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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-02-12 ~ ~ _ ~~pp ~7 sv G~'` ~+ ~a. Cl.~ ~ 1V r j - r" _ r'i ti's C~ -i Zy Jeffrey R. Boswell, Esquire, Q Supreme Court LD. #25444 ~ BOSWELL, TINTNER & PICCOLA 315 North Front Street Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17101 Phone(717-236-9377) Fax (717-236-9316) E-mail QboswellCDbtpalaw.com) IN RE: ESTATE OF : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS SARAH MCCREA CHAPMAN JONES :CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA LATE OF LOWER MIFFLIN TWP., :ORPHANS' COURT DIVISION CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PA., DECEASED. : N0.21-2009-0329 OBJECTIONS OF HENRY L. _CHAPMAN. KAREN E. CHAPMAN. AND KATHARINE CHAPMAN MICHALKA. CONTINGENT BENEFfCIARIES AND LIFE, TENANTS OF THE TESTAMENTARY TRUST OF SARAH MCCREA CHAPMAN JONES AND OF HENRY L. CHAPMAN. GUARDIAN OF ALFRED MCCREA CHAPMAN TO THE THIRD AND FINAL ACCOUNT OF MANUFACTURERS AND TRADERS TRUST COMPANY. CORPORATE TRUSTEE. AND THE SCHEDULE OF PROPOSED DISTRIBUTION OF THE TRUST UNDER WILL OF SARAH MCCREA CHAPMAN JONES FOR CHAPMAN LODGE AND NOW, come Henry L. Chapman, Karen E. Chapman, and Katharine Chapman Michalka, Contingent Beneficiaries of the Testamentary Trust of Sarah McCrea Chapman Jones (referred to herein as "Contingent Beneficiaries"), and Henry L. Chapman, court-appointed plenary Guardian of Alfred McCrea Chapman .(referred to herein as "Beneficiary"), by and through their attorneys, Jeffrey R. Boswell, Esquire, and Boswell, Tintner & Piccola, and hereby file these Objections to the Third and Final Account of Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company, corporate Trustee, for the accounting period July 6, 2011, to January 30, 2012, pertinent to the Trust Under Will of Sarah McCrea Chapman Jones for Chapman Lodge, as follows: CASE BACKGROUND The Contingent Beneficiaries and the Beneficiary incorporate by reference the Case Background, as stated in the Objections of John McCrea, individual Co-Trustee filed of record, on or about February 22, 2012, to preclude the need to state same in these Objections. The corporate Trustee, Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company, and its successor, Farmers Trust Company, through its Trust Officers, is aware that the Beneficiary, Alfred McCrea Chapman, did not visit Chapman Lodge after 1985 and that Alfred Chapman has resided continually in a supervised institutional environment due to his mental condition and that he has been unable to make personal and financial decisions. Various Trust Officers of Farmers Trust Company and the M&T paid Alfred McCrea Chapman's bills for Greystone residential care at Friends Hospital, drugs, and expenses, by means of an agency account created for Mr. Chapman. Alfred McCrea Chapman's children, Henry L. Chapman, Karen E. Chapman, and Katharine Chapman Michalka, the Contingent Beneficiaries and Life Tenants of the Testamentary Trust of Sarah McCrea Chapman Jones, filed exceptions to the Order of Court, -dated December 29, 2011, terminating the Chapman Lodge Trust, and hereby, incorporate by reference the exceptions and the averments stated in those exceptions precluding the necessity to restate same. The Contingent Beneficiaries are adult individuals with the legal capacity -2- to accept their life tenancy to the Chapman Lodge and its contents. M&T, the corporate Trustee, finally filed its Petition, and, thereafter, its Amended Petition to Terminate the Testamentary Trust of Sarah McCrea Chapman Jones. The Contingent Beneficiaries filed an Objection in the form of an Answer, on July 24, 2009, objecting to M&T's request to terminate said trust and to its proposal to distribute the Chapman Lodge and its contents and its adjacent land to St. Johns Episcopal Church. The Contingent Beneficiaries also requested the Court to order that the corporate Co-Trustee provide a full accounting of all principal, income, and expenses pertinent to the trust property and the administration of the trust from its establishment to the present date, because the corporate Trustee had provided no specific information to the Contingent Beneficiaries and to the Beneficiary during its administration of this trust. The Honorable Anne Lazarus of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Orphans' Court Division, made specific findings by clear and convincing evidence as stated in the Final Decree entered on September 24, 2009, as follows: 1. Alfred McCrea Chapman is 73 years of age and is domiciled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 2. He suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and hernia, which impairs his capacity to receive and evaluate information effectively and to make decisions regarding management of his financial affairs. 