destroyed the hardwood flooring.
Christine filed an additional declaration just before the April 8, 2019
hearing. She claimed the only damage caused by Salina’s dogs had been
repaired and stated her intent to place the home on the market on or before
April 22, 2019. Christine also declared she used her own personal funds to pay
the nearly $2,000 mortgage payment for Thomas’s home twice in the months
before he died.
At the brief hearing on Rudy’s petition, the parties focused on whether as
the personal representative, Christine had a fiduciary duty to the estate to rent
the home and whether there was evidence of property damage. At the
conclusion of the hearing, the court revoked Christine’s letters testamentary and
appointed Rudy as personal representative. The court found that Christine had
engaged in “mismanagement and/or fraud on the estate by allowing her daughter
to live in the house on a rent free basis for the last seven (7) months.” The court
also ordered Christine to pay damages of $37,600 to the estate. The court later
denied Christine’s motion for reconsideration. Christine appeals.
4
No. 80110-4-I/5
ANALYSIS
Removal of Personal Representative
RCW 11.68.070 allows an heir, devisee, or legatee to petition the superior
court to remove a personal representative, even one with nonintervention
powers. This statute provides that a party qualified to seek removal must file a
petition with a supporting affidavit that establishes a prima facie cause for
removal. After this occurs, the superior court must cite the personal
representative to appear before it to respond to the petition.
Christine challenges her removal as personal representative of the estate.
She correctly points out that Rudy did not file a petition under RCW 11.68.070,
the applicable statute, and did not expressly ask the court to revoke her personal
representative status until he filed his reply brief.4 To the extent Christine
suggests these procedural deficiencies implicated the court’s “jurisdiction” to
decide the matter, we disagree. In a recent analogous case involving the
removal of co-personal representatives/co-trustees, Matter of Estate of Reugh,
Division Three of this court rejected language in previous cases declaring that a
superior court can lose “jurisdiction” to decide matters involving nonintervention
estates.5 The court clarified that under the Washington Constitution and
4
Rudy improperly relied on creditor's claim statutes under chapter 11.40
RCW, which apply to persons who have claims against a decedent based on
debts incurred by or for the decedent during the decedent’s lifetime. Olsen v.
Roberts, 42 Wn.2d 862, 865, 259 P.2d 418 (1953). Furthermore, a party must
bring an ordinary civil action on a rejected creditor’s claim, which is not a part of
probate proceedings. Schluneger v. Seattle-First Nat’l Bank, 48 Wn.2d 188, 189-
90, 292 P.2d 203 (1956); City of Spokane v. Costello, 57 Wash. 183, 106 P. 764(1910).
5
10 Wn. App. 2d 20, 44-46, 447 P.3d 544 (2019).
5
No. 80110-4-I/6
numerous statutes, superior courts have jurisdiction over all probate matters.
“Subject matter jurisdiction simply means the claimant brought the suit in the right
court.”6 This jurisdiction does not depend on compliance with statutory
procedural requirements.7
Nevertheless, Christine contends that without a petition under
RCW 11.68.070 before it, the court’s authority was “never correctly triggered”
and the court did not “gain authority” to intervene in the management of the
nonintervention estate. But, Christine did not properly raise this claim of error in
the trial court. A party may not generally raise a new argument on appeal that
the party did not present to the trial court.8 A party must inform the court of the
rules of law it wishes the court to apply and give the trial court an opportunity to
correct any error.9 Proper preservation of error not only provides the trial court
with the opportunity to correctly rule on matters, but it also serves the goal of
judicial economy and facilitates appellate review by ensuring a complete record
on appeal.10
The decision in Reugh is instructive. There, purported trust beneficiaries
filed a motion in probate proceedings to remove the co-trustees/co-personal
representatives.11 The testator’s children opposed the motion on the ground that
the beneficiaries filed a motion and not a petition, which starts a show cause
6
Reugh, 10 Wn. App. 2d at 49.
