Blair, Exec. v. Haas

Brune, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The question here involves the ownership of two joint bank accounts. The plaintiff-appellant is the executor of Mrs. Steva Hoyt, one of the parties named in these joint accounts. The defendants-appellees are Mrs. Margaret Haas, the other party thereto at the time of Mrs. Hoyt’s death, and her husband, George Haas.

The party beneficially interested in the success of the executor’s claim to the funds is Mrs. Helen Jarusek. She and Mrs. Haas are the legatees of one-half each of the net estate of Mrs. Hoyt passing under her will. The Circuit Court of Baltimore City dismissed the executor’s bill for accounting of monies withdrawn from these bank accounts by Mrs. Haas, and the executor appeals. The decedent, Mrs. Hoyt, was married three times.

Her third husband, whom she married in 1946, was Edward Hoyt, the father of Mrs. Haas. Mr. Hoyt’s first wife was the mother of Mrs. Haas and a sister of the decedent, so that the relationship between the decedent and the defendant Margaret Haas was dual—Mrs. Steva Hoyt was both the aunt and the stepmother of Mrs. Haas. Mrs. Hoyt was also a half-sister of Mrs. Jarusek. Mr. Hoyt appears to have ¹⁰⁸ been the principal source of the funds in the joint bank accounts here involved, part of the money having come from the sale of properties which he had owned or paid for, part from proceeds of insurance on his life, and some part from funds which Mrs. Hoyt received from, or through the estate of, her second husband, Mr. Sommers.

During the last six months of Mr. Sommers’ life, he and the decedent lived with Mr. and Mrs. Jarusek; and the decedent continued to live with them after his death and for about four months prior to her marriage to Mr. Hoyt. After that marriage the Hoyts and Mr. and Mrs. Haas and Cheryl Haas, their daughter (now Mrs. Walter) all lived together in Mr. Hoyt’s home on Fleet Street in Baltimore (except that Mr. Haas was away for about a year in military service) until 1951. In that year the Hoyts purchased a house at 6816 Gough Street in Baltimore, and Mr. and Mrs. Haas bought a house next door, No. 6818; and both the Hoyts and the Haases moved to their new homes. The decedent never had any children.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt suffered from illness while living on Gough Street. For a period beginning in 1953 and continuing until June, 1954, Mrs. Haas cooked meals for her sick stepmother and rendered other care and services to her, and Mr. Haas also helped to take care of her by administering hypodermic injections. Mrs. Hoyt had cancer and entered a nursing home in June, 1954. Mr. Hoyt, who was suffering from Parkinson’s disease, shortly thereafter moved to the same nursing home so that they could be together.

He died there on March 23, 1955. On March 26, 1955, Mr. Henry D. Blair (Sr.) of the Baltimore bar, at the request of Mrs. Hoyt, which was transmitted by Mrs. Haas, visited Mrs. Hoyt at the nursing home with regard to drawing a will for Mrs. Hoyt. Mr. Blair was accompanied by his son, Mr. Henry D. Blair, Jr., also of the Baltimore bar and the executor under Mrs. Hoyt’s will. (Both of the Blairs were named as executors, but Mr. Blair, Sr., renounced the appointment.) Mr. and Mrs. Haas were present during the visit of the Messrs.

Blair to Mrs. Hoyt. During that visit Mr. Blair, Sr., dictated, and Mr. Blair, Jr., ¹⁰⁹ wrote out in longhand, a will for Mrs. Hoyt which she thereupon executed. It is substantially identical with the typewritten will which she executed on April 4, 1955; and the latter is her will which was admitted to probate. There is no question as to the validity or construction of Mrs. Hoyt’s will; the controversy is whether or not it is operative with regard to the joint bank accounts.

In the bill of complaint the executor sought to hold the Haases accountable for funds belonging to Mrs. Hoyt which were used in the summer of 1955 to pay off a mortgage on the home of Mr. and Mrs. Haas. The Chancellor found that funds so applied, which were probably in the neighborhood of $5,800, constituted an absolute gift; and any attack thereon appears to have been abandoned on appeal. Therefore, no more need be said about it. It may, however, also be noted that Mrs. Hoyt also made some gifts in very much smaller amounts to Mrs. Jarusek at about the same time.

On March 26, 1955, there was a joint savings account in The Equitable Trust Company (of Baltimore), entitled “Steva Hoyt in trust for self and Margaret Haas and Edward Hoyt joint owners, subject to the order of any one of them, balance at the death of one first dying to belong to the survivors in trust for each other, subject to the order of either of them, balance at death of either of said survivors to belong to the ultimate survivor.” There was also a checking account in the same trust company in the names of Mrs. Margaret Haas and Mrs. Steva Hogt (sic), in which there was a balance of about $640 at that time. Mr. Blair said that he was not informed of the existence of this account. He seems to have thought that there were two joint savings accounts in existence on March 26, 1955; but his recollection would seem to have been faulty in this respect, since the second savings account was not opened until May 3, 1955. He was not informed as to any jewelry or as to a wrist watch owned by Mrs. Hoyt.

