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McInnis v. Estate of McInnis1/28/2002
Appeal From Marlboro County James Carlyle Williams, Jr., Circuit Court Judge
Heard November 7, 2001
REVERSED
Alyce McInnis appeals the denial of her claim against her husband's estate. She asserts she was entitled to thirty percent of the cash remaining in his estate after the payment of debts in addition to the funds she received from two Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). We reverse.
FACTS/PROCEDURAL HISTORY
E. C. McInnis (Husband) and Alyce McInnis (Wife) married in 1988. Prior to their marriage, Husband opened two IRAs. He named his children, Duncan Allen McInnis and Terry Alice McInnis Hommel, as his beneficiaries and listed his grandchildren, Duncan Allen McInnis, Jr. and Jean Kaye McInnis, as contingent beneficiaries.
In 1992, Husband executed a will directing in Item II that "I give, devise, and bequeath any IRA Account which I might own at the time of my death to my wife, Alyce Braak McInnis." The will also directed in Item IX that "After the payment of all my just and lawful debts, I give, devise and bequeath any cash which I might own at the time of my death as follows: Thirty (30%) Per Cent to my wife, Alyce Braak McInnis...."
Husband died in 1995, never having changed the beneficiary designation on his IRAs. Following his death, the named beneficiaries and the contingent beneficiaries, as represented by a guardian, signed documents disclaiming their interests in the IRAs. The IRA custodian then rolled over the proceeds from Husband's accounts to Wife's IRA.
Duncan McInnis filed two claims against the estate in the amounts of $22,680 and $29,714, seeking reimbursement for money he advanced to cover the estate's expenses and taxes. Jon McInnis claimed $46,006 for recovery under a partnership agreement between himself and Husband. Wife filed a claim for $15,502.02 she asserted she was due under Item IX of the will.
The probate court initially ruled on only Duncan McInnis's and Wife's claims. The probate court allowed Duncan McInnis's claims but denied Wife's claim, reasoning that after allowing Duncan McInnis's claims, there was no cash left to distribute to Wife under Item IX of the will. Alyce McInnis appealed both the denial of her claim and the allowance of Duncan McInnis's claims.
The circuit court issued an order remanding the matter to the probate court for additional findings of fact about the E. C. and Jon McInnis partnership. On remand, the probate court found that the partnership contained insufficient assets to reimburse Duncan McInnis, and therefore, he was entitled to repayment from Husband's estate. Once again, it denied Wife's claim. Ruling for the first time on Jon McInnis's claim, the probate court found that the estate owed him for money withdrawn from the partnership by Husband exceeding the amount he was due under the partnership agreement. Wife challenged these findings to the circuit court.
The circuit court ruled that the named beneficiaries' disclaimers of their interests in the IRAs caused the IRA proceeds to become property of the estate to be distributed as cash under Item IX of the will. It then denied Duncan McInnis's claims and Jon McInnis's claim because there was insufficient evidence in the record to allow recovery of these claims. The circuit court also held Wife was entitled to $36,438.86 under Item IX of the will. However, it denied Wife's claim because it found that her bequest was satisfied since the money disbursed to her from the IRAs was a cash distribution in excess of the amount she was entitled to receive under the will. This appeal followed.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
A claim for mo
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