3. He is so severely mentally impaired that he is unable to make, communicate, or participate in any decision relating to his estate or person. 4. His physical and mental health is such that his presence at the hearing would be possibly harmful to his health and, as a result, he was present and not represented. -3- Accordingly, it is Ordered and Decreed that Alfred McCrea Chapman is adjudged totally incapacitated, and he requires a plenary Guardian of his person and estate for the foreseeable future. Henry L. Chapman is appointed plenary guardian of the person and the .estate of Alfred McCrea Chapman, an incapacitated person .. . The Final Decree further provides that the Guardian shall not enter into any settlement of any claim or cause of action without prior approval of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Orphans' Court Division, and that the Guardian may not spend principal assets for the care and maintenance of Alfred McCrea Chapman without that Court's approval. Henry L. Chapman testified that he, as the plenary Guardian or as a Contingent Beneficiary and Life Tenant, intends to use the principal of Chapman Lodge to generate income for the benefit of his father, Alfred McCrea Chapman. The said Henry L. Chapman requested this Honorable Court to order the distribution of Chapman Lodge, its contents, together with the land to the children of Alfred McCrea Chapman, the Contingent Beneficiaries and Life Tenants, as directed by the Testator, Sarah McCrea Chapman Jones, as per paragraph NINETEENTH of her Will that was admitted to probate. M&T has admitted that the Testator directed the Trustees convey Chapman Lodge, its contents, and the adjacent land to Alfred McCrea Chapman's children. In its Petition to Terminate Trust, filed on April 8, 2009, M&T averred: -4- Initially, the Chapman Lodge was to be held in trust for the benefit of Decedent's son, Alfred McCrea Chapman, for "as long as he lives or as long as he has any need for it." Thereafter, the Chapman Lodge and the land adjacent thereto would be held for the use and benefit of the children, Alfred McCrea Chapman, John McCrea, and Katharine Jane McCrea Morris, until the youngest child of Alfred McCrea Chapman reaches the age of twenty-one, at which time the Chapman Lodge would be conveyed to Alfred McCrea Chapman's children as joint life tenants. The youngest child of Alfred McCrea Chapman, Karen, reached age 21 on March 20, 1987. Notwithstanding its understanding of its obligation, the corporate Trustee failed to convey the Chapman Lodge, its contents and adjacent real property, to the children of Alfred McCrea Chapman, as joint life tenants, as specifically directed by the Testator, Sarah McCrea Chapman Jones. By failing to convey Chapman Lodge and its contents and the adjacent real property to the Contingent Beneficiaries, who should have been the joint Life Tenants, the corporate Trustee has allegedly incurred significant expenses, including, but not limited to legal fees, and has allowed the Chapman Lodge and its contents to deteriorate by not maintaining the property to the detriment of the Contingent Beneficiaries and Life Tenants. The Contingent Beneficiaries and Life Tenants have been deprived of life's enjoyment of Chapman Lodge, its contents, now in a state of disrepair, as well as the adjacent lands, which is a pecuniary loss resultant from M&T's inaction. Therefore, the Contingent Beneficiaries and Life Tenants make these objections, as follows: 1. The Contingent Beneficiaries and Life Tenants object to the inclusion of a reserve expense for the Martson Law Offices, with a "Current Balance due Legal -s- Services" in the amount of $12,350, because the legal proceedings, which incurred charges for legal services, were contrary to the testamentary directive providing for conveyance to Alfred McCrea Chapman's children as joint Life Tenants, so any legal services rendered were contrary to the stated legitimate trust purpose and as such did not benefit the trust or its intended Contingent Beneficiaries, the Life Tenants. 