7
Reugh, 10 Wn. App. 2d at 49-50.
8
In re Detention of Ambers, 160 Wn.2d 543, 557, 158 P.3d 1144 (2007).
9
Smith v. Shannon, 100 Wn.2d 26, 37, 666 P.2d 351 (1983).
10
State v. Strine, 176 Wn. 2d 742, 749-50, 293 P.3d 1177 (2013).
11
Reugh, 10 Wn. App. 2d at 36.
6
No. 80110-4-I/7
process.12 But, they did not challenge the court’s authority based on the
nonintervention powers of the trustees or argue that the purported beneficiaries
were not qualified to seek removal under RCW 11.68.070.13 The children also
declined the court’s offer to remedy any procedural error by entering a show
cause order and scheduling a later hearing.14 Because the children failed to
raise the issue about the court’s authority in a nonintervention estate in the trial
court, the court declined to address their claim on appeal.15 The court also held
the children either waived any objection to the process or invited the error by
choosing to proceed to address the merits of the request for removal. 16
Here, Rudy consistently alleged that Christine was mismanaging the
primary asset of the estate. Christine responded to his allegations claiming that
Salina’s continued occupancy of the home was a benefit to the estate and
asserting that both Thomas and Rudy had agreed to the arrangement. After
Rudy filed his reply brief, and expressly sought her removal as the personal
representative, Christine filed additional documents. In doing so, she directly
responded to Rudy’s reply but did not raise the issue of the court’s authority to
rule on the request for removal. At the hearing on Rudy’s petition, the court
specifically noted the request before it to revoke Christine’s status as the
personal representative. Again, Christine focused on the substantive allegations
and did not challenge the court’s authority based on the nonintervention estate or
12
Reugh, 10 Wn. App. 2d at 37.
13
Reugh, 10 Wn. App. 2d at 37.
14
Reugh, 10 Wn. App. 2d at 37.
15
Reugh, 10 Wn. App. 2d at 51.
16
Reugh, 10 Wn. App. 2d at 62.
7
No. 80110-4-I/8
lack of compliance with RCW 11.68.070 to address the removal request. As in
Reugh, Christine waived any claim that the court lacked authority to decide
Rudy’s request.17
Even if the court had authority to entertain Rudy’s request, Christine
claims the record contains no evidence of misconduct that warranted her removal
as personal representative. A personal representative “stands in a fiduciary
relationship to those beneficially interested in the estate ... [and] is obligated to
exercise the utmost good faith and diligence in administering the estate in the
best interests of the heirs.”18 RCW 11.68.070 and RCW 11.28.250 protect
beneficiaries and other interested parties when a personal representative
breaches fiduciary duties.19 RCW 11.68.070 authorizes the superior court to
remove any personal representative who “fails to execute his or her trust faithfully
or is subject to removal for any reason specified in RCW 11.28.250.”
RCW 11.28.250 in turn declares:
Whenever the court has reason to believe that any personal
representative has wasted, embezzled, or mismanaged, or is about to
waste, or embezzle the property of the estate committed to his or her
17
While Christine raised the issue of the court’s authority to intervene in a
nonintervention estate in her motion for reconsideration, this fact does not affect
our waiver analysis. A trial court may decline to consider any new theory
presented for the first time in a motion for reconsideration. Wilcox v. Lexington
Eye Inst., 130 Wn. App. 234, 241, 122 P.3d 729 (2005); JDFJ Corp. v. Int’l
Raceway, Inc., 97 Wn. App. 1, 7, 970 P.2d 343 (1999). We review a trial court’s
denial of a motion for reconsideration for abuse of discretion. Wilcox, 130 Wn.
App. at 241. A trial court does not abuse its discretion when it refuses to consider
a new theory raised for the first time in a request for reconsideration. River
House Dev. Inc. v. Integrus Architecture, P.S., 167 Wn. App. 221, 231, 272 P.3d
289 (2012).
