Trustee/Executor Of Trust And Estate Removed For Cause
In the trust and estate administration and trust and estate litigation case of In re Guffy, PICS case No. 15-1741 (C.P. Lycoming, Sept. 14, 2015) the Honorable Marc Francis Lovecchio ruled that the trustee/executor mishandled the decedent’s trust and estate by falling to properly administer them pursuant to the requirements of law and interests of the estate and trust were likely to be jeopardized by his continuing in those capacities. Petition to remove him as trustee and executor granted.
Wellard Raymond Guffy died testate in February 2012, devising all of his estate to the co-trustees named in the Wellard Raymond Living Trust: his niece Mozelle Snyder and his nephew William Randall Colyer. His December 2011will named Snyder as executor and, if she was unable or unwilling to serve, Colyer. In 2010, Guffy had granted financial power of attorney to Colyer.
In June 2012, Colyer petitioned for a grant of letters and was named executor. Between September and November 2013, various beneficiaries filed petitions for both an estate and trust accounting. The court ordered Colyer to file accountings. The purported accountings were filed late and were deemed incomplete. Sanctions were imposed on Colyer and he was ordered to file supplemental accountings.
In May 2014, petitions to remove Colyer were filed, alleging he had breached his fiduciary duties as a power of attorney by, among other things, failing to transfer life insurance proceeds to the trust and instead distributing them to Guffy’s sisters, one of whom was Colyer’s mother, who received the major portion of the proceeds and by accepting the gift of a car and failing to include that in the inheritance tax return.
They also alleged he breached his duties as executor and trustee by, among other things, arranging for Guffy, who was then 84, to purchase a 10-year annuity of $350,000 and allowing Guffy to purchase the annuity, gift the car and establish the trust when he had a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or dementia.
In opposition to the removal petitions, Colyer testified all actions were taken with Guffy’s consent and approval and he was entirely dependent on counsel.
The court found that Colyer was not credible. It said his claimed ignorance of critical and material facts was unbelievable and it made no sense that after being appointed Guffy’s financial POA, Guffy failed to discuss any of his financial decisions with him. The court found abundant evidence that Colyer failed to comply with his statutory duties regarding the estate. For example, he failed to provide notice of the estate administration in the appropriate form to the entitled entities and/or persons and failed to file a certification of notice. He also failed to file a timely first accounting and statement of proposed distribution or notice thereof.
Regarding the trust, the court-ordered accountings were late and incomplete. The court rejected his claim that he relied on counsel with respect to them. It said that, while the attorney clearly was partly responsible for not insisting that the necessary information be provided to her in a correct form in a timely manner, Colyer’s claim that he bore no blame was meritless as he was dilatory and failed to respond thoroughly to her requests.
The court also found that the inheritance tax return Colyer filed was clearly inaccurate, as it failed to report the estate’s biggest asset, the annuity or the gift of the car.
The court concluded Colyer clearly failed to follow the law, deviated from the requirements of controlling statutes, failed to perform clearly set forth duties and seriously impaired the administration of the trust and estate. Further, his personal interests conflicted with those of the estate and trust. Finally, the court said he failed to perform his duties by not employing competent legal and/or financial experts to assist him, as he incapable of performing them on his own or with Legal Zoom assistance.
Petition granted to remove him as trustee and executor and substitute co-trustees and co-executors appointed.
Reference: Digest of Recent Opinions, Pennsylvania Law Weekly, 38 PLW 1127, (December 1, 2015)
Filed Under: Trust & Estate Litigation, Trust & Estate Administration; Removal of Executor/Trustee.
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