2. The Contingent Beneficiaries and Life Tenants object to the reserve for the "Martson Law Offices Estimated Future Legal Services" in the amount of $15,000 for the reasons set forth in the first objection. In addition, the stated figure is speculative and without legal basis or authority for payment. Furthermore, it is averred that the expenses for future legal services to support its legally unsupportable proposal to convey the trust property to St. Johns Episcopal Church would beneft only the ultimate Beneficiary and not the trust, so any charges incurred should be paid by that ultimate Beneficiary and not the trust. Attorneys fees incurred to support or to promote a Beneficiary's position cannot be paid by the trust. 3. The Contingent Beneficiaries and Life Tenants object to the inclusion of the "M&T Bank -Trustee fees 2003-2012," in the amount of $9,000, as these fees were incurred after the date when the Chapman Lodge and its contents and adjacent real property could have been conveyed to the joint Life Tenants, had the corporate Trustee followed the directions provided by the Testator, Sarah McCrea Chapman Jones. The Testator's direction for conveyance to Alfred McCrea Chapman's children was understood by M&T as averred in its Petition filed of record. These alleged fees were -6- not charged during that time period as noted in the testimony of a Vice President at the hearing, and they were not stated in the Account filed by M&T for this time period. 4. The Contingent Beneficiaries and Life Tenants object to the inclusion of the reserves for payment of $12,235.00 for "Martson Law Offices -Current Balance due Legal Services" and for payment of $9,000.00 for "M&T Bank -Trustee Fees 2003-2012" because these items were not included as expenses or reserves in M&T's First and Partial Account for the period November 3, 1978, to May 27, 2009, which account was confirmed by this Court. Therefore, this Court should conclude that ALL trustees fees and ALL fees for legal services during the accounting period were paid, so no additional amounts for payment should be included as payment as reserves. 5. The Contingent Beneficiaries and Life Tenants objection to inclusion of the reserve for "Estimated Future Fee for Non-Routine Servicing" in the amount of $5,000, as the amount stated is speculative and is improper, incorporating the objections previously stated. Furthermore, the corporate Trustee's "Non-Routine Servicing" was caused by the corporate Trustee's deliberate failure to follow the directive of the Testator to convey Chapman Lodge, its contents, and its adjacent real property to the joint Life Tenants, so any expenditure for estimated future fees would not benefit the stated purposes of the trust and the directions of the Testator. Thus, the payment of any amount would be improper. 6. The Contingent Beneficiaries and Life Tenants object to the distribution or conveyance of Chapman lodge, its contents, and the adjacent land to St. Johns, -~- Episcopal Church because it is the legal right of these Contingent Beneficiaries to have Chapman Lodge conveyed to them as joint Life Tenants pursuant to the Trust's direction. 6. The Contingent Beneficiaries and Life Tenants object to the proposed distribution of the principal and any undistributed income of the Chapman Lodge Trust to St. Johns Episcopal Church because there exists no facts and no relevant legal authority to bypass the Contingent Beneficiaries and Life Tenants who have legal capacity. to hold this property. 