18
Matter of Estate of Larson, 103 Wn.2d 517, 521, 694 P.2d 1051 (1985).
19
In re Estate of Jones, 152 Wn.2d 1, 11, 93 P.3d 147 (2004).
8
No. 80110-4-I/9
charge, or has committed, or is about to commit a fraud upon the estate,
or is incompetent to act, or is permanently removed from the state, or has
wrongfully neglected the estate, or has neglected to perform any acts as
such personal representative, or for any other cause or reason which to
the court appears necessary, it shall have power and authority, after
notice and hearing to revoke such letters.
The superior court must have valid grounds for removal under these provisions
and the record must support the grounds.20 At the same time, the superior court
has broad discretion to remove a personal representative and a reviewing court
will not ordinarily interfere.21 A single ground for removal will suffice.22
Christine asks this court to review her removal de novo because the court
resolved the issue based on written declarations rather than live testimony. But,
we need not resolve the standard of review because under either a de novo or
deferential standard, we would affirm the court’s decision.
Heirs may not treat estate real property as their own during the pendency
of probate.23 And, while a personal representative may possess and control
estate property during the administration of the estate, and has a right to the
property even against other heirs, the personal representative is accountable to
the estate for this use.24 This means that where a personal representative
chooses to use the decedent’s real property for personal benefit, she must pay
rent to the estate.25 This rule applies even when the personal representative
20
In re Beard’s Estate, 60 Wn.2d 127, 132, 327 P.3d 530 (1962); Matter of
Aaberg’s Estates, 25 Wn. App. 336, 339, 607 P.2d 1227 (1980).
21
Beard’s, 60 Wn.2d at 132; Reugh, 10 Wn. App. 2d at 63.
22
Jones, 152 Wn.2d at 10.
23
Jones, 152 Wn.2d at 14.
24
Jones, 152 Wn.2d at 14.
25
Jones, 152 Wn.2d at 14.
9
No. 80110-4-I/10
claims that such use benefits the estate by protecting real property against
vandalism and decay.26
Consistent with these principles, the trial court determined that Christine
used estate property for her own purposes by allowing her daughter to live there
rent free during the administration of the estate. The estate may have received
some benefit from her daughter’s presence in the house but did not negate the
personal representative’s accountability to the estate. The trial court could
reasonably find her failure to collect rent on behalf of the estate amounted to
mismanagement and a breach of her fiduciary duty to the estate. This remains
true despite the fact that it was Christine’s daughter and not Christine who lived
in the home. Although Christine points to examples of more egregious self-
dealing, there were still valid grounds to support the removal and sufficient
evidence in the record to support those grounds. 27
Damages
Christine also claims the court should not have entered the judgment for
damages against her. Christine argues that neither Rudy’s creditor’s claim nor a
petition under RCW 11.68.070 provides a statutory basis to award damages.
Christine also claims the record does not contain sufficient evidence to support
the award. We need not address Christine’s first contention because we agree
the record lacks evidence to support the amount of damages awarded.
26
Jones, 152 Wn.2d at 14.
27
Jones, 152 Wn.2d at 21.
10
No. 80110-4-I/11
A claimant bears the burden of proof on the amount of damages and must
present sufficient evidence to support a damage award.28 The burden does not
require mathematical certainty or precision about the amount of damages, but
there must be “’competent evidence in the record’” to support the claimed
damages.29 “Evidence of damage is sufficient if it affords a reasonable basis for
estimating loss and does not subject the trier of fact to mere speculation or
conjecture.”30
The court awarded damages of $37,600 comprised of $25,000 for
property damage and $12,600 for uncollected rent (7 months at $1,800 per
month). But, apart from Rudy’s conclusory allegations, no evidence in the record
supports these amounts. In his petition, Rudy claimed the failure to charge rent
resulted in an estimated loss to the estate of $1,800 per month. Elsewhere, he
asserted the “reasonable rental value” of the home was at least $1,900 per
month. He provided no competent evidence to support the use of either of these
figures.31 And, in ordering damages equal to seven months estimated rent, the
court necessarily concluded the house could and should have been rented
almost immediately after Thomas’s death. But, the only evidence in the record
28
O’Brien v. Larson, 11 Wn. App. 52, 54, 521 P.2d 228 (1974).