He testified that he advised Mrs. Hoyt that her will would not be effective as to the money in the joint savings accounts and that it was therefore agreed between Mrs. Hoyt and Mrs. Haas that the bank accounts should be put in Mrs. Hoyt’s ¹¹⁰ name only, and that Mrs. Hoyt should execute a power of attorney which would enable Mrs. Haas to draw funds to pay Mrs. Hoyt’s expenses. He drew the power of attorney, Mrs. Hoyt executed it on April 4, 1955 (which was also the date of execution of the typewritten will), and he had it recorded the next day and Mrs. Haas paid his fee for drawing it. He also testified that Mrs. Haas was disappointed by the provisions of the will, that he inquired of Mrs. Hoyt if she really wished her estate to go one-half to Mrs. Jarusek and one-half to Mrs. Haas, and that Mrs. Hoyt said that she did, that she loved them both equally. No change was, however, made in the Equitable Trust joint savings account.

The other joint savings account was opened with the St. James Savings Bank on May 3, 1955, with a nominal deposit of $1.00. The account is in the name of “Mrs. Steva Hoyt in trust for self and Mrs. Margaret Haas, joint owners, subject to the order of either, the balance at death of either to belong to the survivor.” On June 20, 1955, a check for $8,013.25 was deposited in this account. Something over $7,000 of this amount probably represented the net proceeds of sale of the Gough Street house, which Mr. Blair had remitted to Mrs. Hoyt on June 15th. There was also a withdrawal on June 20th of $1,879.73 from the Equitable Trust joint savings account, which reduced the latter account to exactly $10,000.

The Equitable Trust joint savings account was established by Mr. Hoyt in 1946, and it remained in the exact form in which he established it until after Mrs. Hoyt’s death. There was testimony that he set it up as he did in order to avoid having to make a will. The balance in this account on March 26, 1955, was $2,765.93. Interest of $16.30 was credited to the account on April 5, 1955.

On April 12, 1955, $2,500 representing proceeds of insurance on Mr. Hoyt’s life was deposited in the same account; and on April 18, 1955, a deposit, also apparently derived from insurance on Mr. Hoyt’s life, was made of a little more than $10,000. The joint checking account in The Equitable Trust Company showed a balance of about $640 on March 22, 1955, and two deposits aggregating $527.55 between that date and ¹¹¹ April 1, 1955, and withdrawals aggregating $78.00 on March 29 and April 1, 1955. The balance on the latter date was a little over $1090. Mrs. Hoyt used this account during the spring and summer of 1955.

A number of deposits were made and checks were drawn against the account, as appears from the bank statements. Most of the checks were to pay for Mrs. Hoyt’s care at the nursing home, but two were payable to Mr. Blair’s firm for services in drawing her will and in handling the settlement for the Gough Street property. A number of checks were put in evidence, all of which bore Mrs. Hoyt’s signature. During her stay at the nursing home Mrs. Hoyt kept her bank books in a box in a bureau drawer beside her bed.

She received a number of visitors during her stay at the home, including the Jaruseks, the Haases, a Mr. Primus, whose wife was a full sister of Mrs. Hoyt and a half-sister of Mrs. Jarusek. She was also visited on various occasions by the Haases’ daughter, Cheryl, who informed Mrs. Hoyt in April, 1955, of her engagement. When Mrs. Hoyt was informed of this and that Cheryl would be moving into her own home when she was married, Mrs. Hoyt said that she would like to go to live with Cheryl’s mother, Mrs. Haas. In conversations with Mr. Primus and also with Cheryl, Mrs. Hoyt spoke of this plan, of her appreciation of what the Haases had done for her and of her desire to do something for them.

There is evidence indicating that Mrs. Hoyt expected to recover from her illness and to be able to leave the nursing home and go to her stepdaughter’s home to live. However, in early September, 1955, she had to go to a hospital for an unexpected operation and died as a result thereof on September 6, 1955. Mrs. Haas withdrew the balances in the two joint savings accounts and redeposited the funds in new accounts in the names of herself and her husband. These are the funds which the appellant now seeks to reach.

The St. James account amounts to $8,014.25; that in the Equitable Trust to $4,134.00. He asserts that the appellees cannot profit by the breach of Mrs. Haas’ agreement to change the bank accounts into ¹¹² Mrs. Hoyt’s name, and that they cannot modify the terms of an executed will by parol evidence. The appellees contend that Mrs. Hoyt had a change of heart after the time when she executed her will and the power of attorney and that she wished Mrs. Haas to receive the balances in the bank accounts upon Mrs. Hoyt’s death. They deny that evidence in support of this position has any effect upon the terms of the will and hence assert that it is not open to attack upon the second ground asserted by the appellant.

There were three separate hearings in this case in the