7. The Contingent Beneficiaries and Life Tenants object to any fees set forth as reserves, as fees incurred and projected to be incurred are contrary to the purposes and directives of the Testator because the corporate Trustee has failed to convey Chapman Lodge, its contents, and its adjacent real property to the Contingent Beneficiaries and joint Life Tenants in a timely manner, thereby incurring fees that had the corporate Trusted acted timely, would not have been incurred or projected to be incurred. WHEREFORE, Henry L. Chapman, Karen E. Chapman, and Katharine Chapman Michalka, Contingent Beneficiaries of the Testamentary Trust of Sarah McCrea Chapman Jones, and Henry L. Chapman, court-appointed plenary Guardian of Alfred McCrea Chapman, respectfully requests this Honorable Court to sustain the above objections and to order the conveyance of Chapman Lodge, its contents, and the -g- adjacent real property to the joint Life Tenants, Henry L. Chapman, Karen E. Chapman, and Katharine Chapman Michalka. Respectfully submitted, BOSWELL, TINTNER & PICCOLA By: Jeff y R. Boswell, Esquire I.D. No. 25444 315 N. Front Street Harrisburg, PA 17101 (717) 236-9377 Attorneys for Henry L. Chapman, Karen E. Chapman, and Katharine Chapman DATED: March ~- , 2012 -9- VERIFICATION I, Jeffrey R. Boswell, Esquire, being duly sworn according to law, deposes and says that he is the attorney for the Contingent Beneficiaries of the Testamentary Trust of Sarah .McCrea Chapman Jones, Katharine Chapman Michalka and Karen E.Chapman, that said Contingent Beneficiaries cannot make the verification to the foregoing Objections due to time constraints, and that the facts set forth in the foregoing Objections are true and correct upon his knowledge, information, and belief. I understand that false statements herein are made subject to the penalties of 18 Pa.C.S. § 4904 relating to unsworn falsification to authorities. Jeffr .Boswell, Esquire Dated: March 2- , 2012 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I do hereby certify that I have served a true and correct copy of the foregoing Objections of Henry L. Chapman, Karen E. Chapman, and Katharine Chapman Michalka, Contingent Beneficiaries of the Testamentary Trust of Sarah McCrea Chapman Jones and Life Tenants to Order of Court, by placing same in the United States Mail, first class, postage prepaid, at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, addressed as follows: No V. Otto, III, Esquire Seth T. Mosebey, Esquire 10 East High Street Carlisle, PA 17013 Attorneys for Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company, Michael T. Foerster Sr. Deputy Attorney General Office of Attorney General Charitable Trusts & Organizations 14th Floor -Strawberry Square Co-Trustee Harrisburg, PA 17120 James D. Flowers, Esquire Daniel L. Sullivan, Esquire 26 West High Street Saidis, Sullivan & Rogers Carlisle, PA 17013 26 West High Street Attorney for St. John's Episcopal Carlisle, PA 17013 Church Attorneys for Dickinson College, et al. John McCrea, III, Esquire Post Office Box 341 Newville, PA 17241 Co-Trustee By: Dated: ~~-vc~. z Za~Z BOSWELL, TINTNER SL PICCOLA LEONARD TINTNER JEFFREY E. PICCOLA JEFFREY R. BOSWELL KEVIN D. GILLESPIE COUNSELORS AT LAW 315 NORTH FRONT ST'REE'T HARRISBURG, PA 17101 (717) P36->i377 FAX (717) 83d-1316 W W W.BTPALAW.COM WILLIAM D. BOSWELL (1943-I>i9>i) March 2, 2012 Glenda Farner Strasbaugh Register of Wills Cumberland County Courthouse One Courthouse Square Carlisle, PA 17013-3387 Re: Estate of Sara McCrea Chapman Jones No. 21-2009-0329 Dear Ms. Strasbaugh: I have enclosed for filing the Objections of Henry L. Chapman, Karen E. Chapman, and Katharine Chapman Michalka, Contingent Beneficiaries and Life Tenants of the Testamentary Trust of Sarah McCrea Chapman Nones and of Henry L. Chapman, Guardian of Alfred McCrea Chapman to the Third and Final Account of Manufactuters and Traders Trust Company, Corporate Trustee, and the Schedule of Proposed Distribution of the Trust Under Will of Sharah McCrea Chapman. Jones for Chapman Lodge. Sincerely, Jeffrey R. Boswell JRB:cIh Enclosures cc: No V. Otto, III, Esquire (w/copy of enc.) Seth T. Mosebey, Esquire (w/copy of enc.) James D. Flowers, Esquire (w/copy of enc.) John McCrea, III, Esquire (w/copy of -enc.) Michael T. Foerster, Sr. Deputy Attorney General (w/copy of enc.) Daniel L. Sullivan, Esquire (w/copy of enc.) Mr. Henry L. Chapman (w/copy of enc.) Rosemary Ferrino, Esquire (w/copy of enc.)