 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State ex rel Toma v. Corrigan8/22/2001
Prohibition - Writ sought to prohibit judge of common pleas court, probate division, from proceeding in a probate case - Court of appeals' denial of writ affirmed, when.
Submitted July 17, 2001
In March 1999, the ancillary administrator of the estate of Margaret E. Meszaros filed a complaint in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, Probate Division, for a declaratory judgment. Appellant, Charles J. Toma, was one of the defendants. The administrator alleged the following in his complaint.
Beginning in November 1995, Toma assisted Meszaros in the management of her financial affairs and had a power of attorney for her. Toma induced Meszaros to create a brokerage account with Prudential Securities that designated Toma as a joint owner with the right of survivorship. Toma represented to Meszaros that he would manage her funds, pay her bills, and distribute account assets upon her death in accordance with her will.
In November 1996, Meszaros became physically incapacitated and was unable to live alone. Toma moved Meszaros from her home in Florida and placed her in a nursing home close to where he lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma. When the nursing home arrangements became unsatisfactory in late November 1996, Toma agreed to pay Rose Mary Gordyan her travel expenses and costs to move Meszaros to Ohio so that she could live with Gordyan. Toma further agreed to pay Gordyan $2,600 per month to provide the equivalent of nursing home care to Meszaros. At that time, Meszaros was totally dependent on her caregivers, Toma and Gordyan. On December 18, 1996, within a few days of moving to Ohio, Meszaros was admitted to a hospital in Parma, Ohio, and she subsequently died on January 16, 1997.
According to Meszaros's administrator, beginning in November 1996, Toma systematically liquidated the assets of the Prudential Securities account for his own benefit. Most of the money drawn from Toma on the account cleared that account after Meszaros had moved to Ohio, and one check for $34,156 cleared the account well after Meszaros had died. In sum, Toma drafted checks and withdrew cash in an amount over $175,000 from the account from November 13, 1996, through January 29, 1997. Upon demand, Toma refused to return these funds to the Meszaros estate for distribution according to her will.
The administrator requested, inter alia, that the probate court enter a judgment declaring that the assets taken by Toma from the Prudential Securities account were assets of the Meszaros estate and that judgment be entered against Toma in an amount equal to all funds converted and received by him from the account plus interest, less any amount actually spent by Toma for or on behalf of Meszaros.
Toma moved to dismiss the administrator's probate court action for lack of personal jurisdiction over him, and, after a hearing, a magistrate recommended that the probate court grant the motion and dismiss Toma from the case. In his report, the magistrate noted that Toma had arranged Meszaros's transportation to Ohio. In May 2000, appellee, Judge John E. Corrigan of the probate court, denied Toma's motion to dismiss "after reviewing the entire file, the report of the magistrate and oral testimony."
In July 2000, Toma filed a complaint in the Court of Appeals for Cuyahoga County for a writ of prohibition to prevent Judge Corrigan from further proceeding in the probate court case and requiring that he dismiss Toma as a defendant in that case. Attached to Toma's complaint was his affidavit in which he stated that he lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that he does not transact business in Ohio, that he owns no real or personal property in Ohio other than his share of the Mesza
Page 1 2 3 4 Ohio Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|