Opinion ID: 2633287
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Concealment of the 1970 will

Text: Christine's estoppel claim is based on three alleged misrepresentations and acts of concealment. First, she alleges that Mike and Connie concealed the existence and content of the 1970 will. Christine points in particular to a conversation she had with Connie soon after their father's death that led Christine to believe that her father had not made a will. Christine's argument appears to be that if she had known that the will provided for each sibling to be treated equally, [14] she would not have accepted Mike and Connie's ownership of the Totem Inn and the requirement that she work at the Inn to receive a share. The superior court found that neither Mike nor Connie concealed or misrepresented Pete's 1970 will. The superior court also found that [t]he representation which Christine alleges was made by Connie to her on the day of her father's death, to the effect that Pete left no will, was not made; rather, Connie told her that it was not the time to make such an inquiry. There is substantial evidence in the record to support these findings. There was conflicting testimony about the substance of the conversation between Connie and Christine after their father's death. The superior court did not clearly err in making a credibility determination by accepting Connie's assertion that she was unaware of the will at the time of the conversation and that she did not tell Christine definitively that there was no will. Christine testified that after that conversation she did not ask Mike or Connie about a will. Christine alleges that she did not receive a copy of the will during the Florida probate proceedings and seems to suggest that this constitutes concealment by Mike because as personal representative of the estate he had a duty to give her a copy. But the estate attorney stated in his deposition that it was his normal practice to mail copies of the will to the heirs and that although he did not have a copy of the correspondence  and was not required under Florida law to file proof of this mailing  he was almost certain that I mailed it to the four [siblings]. There is no evidence in the record suggesting that Mike concealed the contents of the will from Christine during the probate proceedings. Even assuming that Mike and Connie concealed or misrepresented the will, Christine should have known in 1995 when she received one-fourth of the estate through the Florida probate process and executed a consent to discharge Mike as personal representative of the estate that the will existed, that under the probate proceedings she received a share equal to her siblings, and that the Totem Inn was not a part of the probated estate. For this reason, the superior court did not err in holding that it was unreasonable for Christine to delay making an inquiry or filing suit challenging the ownership of the Totem Inn based on the will after she had concluded her participation in the probate process. If Christine should have been aware of any concealment or misrepresentation concerning the existence or content of the will in 1995, her suit filed in March 2003 would be untimely even if, as she claims, a six-year statute of limitations is applicable.