29
Fed. Signal Corp. v. Safety Factors, Inc., 125 Wn.2d 413, 443, 886 P.2d
172 (1994) (quoting Interlake Porsche & Audi, Inc. v. Bucholz, 45 Wn. App. 502,
510, 728 P.2d 597 (1986)); Bunch v. King County Dep't. of Youth Servs., 155
Wn.2d 165, 180, 116 P.3d 381 (2005).
30
Clayton v. Wilson, 168 Wn.2d 57, 72, 227 P.3d 278 (2010) (quoting
State v. Mark, 36 Wn. App. 428, 434, 675 P.2d 1250 (1984)).
31
To the extent that Rudy attaches documents to his response brief to
substantiate the estimated monthly rental amount, it does not appear that he
presented these documents and they are not included in the record on appeal.
So, we decline to consider the supplemental materials. RAP 10.3(a)(8).
11
No. 80110-4-I/12
suggests this was not the case. Salina occupied the house at the time, the home
contained all of Thomas’s personal belongings, and the house required cleaning
and certain maintenance.
With regard to property damage, Rudy alleged that Salina’s dogs
damaged stairs, hardwood floors, and the lawn. He provided no evidence to
substantiate any of these claims. He did not explain how he knew the dogs were
responsible. He did not claim, much less establish, the damage occurred during
the period when Christine was the personal representative. Most significantly, he
provided no evidence to show $25,000 was a reasonable estimate of the loss in
value or cost to repair any damage to the home.
With respect to both property damage and uncollected rent, apart from
unsupported assertions, nothing in the record supports the amount of damages
awarded.
Reconsideration
Christine next challenges the court’s decision denying her motion for
reconsideration because the superior court denied her motion before the time
expired to file a reply brief.32 Relying on Pacific Industries, Inc. v. Singh,
Christine argues the court “misapplie[d] a procedural timing rule,” and therefore
abused its discretion in denying her motion.33 In that case, although we
concluded the court miscalculated the time to file a motion for reconsideration
32
KCLR 59(b) provides that if the superior court requests a response to a
motion for reconsideration, then “a reply may be filed within two court days of
service of the response.” However, the court entered an order the day after
Rudy filed his response.
33
120 Wn. App. 1, 12, 86 P.3d 778 (2003).
12
No. 80110-4-I/13
and therefore erred by refusing to consider a timely motion, the error was
harmless and did not require remand since the appellate court reviewed the
issues and rejected them on appeal.34 Christine contends the court would have
reached a different result had it considered her reply and additional materials.
But, as in Pacific Industries, even assuming error neither reversal nor remand
would be appropriate in view of our appellate review.
Attorney Fees
Finally, Christine requests an award of attorney fees incurred on appeal,
under RCW 11.68.070 and RCW 11.96A.150, a provision of the Trust and Estate
Dispute Resolution Act (TEDRA).35 Both provisions provide for awards of
attorney fees at the court’s discretion.
Christine argues she is entitled to fees because Rudy’s petition was
procedurally improper and “bordered on frivolous.” However, the petition raised
an underlying issue that was not frivolous and Christine prevails on appeal only
in part. Under these circumstances, we decline to award fees.
We reverse the judgment for damages and otherwise affirm.
WE CONCUR:
34
Pacific Indus., 120 Wn. App. at 11-12.
35
Both parties requested fees. The court initially stated it would grant
Rudy’s request for attorney fees of $3,000 but ultimately reserved the issue.
13