Karen Gohler v. James A. Rea (mem. dec.)

MEMORANDUM DECISION
FILED
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D),
Feb 20 2019, 9:04 am
this Memorandum Decision shall not be
regarded as precedent or cited before any CLERK
Indiana Supreme Court
court except for the purpose of establishing Court of Appeals
and Tax Court

the defense of res judicata, collateral
estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Jonathan A. Watson Peter M. Yarbro
Anderson, Agostino & Keller, PC Sara E. Tumbleson
South Bend, Indiana Hains Law Firm, LLP
South Bend, Indiana

IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Karen Gohler, February 20, 2019
Appellant-Petitioner, Court of Appeals Case No.
18A-ES-1562
v. Appeal from the St. Joseph
Superior Court
James A. Rea, The Honorable Jenny Pitts Manier,
Appellee-Respondent Judge
Trial Court Cause No.
71D05-1709-ES-44

Baker, Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-ES-1562 | February 20, 2019 Page 1 of 8
[1] Karen Gohler appeals the trial court’s order denying her request to be appointed

personal representative of the estate of her deceased mother and closing the

estate. She argues that the trial court applied improper statutes and that she is

entitled to relief. Finding no error, we affirm.

Facts
[2] In 2014, Harriet1 Rea, the mother of Gohler and James Rea, sold a valuable

home in Florida. At that time, Rea and his wife also lived in Florida and

attended to Harriet’s care. Harriet and Rea opened a joint bank account to hold

the proceeds of the sale of her home. For several years, Harriet made

distributions to her children, including Gohler, from this account.

[3] Harriet died on January 5, 2017. On September 6, 2017, Gohler opened an

estate and was named personal representative.2 Gohler opened the Estate as

intestate even though Harriet had a will; she also stated that the Estate was

solvent even though there were no assets to be distributed.

[4] Later that month, Rea filed a petition to probate Harriet’s will without

administration and to close the Estate. In the petition, Rea stated that, pursuant

to Harriet’s will, Suntrust Bank should be named personal representative and

1
Gohler’s brief refers to her mother as “Elizabeth,” appellant’s br. p. 4, but Rea and all documents in the
appendix refer to the decedent as “Harriet,” so we will use that name throughout.
2
The document filed with the court by Gohler to open the Estate is not included in the appendix.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-ES-1562 | February 20, 2019 Page 2 of 8
 that the Estate should be closed because there were no assets to be

administered.

[5] The point of contention between Gohler and Rea is the joint bank account that

was held by Rea and Harriet. The account reverted to Rea’s sole ownership

upon Harriet’s death. Gohler believes that Rea “influenced” Harriet to remove

this account “from a trust which benefited all children equally and place those

assets into joint-ownership accounts with himself.” Appellant’s Br. p. 4.

Gohler has never filed a claim against the Estate, nor has she ever sought to

bring this bank account or any other property into the Estate.

[6] Following a hearing, the trial court ordered that certain documents related to

Harriet’s banking records be produced to Gohler. Following the production of

those documents, the trial court held another hearing on November 30, 2017.

Based on that hearing, the trial court issued an order that probated Harriet’s

will, removed Gohler as personal representative, authorized Suntrust Bank to

proceed as personal representative upon qualification, and took Rea’s petition

to close the Estate under advisement.

[7] On April 25, 2018, Gohler filed a petition to have Suntrust Bank removed as

personal representative and herself appointed, alleging that Suntrust Bank was

not authorized to act as a fiduciary because it was a nonresident corporation.

The trial court held a hearing on this petition on June 5, 2018. At the hearing,

Gohler indicated that she was seeking discovery from Harriet’s doctors and

documents from her financial advisors because Gohler believed that Harriet had

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been incapable of making asset transfers before she died. On June 6, 2018, the

trial court issued an order denying Gohler’s petition and closing the Estate. In

pertinent part, the trial court found as follows:

1. The parties would seem to agree to the following facts:

Decedent owned a valuable home in the State of
Florida. Prior to her death, Rea and his wife also
resided in the State of Florida and attended to the
care and well-being of Decedent. Decedent sold her
home in 2014 and placed the proceeds of that sale in
a bank account. Distributions were regularly made
to Rea, Gohler and their siblings from this joint
account title to which passed at the time of
Decedent’s death as a non-probate transfer. . . .

2. Decedent died more than nine (9) months ago.

3. Gohler has not filed a claim against the Estate.

4. Gohler has presented no evidence that she made a demand
of Suntrust Bank, as personal representative, pursuant to
I.C. 32-17-13-7.

5. Gohler has not commenced an action under I.C. 32-17-13
within nine (9) months of Decedent’s death, as required by
I.C. 32-17-13-8.

6. Gohler did not file her Petition to Remove Suntrust Bank
for more than nine (9) months after Decedent’s death.

7. The Estate remains open not due to issues related to the
administration of the Estate but to attempt to facilitate,
effectively, pre-suit discovery, which has been
unproductive and for which a factual basis has not been
established or well-defined.

