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DUDDEN v. GOODMAN11/27/1995
This case concerns the alleged legal malpractice of Charles I. Goodman in the preparation of the tax returns for the estate of Claus P. Dudden. Specifically, the plaintiffs claim Goodman failed to take the marital deduction or take advantage of the qualified terminable interest property provision (QTIP) of the will.
Claus died on May 21, 1982. Goodman probated Claus's estate, including the preparation of the estate's federal and state tax returns. Goodman filed the returns on February 3, 1983. Emma Dudden, Claus's widow, signed the returns in her capacity as the then-current executor. Goodman continued to perform legal services for Emma personally, including the drafting of a will and creation of a trust.
Emma and Marcia Dudden, the wife of Emma's nephew, Roger, visited an accountant in early 1990 concerning Emma's 1989 income tax return. Because of the questions asked by the accountant, Marcia became concerned about the taxes paid by Claus's estate. She urged Emma to seek another legal opinion.
Emma visited a trust officer at the National Bank of Waterloo in the late summer of 1992 concerning the estate's federal and state taxes. The trust officer recommended the matter be reviewed by an outside attorney, Kevin McCrindle. By a letter dated October 19, 1992, McCrindle indicated to Emma that Goodman had caused the estate to pay excess federal estate taxes and Iowa inheritance taxes by failing to take the marital deduction.
Claus's estate was reopened on August 3, 1993. Roger and Marcia Dudden were appointed [543 NW2d Page 626]
as co-executors. On September 3, 1993, Roger and Marcia filed this legal malpractice action against Goodman.
Goodman filed a motion for summary judgment, claiming the action was filed after the expiration of the five-year statute of limitations. Plaintiffs resisted the motion, claiming application of the discovery rule tolled the statute and brought their action within the limitations period. The district court agreed with plaintiffs and overruled Goodman's motion for summary judgment. This case comes to us on interlocutory appeal.
I
Summary judgment is appropriate "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Iowa R. Civ. P. 237(c); see Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Milne, 424 N.W.2d 422, 423 (Iowa 1988). The moving party has the burden to show the nonexistence of a material fact. Milne, 424 N.W.2d at 423. The evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the resisting party. Thorp Credit, Inc. v. Gott, 387 N.W.2d 342, 343 (Iowa 1986). The procedure is functionally akin to a directed verdict, and every legitimate inference that reasonably can be deduced from the evidence should be afforded the resisting party. Sherwood v. Nissen, 179 N.W.2d 336, 339 (Iowa 1970). If the motion is properly supported, however, the resisting party "must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." Iowa R. Civ. P. 237(e).
II
Goodman contends the statute of limitations began to run when the taxes were paid in 1983. In putting forth this argument, Goodman relies heavily upon the product liability case of Franzen v. Deere & Co., 377 N.W.2d 660 (Iowa 1985). In Franzen, our supreme court stated it is the knowledge of the underlying facts which begins the statute of limitations. Franzen v. Deere & Co., 377 N.W.2d 660, 662 (Iowa 1985). The person does not need to know the facts are actionable in order for the statute of limitations to begin.
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