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 8. Gohler benefitted from the sale and transfer of which she
is now suspicious by the regular distribution of funds to
her from the proceeds of the sale of Decedent’s home.

9. There are no probate assets to be administered through this
Estate.

10. This Estate is ordered closed.

Appealed Order p. 1-2. Gohler now appeals.

Discussion and Decision
[8] When, as here, the trial court enters sua sponte findings of fact and conclusions

of law, we apply a two-tiered standard of review. Butler Univ. v. Unsupervised

Estate of Verdak, 815 N.E.2d 185, 190 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004). First, we consider

whether the evidence supports the findings, and second, we consider whether

the findings support the judgment. Id. We will set aside the trial court’s

judgment only if the findings and conclusions are clearly erroneous, leaving us

with a firm conviction that a mistake has been made. Id. In conducting our

review, we will consider only the evidence and inferences favorable to the

judgment and will neither reweigh the evidence nor assess witness credibility.

Id. To the extent that we must consider pure questions of law, we apply a de

novo standard of review. Franklin Elec. Co. v. Lutheran Hosp. of Ind., 926 N.E.2d

1036, 1042 (Ind. Ct. App. 2010).

[9] It is undisputed that the passage of the joint bank account to Rea’s sole

ownership upon Harriet’s death was a “nonprobate transfer.” Ind. Code § 32-

17-13-1(a). The only Indiana Code provisions that specifically address recovery

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 of a nonprobate transfer from the transferee can be found in Indiana Code

chapter 32-17-13. A “claimant” of a nonprobate transfer “means the surviving

spouse or a surviving child, to the extent that statutory allowances are affected,

or a person who has filed a timely claim in a deceased transferor’s probate

estate under IC 29-1-14, and is entitled to enforce the claim against a transferee

of a nonprobate transfer.” A proceeding to recover a nonprobate transfer must

be commenced within nine months of the decedent’s death or within sixty days

after the personal representative received a timely written demand 3 by the

claimant and declined or failed to commence a proceeding. I.C. § 32-17-13-

8(a).

[10] Gohler first argues that Indiana Code chapter 32-17-13 does not apply to her

because she is neither pursuing a statutory allowance as a surviving child nor

making a claim against the Estate. Instead, she argues that, “as prior and

potential personal representative,” she sought to recover assets from Rea on

behalf of the Estate. Appellant’s Br. p. 7. She essentially argues that because

she did not file a claim against the Estate, these provisions do not apply to her.

But that ignores the important question of whether she should have filed a claim

against the Estate. A surviving child may not be making a claim related to

statutory allowances but may still be a “person” who has filed a timely claim

related to a nonprobate transfer.

3
It is undisputed that Gohler did not make a timely written demand of Suntrust Bank.

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[11] In short, we do not find Gohler’s argument to be persuasive. But even if she is

correct, she does not prevail. While she was personal representative, she had

the right—and duty—to take possession of Estate assets and the power to file

any lawsuits necessary to recover possession of the Estate’s property. Ind. Code

§§ 29-1-13-1, -3. She did not do so.

[12] Even after she was removed as personal representative, as an heir to the Estate,

she had the right to file a petition “alleging that any person has, or is suspected

to have, concealed, embezzled, converted or disposed, of any real or personal

property belonging to the estate of a decedent . . . .” I.C. § 29-1-13-10(a). She

did not do so.

[13] She could also have sought relief under Indiana Code section 29-1-13-16 by

filing a petition alleging that she had “reason to believe and does believe that

the personal representative of the estate or any other person is indebted to the

estate, or that any property is in the possession of . . . any other person, and that

diligent effort is not being made to collect such indebtedness or to secure

possession of such property . . . .” She did not file such a petition.

[14] Therefore, even if Gohler was not required to make a claim for a nonprobate

transfer, she failed to take any of the other actions at her disposal to preserve

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 her right to make any argument related to the joint bank account. Under any

set of procedures, Gohler does not prevail.4

[15] It is undisputed that there are no assets in the Estate to administrate. It is

likewise undisputed that Gohler was more than willing to accept regular

payments of money from the joint bank account for years during Harriet’s

lifetime. It is only now, in retrospect, that Gohler wonders whether Harriet had

the capacity to set up the arrangement that facilitated those distributions.

Under these circumstances, even if Gohler had followed the proper procedures,

the trial court would have been well within its discretion to deny her petition

and close the Estate. See Inlow v. Henderson, Daily, Withrow & DeVoe, 787

N.E.2d 385, 393 (Ind. Ct. App. 2003) (noting that the probate court, rather than

the litigant, determines whether a petitioner’s claim of a person’s indebtedness

to an estate has merit). We find no error with respect to the trial court’s order

in this case.

[16] The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

May, J., and Tavitas, J., concur.

4
She seems to argue that the trial court should have ordered her to file a petition rather than close the Estate.
But the trial court is not required to order parties to follow the procedural channels they had not bothered to
follow on their own.

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